1 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:02,767 NARRATOR: They're watching you. 2 00:00:02,767 --> 00:00:06,166 More than 6,000 satellites circle the Earth. 3 00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:10,667 Every day, they uncover new, mysterious phenomena 4 00:00:10,767 --> 00:00:13,266 that defy explanation. 5 00:00:15,667 --> 00:00:17,967 The mystery of the exploding island. 6 00:00:17,967 --> 00:00:19,266 [explosion blasts] 7 00:00:19,266 --> 00:00:21,100 The energy released could create 8 00:00:21,166 --> 00:00:24,000 the biggest tsunami humanity has ever seen. 9 00:00:26,066 --> 00:00:28,667 NARRATOR: America's lost mega structure. 10 00:00:29,667 --> 00:00:32,367 It was considered by many to be 11 00:00:32,367 --> 00:00:34,567 the Eighth Wonder of the World. 12 00:00:34,567 --> 00:00:37,367 NARRATOR: And Stalin's hell ships. 13 00:00:37,367 --> 00:00:39,500 RODRIGUEZ McROBBIE: You could only pray that you would make 14 00:00:39,567 --> 00:00:43,166 it out alive or die as quickly as possible. 15 00:00:43,266 --> 00:00:46,700 NARRATOR: Baffling phenomena, mysteries from space. 16 00:00:46,767 --> 00:00:48,767 What on Earth are they? 17 00:00:48,767 --> 00:00:51,667 [theme music playing] 18 00:01:07,700 --> 00:01:11,400 October 1st, 2021. 19 00:01:11,467 --> 00:01:14,367 As NASA's Aqua satellite orbits more 20 00:01:14,367 --> 00:01:18,767 than 400 miles above the Spanish island of La Palma, 21 00:01:18,867 --> 00:01:20,467 it captures this image. 22 00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:24,667 This island in the eastern Atlantic had 23 00:01:24,667 --> 00:01:27,000 something weird going on with its weather. 24 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,567 LEE: We're seeing a concentric series of 25 00:01:32,567 --> 00:01:35,467 bright rings, which is really very mysterious. 26 00:01:37,667 --> 00:01:40,166 NARRATOR: The weird rings are between 5 27 00:01:40,266 --> 00:01:42,066 and 30 miles in diameter. 28 00:01:43,700 --> 00:01:47,800 This is a highly unusual pattern to see in the clouds. 29 00:01:47,867 --> 00:01:49,266 A. MORGAN: It looks like an enormous 30 00:01:49,266 --> 00:01:52,767 bullseye completely obscuring the island. 31 00:01:56,667 --> 00:01:59,266 NARRATOR: Satellites have captured strange phenomena 32 00:01:59,367 --> 00:02:00,800 in our skies before, 33 00:02:02,500 --> 00:02:05,100 freak patterns caused by meteorological 34 00:02:05,166 --> 00:02:07,367 disturbances in the upper atmosphere. 35 00:02:08,867 --> 00:02:11,166 But image analyst Ken Joyce believes 36 00:02:11,166 --> 00:02:13,300 what he's looking at is unique. 37 00:02:14,667 --> 00:02:16,567 I'm gonna take a look at this island 38 00:02:16,567 --> 00:02:18,467 and see what might be going on. 39 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,367 NARRATOR: Joyce uses historic images to scan through time. 40 00:02:24,367 --> 00:02:28,100 One taken shortly after the mystery event 41 00:02:28,166 --> 00:02:29,600 draws his attention. 42 00:02:30,900 --> 00:02:33,266 As I bring that image into view, 43 00:02:33,367 --> 00:02:37,266 it's absolutely shocking what I see. 44 00:02:38,667 --> 00:02:45,000 There is graphic volcanic eruption happening right here. 45 00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:47,867 I can also see that the center of 46 00:02:47,967 --> 00:02:51,900 the bullseye is right over where the eruption is occurring. 47 00:02:55,166 --> 00:02:58,467 NARRATOR: Further aerial imagery confirms that La Palma is 48 00:02:58,567 --> 00:03:01,567 in the grip of an unfolding natural disaster, 49 00:03:03,900 --> 00:03:06,800 Cumbre Vieja, 50 00:03:06,867 --> 00:03:10,400 a 6,400-foot-high volcanic ridge, 51 00:03:10,467 --> 00:03:13,266 has awoken from its 50-year slumber. 52 00:03:14,300 --> 00:03:17,100 On September 19th of 2021, 53 00:03:17,166 --> 00:03:21,300 the volcano spews out jets of ash and lava, 54 00:03:22,467 --> 00:03:26,166 while rivers of molten rock pour downhill, 55 00:03:26,266 --> 00:03:29,667 destroying absolutely everything that it touches. 56 00:03:32,066 --> 00:03:34,266 As it erupts, Cumbre Vieja 57 00:03:34,266 --> 00:03:37,266 unleashes rivers of lava three stories high, 58 00:03:37,266 --> 00:03:39,767 which relentlessly engulf communities below, 59 00:03:39,767 --> 00:03:42,467 swallowing 3,000 homes. 60 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,667 A. MORGAN: The islanders are scrambling as fast as they can, 61 00:03:48,767 --> 00:03:50,100 because they know that anything 62 00:03:50,166 --> 00:03:53,100 that the lava touches does not stand a chance. 63 00:03:54,266 --> 00:03:58,367 All the residents can do is sit and watch in horror 64 00:03:58,467 --> 00:04:02,767 as their livelihoods are destroyed by this relentless 65 00:04:02,867 --> 00:04:04,567 river of molten rock. 66 00:04:11,867 --> 00:04:14,166 NARRATOR: Just how the volcano created 67 00:04:14,266 --> 00:04:16,266 the weird rings remains unclear. 68 00:04:18,667 --> 00:04:20,900 To investigate the devastating eruption, 69 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,467 a team of U.S. scientists has come 70 00:04:23,467 --> 00:04:26,800 to La Palma to study the disaster up close. 71 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:30,667 Nothing could prepare us for the sight 72 00:04:30,767 --> 00:04:32,500 we were about to see. 73 00:04:32,567 --> 00:04:35,367 We come around this corner, and there is 74 00:04:35,467 --> 00:04:39,967 a red column of lava right in front of us. 75 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,967 NARRATOR: The team discovers a ruined landscape encased 76 00:04:45,967 --> 00:04:48,867 in lava fields over 200 feet thick. 77 00:04:50,166 --> 00:04:51,467 All I could think about was 78 00:04:51,567 --> 00:04:55,567 how nightmare-inducing this landscape is. 79 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,100 I'd never seen destruction like this in my entire life. 80 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,100 NARRATOR: Such is the destructive power 81 00:05:07,166 --> 00:05:09,367 of volcanoes that their inner workings 82 00:05:09,367 --> 00:05:11,367 are largely a mystery to scientists. 83 00:05:12,467 --> 00:05:15,367 To decipher the one revealed from space, 84 00:05:15,367 --> 00:05:18,600 the team is turning to the latest in aerial technology. 85 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,567 We are bringing drones to the island, because drones are 86 00:05:22,667 --> 00:05:27,467 the perfect vehicle to collect data from the erupting volcano. 