1 00:00:01,802 --> 00:00:03,135 NARRATOR: They're watching you. 2 00:00:03,204 --> 00:00:06,705 More than 6,000 satellites circle the Earth. 3 00:00:06,807 --> 00:00:11,010 Every day, they uncover new, mysterious phenomena 4 00:00:11,012 --> 00:00:13,045 that defy explanation. 5 00:00:15,216 --> 00:00:17,516 Revealed from the skies, 6 00:00:17,518 --> 00:00:19,151 the ghosts of war. 7 00:00:19,220 --> 00:00:23,422 What an amazing structure to find in the middle of nowhere. 8 00:00:24,725 --> 00:00:28,260 NARRATOR: Attack of the million-ton goop monster. 9 00:00:28,295 --> 00:00:31,430 It almost physically shouldn't be possible. 10 00:00:31,532 --> 00:00:34,033 NARRATOR: And the weirdest war in history. 11 00:00:34,134 --> 00:00:35,734 There were stabbings and shootings 12 00:00:35,803 --> 00:00:38,003 between rival gangs of egg collectors. 13 00:00:38,005 --> 00:00:41,807 NARRATOR: Baffling phenomena, mysteries from space. 14 00:00:41,809 --> 00:00:44,743 What on Earth are they? 15 00:00:44,845 --> 00:00:47,913 [theme music playing] 16 00:01:02,329 --> 00:01:04,563 December 2021. 17 00:01:06,500 --> 00:01:09,835 Alex Richie is traveling through Poland, drawn 18 00:01:09,937 --> 00:01:12,404 by a mystery hidden from human eyes. 19 00:01:16,610 --> 00:01:19,945 RICHIE: I'm deep in the Polish forest 20 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,247 to try and figure out what 21 00:01:22,349 --> 00:01:25,117 on Earth these mysterious things could be. 22 00:01:28,823 --> 00:01:32,324 NARRATOR: A laser scan of a dense patch of woodland 23 00:01:32,326 --> 00:01:36,328 has revealed a series of structures swallowed by time. 24 00:01:37,531 --> 00:01:40,065 The Lidar scan reveals something 25 00:01:40,101 --> 00:01:41,400 absolutely extraordinary. 26 00:01:43,637 --> 00:01:46,705 The forest is hiding dozens of perfectly 27 00:01:46,807 --> 00:01:51,810 straight parallel lines and mounds of earth. 28 00:01:51,812 --> 00:01:54,413 So something quite unusual is going on here. 29 00:01:57,551 --> 00:01:59,551 NARRATOR: Richie's journey takes her deep 30 00:01:59,620 --> 00:02:01,220 into the region of Silesia, 31 00:02:03,324 --> 00:02:06,291 a place with a long, twisting human history 32 00:02:06,293 --> 00:02:08,961 stretching back more than 100,000 years. 33 00:02:20,508 --> 00:02:22,508 What's really strange is the locals 34 00:02:22,510 --> 00:02:23,942 I've spoken to don't seem to know 35 00:02:24,011 --> 00:02:26,612 anything about these structures in the woods. 36 00:02:26,714 --> 00:02:27,846 They've just been forgotten about. 37 00:02:30,718 --> 00:02:32,151 NARRATOR: Richie heads north. 38 00:02:35,189 --> 00:02:37,823 As she approaches the coordinates in the image, 39 00:02:37,925 --> 00:02:40,058 the landscape begins to change. 40 00:02:41,428 --> 00:02:44,763 Now most of this forest is pretty flat. 41 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:48,600 But this... 42 00:02:48,702 --> 00:02:50,502 is quite astounding, 43 00:02:51,939 --> 00:02:55,107 because there are three huge mounds. 44 00:02:57,044 --> 00:02:59,344 NARRATOR: Richie believes this is one of 45 00:02:59,413 --> 00:03:01,813 the giant lines visible in the image. 46 00:03:03,150 --> 00:03:06,118 Its purpose, however, remains unclear. 47 00:03:09,023 --> 00:03:11,757 Far in the distance, I can see some sort of building. 48 00:03:14,528 --> 00:03:16,094 Oh, my goodness! 49 00:03:16,096 --> 00:03:17,829 What is this? 50 00:03:21,502 --> 00:03:24,303 NARRATOR: An arched edifice rises some 30 feet 51 00:03:24,405 --> 00:03:26,004 from the end of the mounds. 52 00:03:27,608 --> 00:03:28,740 RICHIE: It's huge. 53 00:03:30,110 --> 00:03:33,212 What an amazing structure to find 54 00:03:33,314 --> 00:03:34,746 in the middle of the forest. 55 00:03:36,317 --> 00:03:37,516 In the middle of nowhere. 56 00:03:42,823 --> 00:03:45,624 NARRATOR: One of the structure's walls yields a clue. 57 00:03:47,528 --> 00:03:48,827 Oh, no -- look. 58 00:03:48,896 --> 00:03:50,729 This is amazing. 59 00:03:50,831 --> 00:03:53,398 This says Opitz, 60 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,202 which is a German name, 16-9-1942. 61 00:03:58,839 --> 00:04:00,038 That's incredible. 62 00:04:04,111 --> 00:04:07,212 NARRATOR: Richie has uncovered a Nazi mega structure, 63 00:04:09,116 --> 00:04:11,617 and it was a place of extreme violence. 64 00:04:17,024 --> 00:04:21,126 There's these massive walls riddled with bullet holes, 65 00:04:22,730 --> 00:04:25,163 and you can see the pieces of metal 66 00:04:25,232 --> 00:04:26,465 that are just lying around. 67 00:04:28,602 --> 00:04:30,902 Now it really all makes sense. 68 00:04:32,439 --> 00:04:34,606 This discovery of all of these... 69 00:04:34,708 --> 00:04:38,844 bullets in this huge structure, 70 00:04:38,946 --> 00:04:41,213 faced by these massive trenches. 71 00:04:42,616 --> 00:04:45,951 This was a Nazi firing range. 72 00:04:47,121 --> 00:04:48,654 It's quite an extraordinary place. 73 00:04:51,425 --> 00:04:53,625 NARRATOR: Declassified files reveal that 74 00:04:53,627 --> 00:04:56,128 Hitler takes control of this massive facility 75 00:04:56,230 --> 00:04:59,998 in the early 1930s, when this region of Poland 76 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,199 was German territory. 77 00:05:01,201 --> 00:05:05,103 It will play a key role in his plans to 78 00:05:05,105 --> 00:05:08,440 secretly rearm his country in violation 79 00:05:08,542 --> 00:05:10,208 of international peace treaties. 80 00:05:11,712 --> 00:05:13,445 MORGAN: In the aftermath of World War I, 81 00:05:13,514 --> 00:05:16,348 the Versailles treaty limited what Germany could make for 82 00:05:16,450 --> 00:05:17,449 its military. 83 00:05:17,518 --> 00:05:19,518 It limited combat aircraft, it limited German 84 00:05:19,653 --> 00:05:22,120 naval strength, it limited the rearmament program. 85 00:05:23,957 --> 00:05:26,224 NARRATOR: The treaty restricts the strength of 86 00:05:26,226 --> 00:05:28,827 the German Army to 100,000 troops. 87 00:05:28,929 --> 00:05:33,565 Hitler increases this to four million. 88 00:05:35,803 --> 00:05:38,737 He uses this range to prepare his new troops 89 00:05:38,805 --> 00:05:42,741 and weapons for the fury he will soon unleash on the world. 90 00:05:46,213 --> 00:05:50,048 It's obvious that the Nazis invested a huge amount of money 91 00:05:50,117 --> 00:05:52,317 into this vast facility, 92 00:05:52,419 --> 00:05:55,120 but there was a reason for it, because small arms were 93 00:05:55,222 --> 00:05:57,956 tremendously important in the Second World War. 94 00:06:01,862 --> 00:06:04,229 NARRATOR: When Hitler rises to power, 95 00:06:04,331 --> 00:06:09,634 the Nazis' primary infantry weapon is the 98k rifle, 96 00:06:09,703 --> 00:06:12,070 but it soon becomes clear that it is not 97 00:06:12,072 --> 00:06:16,141 suitable for the demands of World War II battlefields. 