87 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,567 RUBEN: Drones can fly right into the active volcano, 88 00:05:31,667 --> 00:05:33,867 capture samples, and bring them right back 89 00:05:33,867 --> 00:05:35,066 to the scientific team. 90 00:05:39,066 --> 00:05:41,667 NARRATOR: Volcanic eruptions are fueled by a mix 91 00:05:41,767 --> 00:05:43,900 of gases found in the magma chamber. 92 00:05:45,967 --> 00:05:49,000 By studying the composition of these gases, 93 00:05:49,066 --> 00:05:51,367 scientists can work out how deep the chamber 94 00:05:51,367 --> 00:05:54,300 is and how long the eruption could last. 95 00:05:57,367 --> 00:05:59,066 If the magma chamber is shallow, 96 00:05:59,066 --> 00:06:01,000 that means it could empty quickly, 97 00:06:01,066 --> 00:06:02,667 and the eruption will be short. 98 00:06:02,767 --> 00:06:05,767 But if the chamber is deep, then the eruption 99 00:06:05,867 --> 00:06:07,100 could be long and intense, 100 00:06:07,166 --> 00:06:10,367 which would be bad news for the people of La Palma. 101 00:06:15,066 --> 00:06:17,166 NARRATOR: Each of the drones is fitted with a device, 102 00:06:17,266 --> 00:06:20,266 which can collect gas samples from the center of the plume. 103 00:06:22,700 --> 00:06:25,467 By making repeated passes over the volcano, 104 00:06:27,266 --> 00:06:28,900 the scientists begin to build up 105 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,000 a picture of what lies beneath. 106 00:06:33,967 --> 00:06:36,266 The data confirms their fears. 107 00:06:40,166 --> 00:06:42,500 Correlating our samples, we're able 108 00:06:42,567 --> 00:06:46,467 to determine how violent the eruption is. 109 00:06:46,467 --> 00:06:49,867 Our results show that, unfortunately, the magma 110 00:06:49,867 --> 00:06:52,467 came from a very deep source, and there was a lot of it. 111 00:06:55,667 --> 00:06:57,567 NARRATOR: The drone data reveals that 112 00:06:57,667 --> 00:06:59,800 Cumbre Vieja's infernos are being fed 113 00:06:59,867 --> 00:07:04,100 by a giant magma chamber some 40 miles beneath the island. 114 00:07:06,567 --> 00:07:09,500 RUBEN: That is a ridiculously deep chamber, 115 00:07:09,567 --> 00:07:10,800 and it may help explain why 116 00:07:10,867 --> 00:07:12,967 the eruption of this volcano was so violent, 117 00:07:12,967 --> 00:07:14,567 intense, and long-lasting. 118 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:17,467 This tells us that the eruption 119 00:07:17,567 --> 00:07:19,367 could continue on for quite some time. 120 00:07:21,767 --> 00:07:24,166 NARRATOR: Studies of Cumbre Vieja's plume also 121 00:07:24,266 --> 00:07:26,867 explain the strange rings in the image. 122 00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:32,100 What we have going on is an extremely rare 123 00:07:32,166 --> 00:07:33,667 and unusual combination 124 00:07:33,667 --> 00:07:36,600 of different atmospheric phenomena at the same place 125 00:07:36,667 --> 00:07:37,934 at the same time. 126 00:07:41,166 --> 00:07:44,367 NARRATOR: In the hours leading up to the rings forming, a front 127 00:07:44,467 --> 00:07:48,166 of warm air from the Sahara desert sweeps over the volcano. 128 00:07:49,867 --> 00:07:52,667 When the rising plume of gases hits this warmer 129 00:07:52,667 --> 00:07:56,000 desert air, it acts like a lid, trapping it. 130 00:07:57,367 --> 00:08:01,500 It has nowhere to go but outwards, and as the volcano 131 00:08:01,567 --> 00:08:05,100 explosion pulses over and over again throughout the day, 132 00:08:05,166 --> 00:08:09,266 you get these rings that form in the atmosphere. 133 00:08:09,266 --> 00:08:11,166 Basically, the volcano is burping. 134 00:08:11,166 --> 00:08:16,000 It's putting out one blast of air, and that forms a ring, 135 00:08:16,967 --> 00:08:19,867 and then another blast of air forms another ring. 136 00:08:19,867 --> 00:08:21,900 That's, in essence, what this volcano was doing. 137 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,400 NARRATOR: As Cumbre Vieja continues to vent its fury, 138 00:08:31,467 --> 00:08:34,600 it fuels concerns that it could wreak devastation well 139 00:08:34,667 --> 00:08:37,400 beyond the shore's of La Palma, 140 00:08:37,467 --> 00:08:40,600 devastation that would claim millions of lives. 141 00:08:42,100 --> 00:08:45,567 Unfortunately, this has the potential to be a deadly 142 00:08:45,667 --> 00:08:48,700 situation for anybody in the Atlantic along the coast. 143 00:08:49,867 --> 00:08:52,767 If the volcano collapses, the energy released 144 00:08:52,767 --> 00:08:56,367 could create the biggest tsunami humanity has ever seen. 145 00:09:00,967 --> 00:09:02,367 NARRATOR: Coming up, 146 00:09:02,467 --> 00:09:06,166 the 500-billion-ton time bomb. 147 00:09:06,166 --> 00:09:08,467 All we can do is hope this is the last we'll see 148 00:09:08,567 --> 00:09:10,667 from this volcano in our lifetimes. 149 00:09:10,667 --> 00:09:13,767 NARRATOR: And the island of the disappeared. 150 00:09:13,767 --> 00:09:18,300 Something bad happened to produce this vacuum. 151 00:09:26,567 --> 00:09:30,367 NARRATOR: Strangely-shaped clouds captured from space 152 00:09:30,467 --> 00:09:31,900 have alerted analysts to 153 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,867 a cataclysmic volcanic eruption on La Palma 154 00:09:34,967 --> 00:09:36,100 in the Canary Islands. 155 00:09:37,467 --> 00:09:39,367 Those concentric circles are the results 156 00:09:39,467 --> 00:09:41,500 of the volcano erupting in bursts. 157 00:09:41,567 --> 00:09:44,100 So each ring is one of those bursts. 158 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:48,867 NARRATOR: Thousands of lives are at risk. 159 00:09:50,667 --> 00:09:53,500 But some fear much worse is to come. 160 00:09:54,667 --> 00:09:58,667 Some researchers have suggested that La Palma Island 161 00:09:58,767 --> 00:10:02,367 could potentially be a ticking time bomb, 162 00:10:02,467 --> 00:10:04,667 a mega disaster the likes of which 163 00:10:04,767 --> 00:10:06,400 we have never seen before. 164 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,000 NARRATOR: The fuse for this time bomb is lit 165 00:10:17,066 --> 00:10:19,367 around four million years ago when 166 00:10:19,467 --> 00:10:22,600 La Palma and the other Canary Islands begin to rise from 167 00:10:22,667 --> 00:10:23,767 the sea floor. 168 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,467 As the land masses form, 169 00:10:27,567 --> 00:10:31,467 vast amounts of magma are also forced upwards. 170 00:10:31,467 --> 00:10:34,266 DENNIE: The Canary Islands are what's called a hot spot, 171 00:10:34,266 --> 00:10:37,166 the place where deep down in the mantle of the Earth, 172 00:10:37,166 --> 00:10:41,266 we've got hot rock rising up until it erupts at the surface. 173 00:10:43,767 --> 00:10:45,066 NARRATOR: On La Palma, 174 00:10:45,066 --> 00:10:48,367 over countless millennia, these eruptions create 175 00:10:48,367 --> 00:10:50,867 a nine-mile-long volcanic spine 176 00:10:50,967 --> 00:10:53,266 running north to south across the island. 177 00:10:55,066 --> 00:10:58,300 Seven decades ago, it begins to disintegrate. 178 00:10:59,767 --> 00:11:03,266 In 1949, an eruption takes place at a Cumbre Vieja, 179 00:11:03,367 --> 00:11:06,567 which opened a giant gash along the volcanic ridge. 180 00:11:07,667 --> 00:11:10,567 This created a split along the top of the volcano. 181 00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:15,100 NARRATOR: The giant crack also causes the western half 182 00:11:15,166 --> 00:11:17,367 of the ridge to slip by several feet. 183 00:11:19,567 --> 00:11:22,567 The nightmare scenario is that the eruption revealed from 184 00:11:22,567 --> 00:11:26,266 space could finish the job begun back in '49. 185 00:11:29,266 --> 00:11:31,667 The fear is that if enough gas builds up, 186 00:11:31,767 --> 00:11:33,066 and there's a big enough eruption, 187 00:11:33,066 --> 00:11:35,100 it could crack the volcano in two. 188 00:11:37,266 --> 00:11:41,266 If that were to happen, it would create a mega tsunami 189 00:11:41,266 --> 00:11:45,700 much larger than anything that we have seen in modern times. 190 00:11:48,667 --> 00:11:51,100 NARRATOR: The largest recorded mega tsunami 191 00:11:51,166 --> 00:11:53,367 takes place in 1958, 192 00:11:53,467 --> 00:11:56,767 when a 1,700-foot-high wave sweeps across 193 00:11:56,767 --> 00:11:58,967 Lituya Bay, Alaska. 194 00:12:00,467 --> 00:12:04,100 It is generated by 90 million tons of falling rock. 195 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:08,567 The La Palma eruption could unleash 196 00:12:08,567 --> 00:12:11,100 more than 5,000 times that amount. 197 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,467 Volcanic activity along this ridge could result in 198 00:12:17,467 --> 00:12:20,567 a giant piece of the island just sliding into the ocean. 199 00:12:23,567 --> 00:12:25,567 RUBEN: All that rock would displace the water, 200 00:12:25,667 --> 00:12:28,667 creating enormous waves that would travel out in 201 00:12:28,667 --> 00:12:29,834 all directions. 202 00:12:31,100 --> 00:12:34,066 NARRATOR: As the massive rockfall slams into the ocean, 203 00:12:34,066 --> 00:12:37,367 scientists believe it would generate a surge of water over 204 00:12:37,367 --> 00:12:39,000 3,000 feet high. 205 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,200 A series of giant waves would then spread across 206 00:12:43,266 --> 00:12:47,667 the Atlantic at speeds of up to 500 miles per hour. 207 00:12:47,767 --> 00:12:50,166 The most devastating tsunamis in recent history 208 00:12:50,166 --> 00:12:52,300 happened as a result of underwater earthquakes, 209 00:12:53,667 --> 00:12:55,767 but the collapse of a volcano into 210 00:12:55,767 --> 00:12:58,867 the ocean could unleash even greater destruction. 211 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,266 NARRATOR: The mega wave would engulf coastal areas of Europe 212 00:13:04,367 --> 00:13:05,900 and the U.K., 213 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:07,500 and the destruction it wreaks in 214 00:13:07,567 --> 00:13:10,166 the Americas could be even greater. 215 00:13:10,166 --> 00:13:14,467 This wave would travel at near supersonic speeds, completely 216 00:13:14,467 --> 00:13:16,867 overtaking all the Caribbean islands 217 00:13:16,967 --> 00:13:19,467 and impacting the highly densely populated 218 00:13:19,467 --> 00:13:21,867 areas of the U.S. east coast. 219 00:13:25,567 --> 00:13:27,767 When you consider just how populated 220 00:13:27,767 --> 00:13:29,767 some of these coastal cities are, 221 00:13:29,767 --> 00:13:31,467 it's easy to see how they could feel 222 00:13:31,567 --> 00:13:33,166 extremely vulnerable. 223 00:13:35,767 --> 00:13:39,400 NARRATOR: The mega tsunami could sweep up to 20 miles inland from 224 00:13:39,467 --> 00:13:40,867 Boston to Miami, 225 00:13:40,967 --> 00:13:44,500 destroying entire cities and killing millions. 226 00:13:47,266 --> 00:13:50,367 And while some dismiss such a scenario, 227 00:13:50,367 --> 00:13:53,100 there is evidence that it has happened before. 228 00:13:55,100 --> 00:13:57,266 In the Bahamas, researchers have found giant 229 00:13:57,367 --> 00:13:58,867 displaced boulders that suggest 230 00:13:58,867 --> 00:14:01,266 these types of ocean-crossing tsunamis 231 00:14:01,367 --> 00:14:02,800 might have happened in the past. 232 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:05,867 So who's to say it couldn't happen again? 233 00:14:09,266 --> 00:14:12,266 NARRATOR: On December 25th, 2021, 234 00:14:12,266 --> 00:14:15,266 Cumbre Vieja finally falls silent. 235 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,967 The danger posed by the mega tsunami recedes, 236 00:14:21,567 --> 00:14:24,066 but the volcano could soon erupt again, 237 00:14:25,100 --> 00:14:27,800 meaning the threat is far from over. 238 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:30,967 All we can do is hope this is 239 00:14:30,967 --> 00:14:33,266 the last activity we'll see from this volcano in 240 00:14:33,266 --> 00:14:34,600 our lifetimes. 241 00:14:39,967 --> 00:14:43,600 NARRATOR: Coming up, destroyed in seconds. 242 00:14:43,667 --> 00:14:46,500 It just goes to show that no matter the heights of 243 00:14:46,567 --> 00:14:47,567 human ambition, 244 00:14:47,667 --> 00:14:50,467 everything can come crashing down. 245 00:14:50,467 --> 00:14:53,467 NARRATOR: And the building blocks of life. 246 00:14:53,467 --> 00:14:56,767 These contain the clues to the birth of the universe. 247 00:15:07,367 --> 00:15:10,900 NARRATOR: September 27th, 2019. 248 00:15:13,100 --> 00:15:15,100 A satellite scans dense forest 249 00:15:15,166 --> 00:15:17,266 in the northeastern United States. 250 00:15:19,166 --> 00:15:23,600 Here we are, deep in the woods of Pennsylvania, 251 00:15:24,867 --> 00:15:27,567 and we're seeing something quite unusual. 252 00:15:27,667 --> 00:15:29,100 In this clearing, 253 00:15:29,166 --> 00:15:34,467 you can see what appear to be studs sunk into the earth. 254 00:15:34,567 --> 00:15:37,700 A. MORGAN: And then next to that are these triangular-shaped, 255 00:15:37,767 --> 00:15:41,100 almost like ladder structures that have been tipped over. 256 00:15:41,166 --> 00:15:42,433 I don't know what this is. 257 00:15:45,567 --> 00:15:49,567 NARRATOR: The mystery shapes sit in an isolated 20-acre clearing. 258 00:15:51,700 --> 00:15:54,467 AUERBACH: The clues to this structure 259 00:15:54,467 --> 00:15:56,066 might lie in our location. 260 00:15:56,066 --> 00:15:59,100 We're in a heavily forested area, 261 00:15:59,166 --> 00:16:02,200 and if we roll back to the 19th century, 262 00:16:02,266 --> 00:16:06,166 the timber industry was really booming in this region. 