98 00:06:16,243 --> 00:06:20,245 The German troops were armed primarily with weapons that had 99 00:06:20,347 --> 00:06:23,048 proven very effective during the First World War, 100 00:06:23,150 --> 00:06:24,950 you know, trench warfare. 101 00:06:25,051 --> 00:06:28,019 MUNOZ: The nature of warfare had changed dramatically. 102 00:06:28,021 --> 00:06:31,656 They did not have the rate of fire required 103 00:06:31,725 --> 00:06:34,726 to conduct modern, urban warfare operations. 104 00:06:36,797 --> 00:06:39,531 NARRATOR: In response, Nazi engineers designed 105 00:06:39,533 --> 00:06:42,534 the first assault rifle in history, 106 00:06:42,636 --> 00:06:46,505 the Sturmgewehr, or MP 44. 107 00:06:46,607 --> 00:06:49,574 The Sturmgewehr, or Storm Gun, 108 00:06:49,610 --> 00:06:52,511 was the name given by Hitler himself to the weapon, 109 00:06:52,613 --> 00:06:56,047 and it was truly a breakthrough in infantry warfare. 110 00:06:57,418 --> 00:06:59,618 It was a revolutionary weapon, because it was the first 111 00:06:59,753 --> 00:07:01,319 small arms weapon 112 00:07:01,422 --> 00:07:04,790 that combined a fully automatic rate of fire with 113 00:07:04,792 --> 00:07:07,626 a detachable magazine. 114 00:07:07,628 --> 00:07:12,697 NARRATOR: The MP 44 provides range and accuracy but also 115 00:07:12,699 --> 00:07:18,336 offers the intense firepower needed for close urban combat. 116 00:07:18,438 --> 00:07:22,641 The MP 44 ended up being sort of the best of both worlds. 117 00:07:22,709 --> 00:07:25,310 CAVELL: It really is a revelation. 118 00:07:25,312 --> 00:07:28,313 It changes all sorts of ideas about how 119 00:07:28,448 --> 00:07:31,516 we're going to equip our soldiers in the field. 120 00:07:31,518 --> 00:07:33,819 NARRATOR: During the war, 121 00:07:33,821 --> 00:07:36,321 the Nazis used the site in the image as 122 00:07:36,323 --> 00:07:39,357 a proving ground for their new weapons of war. 123 00:07:39,426 --> 00:07:44,229 But in the end, victory becomes a numbers game. 124 00:07:44,331 --> 00:07:49,501 While German factories produce around 13 million guns, 125 00:07:49,603 --> 00:07:53,839 the U.S. and Britain churn out almost two times that number. 126 00:07:56,610 --> 00:07:59,311 It's not really armies that win wars, 127 00:07:59,313 --> 00:08:03,448 it's the ability of the nation behind that army to produce 128 00:08:03,550 --> 00:08:05,951 the tools to keep it in the fight. 129 00:08:08,755 --> 00:08:11,556 NARRATOR: Yet, as Richie explores a local archive 130 00:08:11,658 --> 00:08:13,625 to learn more, 131 00:08:13,627 --> 00:08:15,126 she discovers the story of 132 00:08:15,195 --> 00:08:18,730 the giant Nazi range doesn't end there. 133 00:08:18,732 --> 00:08:20,899 This is really like 134 00:08:20,901 --> 00:08:25,804 an Aladdin's cave of old maps and documents. 135 00:08:25,906 --> 00:08:29,107 NARRATOR: Wartime maps show that the range once 136 00:08:29,209 --> 00:08:31,810 formed part of a much larger Nazi facility, 137 00:08:33,313 --> 00:08:36,448 one that played a role in some of the vilest events 138 00:08:36,517 --> 00:08:38,149 of the war. 139 00:08:38,251 --> 00:08:40,819 RICHIE: This was an installation of 140 00:08:40,821 --> 00:08:42,721 enormous importance to the Third Reich. 