263 00:16:07,367 --> 00:16:10,100 I'm wondering if we're looking at the remains of 264 00:16:10,166 --> 00:16:14,667 a very clever 19th century technology that revolutionized 265 00:16:14,767 --> 00:16:17,867 the logging industry -- the log flume. 266 00:16:22,667 --> 00:16:25,000 NARRATOR: From the middle of the 19th century, 267 00:16:25,066 --> 00:16:28,400 U.S. lumberjacks clear an area more than five times 268 00:16:28,467 --> 00:16:30,100 the size of Florida 269 00:16:31,667 --> 00:16:34,000 in the space of just 60 years. 270 00:16:35,066 --> 00:16:37,166 RODRIGUEZ McROBBIE: As timber supplies depleted, 271 00:16:37,266 --> 00:16:39,667 loggers had to move further and further inland 272 00:16:39,667 --> 00:16:41,100 to meet the demand. 273 00:16:41,166 --> 00:16:45,300 This necessitated new methods of transportation. 274 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,500 NARRATOR: In 1868, a Nevada lumberjack 275 00:16:50,567 --> 00:16:52,000 develops the log flume. 276 00:16:53,367 --> 00:16:57,467 Soon these chutes are ferrying logs up to 60 miles to mills, 277 00:16:57,467 --> 00:17:01,667 which churn out enough timber to fill nearly 5,000 modern 278 00:17:01,667 --> 00:17:03,200 logging trucks per year. 279 00:17:05,166 --> 00:17:08,066 RODRIGUEZ McROBBIE: You didn't need to build expensive roads, 280 00:17:08,066 --> 00:17:13,300 you didn't need to have oxen pulling carts full of wood. 281 00:17:13,367 --> 00:17:16,800 All you needed was gravity. 282 00:17:21,467 --> 00:17:23,867 NARRATOR: It turns out that the structure does have 283 00:17:23,867 --> 00:17:25,867 its origins in the 19th century, 284 00:17:25,967 --> 00:17:30,200 but it's a legacy of a very different industry. 285 00:17:30,266 --> 00:17:35,266 This is an extraordinary relic of America's journey 286 00:17:35,266 --> 00:17:38,266 to become the greatest and most powerful 287 00:17:38,266 --> 00:17:40,867 of all industrial nations in the world. 288 00:17:42,567 --> 00:17:48,166 NARRATOR: Between 1865 and 1900, America's economy explodes, 289 00:17:48,266 --> 00:17:51,800 transforming a nation ravaged by civil war 290 00:17:51,867 --> 00:17:54,567 into the world leader in manufacturing. 291 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,100 This so-called Second Industrial Revolution is built on iron 292 00:18:00,166 --> 00:18:02,800 and steel, but powered by coal. 293 00:18:03,867 --> 00:18:08,000 Industries are expanding at a phenomenal rate, 294 00:18:08,100 --> 00:18:13,867 and America's hunger for fuel is insatiable. 295 00:18:13,867 --> 00:18:18,266 Coal was indispensable to the rise of the nation. 296 00:18:18,367 --> 00:18:20,100 Coal was king. 297 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,166 NARRATOR: The country's biggest consumer of coal is New York, 298 00:18:27,166 --> 00:18:29,467 which handles more people and cargo 299 00:18:29,567 --> 00:18:32,100 than all other American ports combined. 300 00:18:34,100 --> 00:18:38,567 It needed coal to heat its homes, to run its factories, 301 00:18:38,667 --> 00:18:41,867 to run the ships that come in and out of New York harbor. 302 00:18:41,867 --> 00:18:45,367 But the coal was located several 303 00:18:45,467 --> 00:18:48,500 hundred miles away in western Pennsylvania. 304 00:18:50,266 --> 00:18:53,467 NARRATOR: In the 1880s, engineers decide to build 305 00:18:53,567 --> 00:18:55,867 a new rail line connecting New York 306 00:18:55,867 --> 00:18:57,367 to the coal mines of Pennsylvania. 307 00:18:59,066 --> 00:19:00,800 But there's a problem in their path -- 308 00:19:00,867 --> 00:19:06,867 a 300-foot-deep ravine called the Kinzua Creek Gorge. 309 00:19:06,867 --> 00:19:10,200 The railroad owners faced a choice -- either lay down 310 00:19:10,266 --> 00:19:14,900 eight miles of new track or find some way over the gorge. 311 00:19:15,967 --> 00:19:17,266 AUERBACH: In the true spirit of 312 00:19:17,367 --> 00:19:18,367 the American Industrial Revolution, 313 00:19:18,367 --> 00:19:21,000 they chose the most radical solution. 314 00:19:21,066 --> 00:19:26,567 They chose to go directly across this massive gorge. 315 00:19:28,567 --> 00:19:31,000 NARRATOR: On May 10th, 1882, 316 00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:36,066 engineers begin work on a revolutionary viaduct 317 00:19:36,066 --> 00:19:39,266 using 1,400 tons of preassembled 318 00:19:39,367 --> 00:19:40,400 wrought iron pieces. 319 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:43,667 To get the first enormous tower up, 320 00:19:43,667 --> 00:19:45,967 they had to use something called a gin pole, 321 00:19:45,967 --> 00:19:49,600 basically a big tower, and they would use that to erect 322 00:19:49,667 --> 00:19:51,100 the next one and that to erect 323 00:19:51,166 --> 00:19:54,000 the next one, kind of like reverse dominoes. 324 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,100 NARRATOR: Using this method, it takes 40 people just 325 00:19:58,166 --> 00:20:01,266 94 days to construct the world's tallest 326 00:20:01,367 --> 00:20:02,467 railroad bridge. 327 00:20:04,567 --> 00:20:07,467 This means that the biggest towers in the world at 328 00:20:07,567 --> 00:20:10,867 that time were built in just a matter of months. 329 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,166 HUNT: This was such a feat, 330 00:20:16,266 --> 00:20:20,166 it was considered by many to be the Eighth Wonder of 331 00:20:20,266 --> 00:20:25,500 the World, and people would come from miles to look at it. 332 00:20:29,700 --> 00:20:31,467 NARRATOR: Such is the bridge's popularity 333 00:20:31,467 --> 00:20:34,567 that when it opens, a passenger service is added 334 00:20:34,567 --> 00:20:35,700 to the freight line. 335 00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:41,900 CERVENY: Riding across this gorge on the railway 336 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,066 would have been an experience unlike anything else. 337 00:20:45,066 --> 00:20:47,000 This would have been an equivalent of flying 338 00:20:47,100 --> 00:20:49,066 in an airplane before there was an airplane. 339 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:54,600 NARRATOR: However, the bridge's success is short-lived. 340 00:20:55,667 --> 00:20:57,967 Advances in technology mean that within 341 00:20:57,967 --> 00:21:02,667 20 years, rail engines become 85 percent heavier, 342 00:21:02,767 --> 00:21:05,600 and the structure becomes unsafe. 343 00:21:05,667 --> 00:21:09,867 So in 1900, it had to be entirely rebuilt, this time 344 00:21:09,967 --> 00:21:12,867 in steel instead of the original iron 345 00:21:12,967 --> 00:21:15,367 to hold these heavier trains. 346 00:21:16,967 --> 00:21:18,867 NARRATOR: Freight services over the gorge 347 00:21:18,867 --> 00:21:22,066 finally end in 1963, 348 00:21:22,066 --> 00:21:24,700 but it's an event 40 years later that 349 00:21:24,767 --> 00:21:28,000 creates the trail of destruction visible in the image. 350 00:21:30,867 --> 00:21:32,900 The real end to the Kinzua Bridge 351 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:34,767 comes when Mother Nature steps in. 352 00:21:36,266 --> 00:21:42,000 A tornado with peak winds of 100 miles an hour hit the side 353 00:21:42,066 --> 00:21:44,000 of the bridge, and within seconds, 354 00:21:44,100 --> 00:21:46,400 the whole thing basically crumbled to the ground. 355 00:21:50,100 --> 00:21:53,567 NARRATOR: Today, the Eighth Wonder of the World 356 00:21:53,567 --> 00:21:56,266 is a tombstone to a bygone era, 357 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:01,367 when humankind's ambition seemed limitless. 358 00:22:03,667 --> 00:22:06,800 It just goes to show that no matter the heights of 359 00:22:06,867 --> 00:22:08,400 human ambition, 360 00:22:08,467 --> 00:22:10,867 it can take one moment, and everything can come 361 00:22:10,867 --> 00:22:12,200 crashing down. 362 00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:22,200 NARRATOR: Coming up, World War I's Alcatraz. 363 00:22:23,166 --> 00:22:24,967 RODRIGUEZ McROBBIE: This was the setting for some of 364 00:22:24,967 --> 00:22:28,900 the most harrowing operations of the First World War. 365 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,300 NARRATOR: And the Scottish sea monster. 366 00:22:31,367 --> 00:22:33,867 It has this appearance of 367 00:22:33,967 --> 00:22:37,000 a comet that's headed straight for you. 368 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,400 NARRATOR: July 2nd, 2021. 369 00:22:51,467 --> 00:22:55,567 A satellite orbiting above the country of Azerbaijan 370 00:22:55,667 --> 00:23:00,800 scans an arid landmass three miles from the coast. 371 00:23:01,867 --> 00:23:03,700 This is a desolate island. 372 00:23:03,767 --> 00:23:05,700 There are roads crisscrossing it, 373 00:23:05,767 --> 00:23:07,567 some structures here and there, 374 00:23:07,567 --> 00:23:10,667 but it looks like it's been abandoned for some time. 375 00:23:13,467 --> 00:23:17,100 M. MORGAN: Whenever you have a place where humans have just 376 00:23:17,166 --> 00:23:18,266 walked away, 377 00:23:18,300 --> 00:23:22,367 there's always a bit of an eerie feel to it, like 378 00:23:22,367 --> 00:23:26,667 something bad happened to produce this sudden vacuum. 379 00:23:27,667 --> 00:23:31,100 NARRATOR: A boneyard of rusting ships sits nearby. 380 00:23:32,467 --> 00:23:35,000 There are vessels tied up to docks, 381 00:23:35,066 --> 00:23:36,500 which look like they're half sunk. 382 00:23:37,667 --> 00:23:40,266 It's kind of a creepy picture here. 383 00:23:43,567 --> 00:23:45,600 NARRATOR: Analysts turn to local records. 384 00:23:47,100 --> 00:23:50,166 They reveal the ghost island is the legacy of a series 385 00:23:50,266 --> 00:23:54,200 of brutal, bloody events that begin more than a century ago. 386 00:23:55,467 --> 00:23:58,266 What these reports tell us is that this area 387 00:23:58,266 --> 00:24:00,700 was the setting for some of the most harrowing 388 00:24:00,767 --> 00:24:03,600 non-combat operations of the First World War. 389 00:24:07,467 --> 00:24:09,667 NARRATOR: In October 1914, 390 00:24:10,667 --> 00:24:13,900 Turkey's Ottoman Empire enters World War I, 391 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,667 siding with the German Empire. 392 00:24:17,467 --> 00:24:20,867 While Germany focuses on capturing Western Europe, 393 00:24:20,867 --> 00:24:22,567 Ottoman forces attempt to 394 00:24:22,667 --> 00:24:25,266 secure countries around the Caspian Sea, 395 00:24:25,367 --> 00:24:27,166 including Azerbaijan. 396 00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:31,400 Turkey joins the war on the side of Germany, because 397 00:24:31,467 --> 00:24:34,367 she sees this fantastic opportunity to seize 398 00:24:34,367 --> 00:24:37,500 all this new territory, but there's a problem. 399 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:43,367 That means going up against its historic rival, Russia. 400 00:24:48,567 --> 00:24:50,166 NARRATOR: The better equipped Russians 401 00:24:50,266 --> 00:24:51,767 devastate the Ottoman Army, 402 00:24:51,767 --> 00:24:56,500 slaughtering 23,000 and capturing a further 7,000 as 403 00:24:56,567 --> 00:24:58,100 prisoners of war. 404 00:24:58,166 --> 00:25:02,467 Russia, who is fielding a massive army, 405 00:25:02,567 --> 00:25:05,867 is fighting against a rather we weak Ottoman army on 406 00:25:05,867 --> 00:25:07,700 the other side, and the result is 407 00:25:07,767 --> 00:25:11,567 thousands of Ottoman prisoners that all have to be dealt with, 408 00:25:11,567 --> 00:25:13,500 somehow, somewhere. 409 00:25:13,567 --> 00:25:15,300 WALTERS: To buy themselves some time, 410 00:25:15,367 --> 00:25:18,567 they send all the surplus prisoners to this desolate 411 00:25:18,567 --> 00:25:20,767 rock on the Caspian Sea, 412 00:25:20,767 --> 00:25:24,000 and that is known as the Isle of Nargin. 413 00:25:26,100 --> 00:25:28,200 NARRATOR: Surrounded by miles of sea, 414 00:25:28,266 --> 00:25:31,700 the island becomes a kind of World War I Alcatraz 415 00:25:31,767 --> 00:25:35,000 for thousands of wounded and disease-ridden prisoners. 416 00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:44,066 Imprisoned in the filthy barracks 417 00:25:44,066 --> 00:25:47,100 in the image, countless starved to death. 418 00:25:49,900 --> 00:25:51,900 The island is alive with snakes. 419 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,500 The men are forced to eat the snakes, 420 00:25:54,567 --> 00:25:57,700 because they're not receiving nourishment 421 00:25:57,767 --> 00:25:59,000 from their Russian captors. 422 00:26:00,166 --> 00:26:01,700 If you were sent to an Nargin, 423 00:26:01,767 --> 00:26:05,567 you could only pray that you would make it out alive, or that 424 00:26:05,667 --> 00:26:07,567 you would die as quickly as possible. 425 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,000 NARRATOR: In September 1918, Turkish forces 426 00:26:17,100 --> 00:26:19,367 liberate the island's surviving inmates. 427 00:26:21,867 --> 00:26:23,000 The following decade, 428 00:26:23,100 --> 00:26:26,066 it and the rest of Azerbaijan are captured 429 00:26:26,066 --> 00:26:27,667 by the Soviet Union, 430 00:26:27,667 --> 00:26:30,867 and the horrors witnessed here enter a new chapter. 431 00:26:33,567 --> 00:26:35,567 The island eventually evolved into 432 00:26:35,567 --> 00:26:37,567 one of the Soviet Union's prisons. 