141 00:08:43,790 --> 00:08:45,624 If these walls could talk, 142 00:08:45,726 --> 00:08:48,360 they would tell a truly sinister history. 143 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:57,202 NARRATOR: Coming up, death stalks the Polish forests. 144 00:08:57,337 --> 00:09:01,206 These were highly trained, highly murderous, 145 00:09:01,341 --> 00:09:03,208 highly fearsome individuals. 146 00:09:04,678 --> 00:09:07,913 NARRATOR: And the mystery mucus invasion. 147 00:09:07,915 --> 00:09:13,318 This grayish, greenish slime, it's sticking to everything. 148 00:09:22,262 --> 00:09:25,530 NARRATOR: A strange pattern in a Lidar image has led 149 00:09:25,532 --> 00:09:29,401 historian Alex Richie to discover a Nazi shooting range. 150 00:09:30,804 --> 00:09:33,538 Wartime documents reveal its connection to some of 151 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,342 the most controversial chapters of World War II. 152 00:09:37,411 --> 00:09:41,613 The shooting range was part of a huge military complex, 153 00:09:41,748 --> 00:09:44,115 and this complex was used by the SS. 154 00:09:45,719 --> 00:09:49,654 NARRATOR: The SS, or Schutzstaffel, begins life in 155 00:09:49,723 --> 00:09:53,825 1925 as a small personal bodyguard to Hitler. 156 00:09:55,162 --> 00:09:59,331 In the run-up to war, under the command of Heinrich Himmler, 157 00:09:59,433 --> 00:10:01,633 their number grows to 50,000. 158 00:10:03,203 --> 00:10:05,937 The SS were the most ideologically 159 00:10:06,039 --> 00:10:08,807 fanatical of all the German forces. 160 00:10:08,909 --> 00:10:13,545 They literally took a personal oath to Adolf Hitler 161 00:10:13,647 --> 00:10:15,947 and they would fight more fiercely 162 00:10:16,049 --> 00:10:18,416 and with more conviction than any other unit. 163 00:10:20,420 --> 00:10:23,555 NARRATOR: Himmler installs thousands of SS recruits 164 00:10:23,657 --> 00:10:26,458 in Polish forests, like the site in the image. 165 00:10:26,493 --> 00:10:30,829 Those who display the greatest lust for violence are later 166 00:10:30,964 --> 00:10:35,200 involved in some of the most despicable acts of the war. 167 00:10:35,202 --> 00:10:38,703 Locals have talked about Nazi death squads 168 00:10:38,772 --> 00:10:41,606 that stalked these forests during the war. 169 00:10:41,608 --> 00:10:44,643 WALTERS: These Nazi death squads were known as 170 00:10:44,744 --> 00:10:47,412 the Einsatzgruppen, special groups, 171 00:10:47,514 --> 00:10:50,215 and these were highly trained, 172 00:10:50,317 --> 00:10:53,952 highly murderous, highly fearsome individuals. 173 00:10:54,054 --> 00:10:58,056 NARRATOR: During the first three months of World War II, 174 00:10:58,125 --> 00:11:01,559 the Einsatzgruppen murders some 50,000 Poles. 175 00:11:04,064 --> 00:11:07,932 They will go on to commit many more heinous war crimes, 176 00:11:08,001 --> 00:11:10,635 killing around 1.5 million people on 177 00:11:10,704 --> 00:11:13,438 the eastern front and during the Holocaust. 178 00:11:16,843 --> 00:11:19,344 As the conflict unfolds, the story of 179 00:11:19,446 --> 00:11:22,447 the site in the image takes another disturbing turn. 180 00:11:24,418 --> 00:11:26,017 Sadly for the people of Poland, 181 00:11:26,019 --> 00:11:28,920 the 13th Waffen-SS Mountain Division 182 00:11:28,922 --> 00:11:30,622 also visited and trained here. 183 00:11:32,092 --> 00:11:36,061 We tend to think of Waffen-SS divisions as being 184 00:11:36,129 --> 00:11:40,198 these six-foot, blue-eyed, blond-haired Aryans, 185 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,835 but the 13th Waffen Mountain Division 186 00:11:43,937 --> 00:11:46,237 was not Germanic at all. 187 00:11:46,306 --> 00:11:49,107 They are actually made up mostly of Muslims. 