433 00:26:37,567 --> 00:26:40,800 It's where Stalin would send perceived 434 00:26:40,867 --> 00:26:43,667 enemies of the state or political prisoners. 435 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:51,100 NARRATOR: Between 1936 and 1938, Stalin launches a ruthless 436 00:26:51,166 --> 00:26:53,467 campaign to solidify his power, 437 00:26:53,467 --> 00:26:55,266 known as the Great Terror. 438 00:26:57,767 --> 00:27:00,367 Over one million people are imprisoned 439 00:27:00,467 --> 00:27:04,000 and 750,000 more murdered by the state. 440 00:27:06,367 --> 00:27:09,767 Of all the Gulags to be sent to during the Great Terror, 441 00:27:09,767 --> 00:27:12,200 Nargin Island was probably the worst. 442 00:27:12,266 --> 00:27:14,166 It essentially was a place to be sent 443 00:27:14,266 --> 00:27:16,300 to if you were going to be executed. 444 00:27:18,467 --> 00:27:21,700 NARRATOR: Stalin uses Nargin Island to execute both 445 00:27:21,767 --> 00:27:25,166 high-ranking officials and thousands of ordinary citizens. 446 00:27:26,967 --> 00:27:29,266 As his paranoia increases, 447 00:27:29,367 --> 00:27:32,700 so do the horrors inflicted on the prisoners there. 448 00:27:32,767 --> 00:27:34,667 At the height of the Great Terror, 449 00:27:34,667 --> 00:27:38,767 the state actually surpassed the idea of just executing 450 00:27:38,867 --> 00:27:40,133 political prisoners 451 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,700 to transitioning to full-scale extermination of these people. 452 00:27:46,867 --> 00:27:50,767 CAVELL: D isposing of the vast numbers of people that 453 00:27:50,767 --> 00:27:53,500 this regime was looking to get rid of, 454 00:27:53,567 --> 00:27:55,767 that becomes an expensive prospect. 455 00:27:55,867 --> 00:27:58,000 And so there are attempts to try 456 00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:00,667 and eliminate the problem as cheaply 457 00:28:00,667 --> 00:28:02,200 and efficiently as possible. 458 00:28:03,266 --> 00:28:04,600 NARRATOR: During the Great Terror, 459 00:28:04,667 --> 00:28:08,400 around 1,000 executions take place every day, 460 00:28:08,467 --> 00:28:10,800 and mass killings are commonplace. 461 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:15,000 This gives rise to harrowing rumors as to 462 00:28:15,100 --> 00:28:18,266 the purpose of the ghostly vessels seen in the image. 463 00:28:22,166 --> 00:28:25,400 Some reports actually suggest that the ships that are sunk in 464 00:28:25,467 --> 00:28:26,967 this harbor may have 465 00:28:26,967 --> 00:28:30,100 contained thousands upon thousands of victims who were 466 00:28:30,166 --> 00:28:34,000 purposefully sunk in the bowels of the vessels. 467 00:28:37,867 --> 00:28:41,000 NARRATOR: Soviet authorities eventually abandon the island. 468 00:28:43,767 --> 00:28:48,400 But even today, life has yet to return to this place of death. 469 00:28:50,266 --> 00:28:52,100 Although we will never know the number 470 00:28:52,166 --> 00:28:54,767 of people who perished on this island, 471 00:28:54,767 --> 00:28:59,166 it is nevertheless forever haunted by the legacy of 472 00:28:59,166 --> 00:29:02,500 the conflict and the extremist political ideologies of 473 00:29:02,567 --> 00:29:03,700 the 20th century. 474 00:29:07,100 --> 00:29:10,367 NARRATOR: Coming up, time travel in the mountains. 475 00:29:10,467 --> 00:29:14,066 This looks like a lair for a Bond villain. 476 00:29:14,066 --> 00:29:17,367 NARRATOR: And a monster rises from the depths. 477 00:29:17,367 --> 00:29:19,767 You have this tail that's pushing 478 00:29:19,767 --> 00:29:21,967 its way back out towards the sea. 479 00:29:30,467 --> 00:29:33,700 NARRATOR: March 9th, 2020. 480 00:29:33,767 --> 00:29:36,900 A satellite flying over southern Japan spots 481 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,367 a bizarre shape in the mountains below. 482 00:29:42,367 --> 00:29:44,100 MUNOZ: We're looking down on this remote, 483 00:29:44,166 --> 00:29:48,867 dense forest, and within the trees is this weird 484 00:29:48,967 --> 00:29:50,500 geometric structure. 485 00:29:51,867 --> 00:29:56,767 CAVELL: It's a very distinct pattern with adjacent buildings. 486 00:29:56,767 --> 00:29:58,467 I mean, this looks like something of 487 00:29:58,567 --> 00:30:01,367 a mountain lair for a Bond villain. 488 00:30:03,266 --> 00:30:06,867 NARRATOR: The mystery structure is over 400 feet wide. 489 00:30:08,266 --> 00:30:11,000 Analysis suggests it could indeed serve 490 00:30:11,100 --> 00:30:12,700 a nefarious purpose. 491 00:30:14,100 --> 00:30:16,066 WALTERS: If you look closely, you've got these six 492 00:30:16,066 --> 00:30:20,400 lines coming from these small structures towards the center. 493 00:30:21,500 --> 00:30:22,867 CAVELL: The first question I have, 494 00:30:22,867 --> 00:30:27,266 is there a hatch here, is this some kind of missile silo? 495 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:31,900 It looks like something military. 496 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,000 NARRATOR: Japan's post World War II constitution 497 00:30:38,100 --> 00:30:41,166 allows the country to maintain self defense forces 498 00:30:41,166 --> 00:30:43,767 but prohibits it from engaging in conflicts 499 00:30:43,767 --> 00:30:45,000 with foreign powers. 500 00:30:47,900 --> 00:30:50,066 Today, escalating tensions in 501 00:30:50,066 --> 00:30:52,667 the region are testing the country's resolve. 502 00:30:54,667 --> 00:30:57,500 Japan's primary threat is North Korea. 503 00:30:57,567 --> 00:31:00,767 Now, that is an unpredictable and volatile enemy, 504 00:31:00,867 --> 00:31:03,266 and they threatened Japan for decades. 505 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,000 MUNOZ: North Korea has developed weapons 506 00:31:08,066 --> 00:31:10,467 that can strike targets inside Japan. 507 00:31:11,467 --> 00:31:14,467 NARRATOR: In response, Japan has pledged to double 508 00:31:14,467 --> 00:31:17,867 its military spending to over $100 billion dollars 509 00:31:21,300 --> 00:31:23,567 and is upgrading its missile systems. 510 00:31:24,667 --> 00:31:27,367 CAVELL: Japan is looking to defend itself by investing 511 00:31:27,467 --> 00:31:29,100 in deterrent type weapons 512 00:31:29,166 --> 00:31:32,266 that can shoot down a potential incoming warhead. 513 00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:36,767 WALTERS: Japan's a small, densely populated country. 514 00:31:36,767 --> 00:31:39,767 But the location in this satellite image is a long 515 00:31:39,867 --> 00:31:42,266 way away from major populations 516 00:31:42,266 --> 00:31:45,500 so it could be a perfect spot for a silo. 517 00:31:47,867 --> 00:31:50,266 NARRATOR: However, local government records reveal 518 00:31:50,266 --> 00:31:53,100 the facility has a very different function. 519 00:31:54,867 --> 00:31:59,066 As we look closer at the surface of this structure, 520 00:31:59,066 --> 00:32:02,467 we can see that there is a fast array of small antennas 521 00:32:02,567 --> 00:32:04,900 on all these individual cells. 522 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,800 What we're looking at here is the MU array. 523 00:32:10,867 --> 00:32:13,300 M stands for middle atmosphere. 524 00:32:13,367 --> 00:32:14,900 U stands for upper atmosphere. 525 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,166 It's an atmospheric observatory. 526 00:32:21,767 --> 00:32:24,900 NARRATOR: Our planet's upper and middle atmospheres sit 527 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,867 between 5 and 6,200 miles above the Earth's surface. 528 00:32:31,467 --> 00:32:34,066 They shield us from solar radiation 529 00:32:35,166 --> 00:32:36,600 and destroy meteors 530 00:32:36,667 --> 00:32:39,367 and asteroids before they endanger humanity. 531 00:32:42,066 --> 00:32:45,500 But despite the critical role each plays in our lives, 532 00:32:45,567 --> 00:32:48,667 they remain poorly understood by scientists. 533 00:32:50,266 --> 00:32:52,600 The Earth's middle and upper atmosphere is one 534 00:32:52,667 --> 00:32:54,800 of those areas that just hasn't been explored. 535 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:57,567 OKEREKE: Just like we know very little 536 00:32:57,667 --> 00:32:59,700 about the deep ocean or deep space, 537 00:32:59,767 --> 00:33:02,066 there are areas of our atmosphere that we look up to 538 00:33:02,066 --> 00:33:04,367 every day that we know very little about. 539 00:33:06,700 --> 00:33:12,400 NARRATOR: The MU array uses 474 separate antenna to gather data 540 00:33:12,467 --> 00:33:15,500 on the composition and role of our planet's different 541 00:33:15,567 --> 00:33:16,867 atmospheric layers. 542 00:33:18,567 --> 00:33:22,166 It helps predict and decode extreme weather events, 543 00:33:22,266 --> 00:33:25,767 such as the typhoons, which regularly devastate this region. 544 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,467 But that's just the start of its capabilities. 545 00:33:33,567 --> 00:33:36,166 So the MU array is actually detecting cosmic 546 00:33:36,266 --> 00:33:39,567 dust in the middle and upper atmosphere. 547 00:33:39,567 --> 00:33:41,600 Cosmic dust is material that has 548 00:33:41,667 --> 00:33:45,367 been ejected from collisions out in space. 549 00:33:47,367 --> 00:33:50,667 CAVELL: The reason we study these tiny particles of dust 550 00:33:50,767 --> 00:33:53,467 more than 180 miles above the Earth's surface 551 00:33:53,567 --> 00:33:55,500 is that these particles actually 552 00:33:55,567 --> 00:33:58,767 contain the clues to the birth of the universe. 553 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,000 NARRATOR: Cosmic dust particles are 554 00:34:03,066 --> 00:34:05,266 the building blocks of celestial objects. 555 00:34:06,266 --> 00:34:09,200 When these objects disintegrate or explode, 556 00:34:09,266 --> 00:34:12,200 the dust released can form giant clouds, 557 00:34:12,266 --> 00:34:15,200 which then create new stars or planets. 558 00:34:16,567 --> 00:34:19,867 LEE: This dust is really a priceless source 559 00:34:19,967 --> 00:34:21,367 of information. 560 00:34:21,367 --> 00:34:23,567 It's pristine material from the earliest 561 00:34:23,567 --> 00:34:26,166 times of the formation of our planet. 562 00:34:26,266 --> 00:34:29,467 Some of these little tiny specks of dust are more than 563 00:34:29,467 --> 00:34:31,567 4.5 billion years old, 564 00:34:31,667 --> 00:34:34,700 and it gives us a clue into what the galaxy is 565 00:34:34,767 --> 00:34:36,000 actually made of. 566 00:34:38,767 --> 00:34:42,667 NARRATOR: On Earth, billions of years of tectonic upheaval 567 00:34:42,767 --> 00:34:45,266 and movement in our planet's molten core 568 00:34:45,367 --> 00:34:48,400 has erased all evidence of its original makeup. 569 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:52,400 Working with another telescope, 570 00:34:52,467 --> 00:34:55,967 scientists at the MU array can turn back time to 571 00:34:55,967 --> 00:34:59,567 work out where our planet and everything on it came from. 572 00:35:02,066 --> 00:35:05,166 So a normal radar fires out a pulse that hits off of 573 00:35:05,166 --> 00:35:08,700 a large object, and it receives that pulse back, 574 00:35:08,767 --> 00:35:09,700 and it measures that distance. 575 00:35:09,767 --> 00:35:11,767 These objects are too small. 576 00:35:11,867 --> 00:35:16,567 So instead, it uses an optical telescope, and those two units 577 00:35:16,567 --> 00:35:18,567 work together to give an idea 578 00:35:18,667 --> 00:35:20,300 of how much dust is in the atmosphere, 579 00:35:20,367 --> 00:35:22,266 where it's moving, et cetera, et cetera. 580 00:35:23,500 --> 00:35:26,500 Optical data allows scientists to start to decipher 581 00:35:26,567 --> 00:35:28,800 what this dust is actually made out of. 582 00:35:30,166 --> 00:35:31,166 NARRATOR: Each night, 583 00:35:31,266 --> 00:35:33,867 the scientists capture a million images of 584 00:35:33,967 --> 00:35:35,667 our atmosphere, 585 00:35:35,767 --> 00:35:38,400 helping to decode the 100 tons of dust 586 00:35:38,467 --> 00:35:39,867 that hits Earth each day. 587 00:35:41,767 --> 00:35:45,467 These messages from the dawn of time could help transform 588 00:35:45,567 --> 00:35:47,667 our knowledge of both our planet 589 00:35:47,667 --> 00:35:49,300 and the universe around it. 590 00:35:50,266 --> 00:35:52,266 LEE: The MU array is a very powerful tool 591 00:35:52,367 --> 00:35:55,200 to understand the origin of our own solar system. 592 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,467 NARRATOR: Coming up, the maelstrom of doom. 593 00:36:05,467 --> 00:36:09,000 Fishermen approach it with tremendous caution. 594 00:36:18,567 --> 00:36:21,867 NARRATOR: October 31st, 2021. 595 00:36:24,166 --> 00:36:28,166 A drone scans the coast of South Ayrshire in Scotland. 596 00:36:30,767 --> 00:36:32,367 200 feet from shore, 597 00:36:32,367 --> 00:36:34,867 it captures this in the waters below. 598 00:36:37,266 --> 00:36:40,567 This drone shot is super weird. 599 00:36:43,266 --> 00:36:47,834 You have this churning center, and you have this tail 600 00:36:47,834 --> 00:36:51,567 that's pushing its way back out towards the sea. 601 00:36:51,667 --> 00:36:54,867 It almost has this appearance of a comet 602 00:36:54,967 --> 00:36:57,467 or a meteor that's headed straight for you. 603 00:36:59,667 --> 00:37:02,100 NARRATOR: The head of the bizarre aquatic shape 604 00:37:02,166 --> 00:37:03,867 is around 80 feet wide. 605 00:37:05,567 --> 00:37:08,467 This does not look like anything I'd want to be near. 606 00:37:08,567 --> 00:37:10,567 You can see next to the waves 607 00:37:10,667 --> 00:37:11,600 that are breaking along the shore, 608 00:37:11,667 --> 00:37:13,767 this disturbance is massive. 609 00:37:18,100 --> 00:37:19,834 NARRATOR: The maelstrom sits in a patch of 610 00:37:19,834 --> 00:37:23,100 ocean known for other mysterious aquatic phenomena. 611 00:37:26,300 --> 00:37:28,500 Just up the coast is Corryvreckan, 612 00:37:28,567 --> 00:37:31,734 one of the most powerful whirlpools on Earth. 613 00:37:31,734 --> 00:37:34,600 There are tales of the whirlpool claiming the lives 614 00:37:34,667 --> 00:37:36,667 of countless fishermen over the years 615 00:37:36,767 --> 00:37:40,600 and the local boats approach it with tremendous caution. 616 00:37:42,867 --> 00:37:45,200 NARRATOR: Guy Walters studies the footage. 617 00:37:47,767 --> 00:37:49,567 He thinks that while the churning 618 00:37:49,667 --> 00:37:52,266 waters do pose a threat to shipping, 619 00:37:52,266 --> 00:37:54,467 they've been created by something even 620 00:37:54,467 --> 00:37:55,834 more destructive. 621 00:37:56,834 --> 00:38:00,100 What I'm wondering is if what we're seeing here in these 622 00:38:00,166 --> 00:38:04,567 images is a legacy of the most destructive conflict in 623 00:38:04,667 --> 00:38:07,166 human history -- the Second World War. 624 00:38:10,667 --> 00:38:14,367 NARRATOR: Between 1939 and 1945, 625 00:38:14,467 --> 00:38:16,066 British factories assemble vast 626 00:38:16,066 --> 00:38:18,900 amounts of bombs and munitions for the war effort. 627 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,600 Following the Nazis' surrender, 628 00:38:24,667 --> 00:38:27,867 authorities face the problem of what to do with more than 629 00:38:27,967 --> 00:38:30,667 one million tons of unused ordnance. 630 00:38:33,100 --> 00:38:34,367 WALTERS: They come up with this plan, 631 00:38:34,367 --> 00:38:35,767 and it's to take all these kind of 632 00:38:35,834 --> 00:38:38,400 remnants of the horrors of this global war, 633 00:38:38,467 --> 00:38:40,600 and they want to put them somewhere where no one will be 634 00:38:40,667 --> 00:38:43,567 able to get them, and that is at the bottom of the sea. 635 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:48,567 NARRATOR: After the war, the British 636 00:38:48,667 --> 00:38:51,000 dump the munitions into Beaufort's Dyke, 637 00:38:52,166 --> 00:38:55,166 a 30-mile-long sea trench near the site 638 00:38:55,166 --> 00:38:56,500 in the drone footage. 639 00:38:58,467 --> 00:38:59,967 CAVELL: Many of these weapons still 640 00:38:59,967 --> 00:39:03,000 contain volatile explosive chemicals inside them. 641 00:39:03,100 --> 00:39:05,667 So I wonder if what we're seeing here 642 00:39:05,767 --> 00:39:09,000 is underwater munitions detonating on the sea floor. 643 00:39:10,867 --> 00:39:14,600 NARRATOR: Analysts consult Scottish maritime records. 644 00:39:14,667 --> 00:39:17,600 They discover something surprising. 645 00:39:17,667 --> 00:39:20,467 Further investigations reveal that the maelstrom is 646 00:39:20,567 --> 00:39:21,767 the byproduct of 647 00:39:21,867 --> 00:39:24,367 a very different type of threat to the Scottish coastline. 648 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:30,266 The location of these roiling waters corresponds exactly to 649 00:39:30,266 --> 00:39:32,166 the position of a runoff pipe 650 00:39:32,266 --> 00:39:34,567 coming from a nearby waste landfill site. 651 00:39:36,834 --> 00:39:39,000 NARRATOR: Each year, humankind dumps 652 00:39:39,100 --> 00:39:41,967 two billion tons of trash into landfill sites 653 00:39:41,967 --> 00:39:44,667 that can be over three square miles in size. 654 00:39:47,567 --> 00:39:49,000 What's more, 655 00:39:49,100 --> 00:39:52,166 by 2050, the amount of plastic we've put 656 00:39:52,266 --> 00:39:55,166 in the ocean will outweigh the fish found there. 657 00:39:57,367 --> 00:39:59,834 The churning waters in the footage are an attempt 658 00:39:59,834 --> 00:40:02,200 to deal with another noxious byproduct 659 00:40:02,266 --> 00:40:03,667 of our throwaway culture. 660 00:40:09,667 --> 00:40:12,166 Landfill sites take up big areas, 661 00:40:12,166 --> 00:40:13,900 so they catch a lot of rain water. 662 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:17,200 Rain water that washes down through these mountains of 663 00:40:17,266 --> 00:40:19,667 trash can pick up dangerous chemicals 664 00:40:19,734 --> 00:40:22,266 along the way and carry them along with the water. 665 00:40:23,500 --> 00:40:25,834 NARRATOR: This toxic runoff is called leachate. 666 00:40:27,500 --> 00:40:30,300 In the U.S. alone, landfill sites generate 667 00:40:30,367 --> 00:40:33,667 16 billion gallons of the stuff each year, 668 00:40:33,767 --> 00:40:37,567 enough to fill 24,000 Olympic swimming pools. 669 00:40:40,100 --> 00:40:42,600 And much of it contains carcinogens known as 670 00:40:42,667 --> 00:40:44,266 forever chemicals. 671 00:40:45,734 --> 00:40:48,367 They're called forever chemicals, because once 672 00:40:48,367 --> 00:40:50,767 you make them, you're kind of stuck with them. 673 00:40:52,967 --> 00:40:55,367 The other thing about these forever chemicals 674 00:40:55,467 --> 00:40:57,166 is that they spread easily. 675 00:40:57,166 --> 00:41:00,967 They've been found in lakes, rivers, and in some states, 676 00:41:00,967 --> 00:41:02,400 even in the tap water. 677 00:41:06,567 --> 00:41:09,266 NARRATOR: Close to the site in the image, authorities 678 00:41:09,266 --> 00:41:13,000 capture and treat these lethal chemicals in lined pools. 679 00:41:14,767 --> 00:41:17,567 Clean water is then piped out to sea, 680 00:41:17,567 --> 00:41:21,467 generating roiling waters, which rise to the surface. 681 00:41:21,567 --> 00:41:24,500 DENNIE: As long as populations continue to grow and demand 682 00:41:24,567 --> 00:41:27,300 continues to grow, we're gonna get more bad stuff. 683 00:41:27,367 --> 00:41:29,467 So we've got to learn how to deal 684 00:41:29,467 --> 00:41:31,900 with the bad stuff in a good way. 685 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,567 NARRATOR: Some studies claim that the amount of trash 686 00:41:37,667 --> 00:41:40,100 we generate will triple by the end of the century. 687 00:41:41,767 --> 00:41:44,100 That means we're going to see a lot more 688 00:41:44,166 --> 00:41:47,734 of the strange, churning seas captured from the skies. 689 00:41:49,467 --> 00:41:51,767 We have to be awake to the threat of 690 00:41:51,834 --> 00:41:53,734 these chemicals that we keep throwing out, 691 00:41:53,734 --> 00:41:57,100 because eventually, they might come back at us.