188 00:11:51,144 --> 00:11:53,411 NARRATOR: The 13th Division has its origins 189 00:11:53,513 --> 00:11:56,147 in the Balkans campaign of World War II, 190 00:11:56,216 --> 00:11:59,718 which sees Albania, Greece, and Yugoslavia 191 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:01,152 fall under German control. 192 00:12:03,223 --> 00:12:05,824 When partisan rebellions threaten stability in 193 00:12:05,826 --> 00:12:08,426 the region, Himmler decides to use 194 00:12:08,495 --> 00:12:10,829 local ethnic divisions to his advantage. 195 00:12:12,199 --> 00:12:15,800 Germany had to do something about partisans in Yugoslavia. 196 00:12:15,802 --> 00:12:18,937 They just couldn't bring the uprising under control, 197 00:12:19,005 --> 00:12:20,972 and that then opened the door for them going, 198 00:12:20,974 --> 00:12:23,308 who can we get to help us? 199 00:12:23,310 --> 00:12:25,310 NARRATOR: At the time, 200 00:12:25,412 --> 00:12:29,114 30 percent of Yugoslavians are Muslim. 201 00:12:29,216 --> 00:12:32,517 Himmler, who has long been fascinated by Islam, 202 00:12:32,619 --> 00:12:35,420 devises a plan to mobilize them against 203 00:12:35,555 --> 00:12:37,122 their fellow countrymen. 204 00:12:37,190 --> 00:12:40,458 For him, Islamic fighters, historically, were some of 205 00:12:40,527 --> 00:12:42,360 the greatest fighters in history, 206 00:12:42,462 --> 00:12:45,764 and he wanted to be able to tap into that source of power 207 00:12:45,832 --> 00:12:47,799 if at all possible. 208 00:12:47,901 --> 00:12:51,503 And that is such a rich irony when you consider that, 209 00:12:51,505 --> 00:12:55,140 central to, at the core of German ideology, 210 00:12:55,208 --> 00:12:58,143 was this idea of not just white supremacy, 211 00:12:58,211 --> 00:12:59,711 but the supremacy also of what 212 00:12:59,713 --> 00:13:02,046 white people believe spiritually. 213 00:13:02,115 --> 00:13:05,950 NARRATOR: Himmler tries to navigate this hypocrisy 214 00:13:06,052 --> 00:13:07,952 by claiming that Balkan Muslims 215 00:13:08,021 --> 00:13:10,421 are descended from an ancient Aryan race. 216 00:13:11,825 --> 00:13:15,059 But when enlistment begins in 1943, 217 00:13:15,161 --> 00:13:18,263 few buy into his propaganda. 218 00:13:19,900 --> 00:13:22,100 There were problems with recruitment. 219 00:13:22,102 --> 00:13:24,803 There weren't too many from the Muslim population who were 220 00:13:24,805 --> 00:13:27,839 ready to take up arms and fight for Germany. 221 00:13:29,709 --> 00:13:31,609 NARRATOR: The Nazis turned to the controversial 222 00:13:31,611 --> 00:13:34,646 Muslim leader Amin al-Husseini for help. 223 00:13:36,116 --> 00:13:39,317 By playing on the clerics' hatred of the Allied nations 224 00:13:39,419 --> 00:13:41,219 and anti-Semitic views, 225 00:13:41,221 --> 00:13:44,422 Hitler persuades him to rally more recruits. 226 00:13:45,725 --> 00:13:48,726 Al-Husseini declared that Arabs and Germany were 227 00:13:48,728 --> 00:13:52,530 natural friends, because they shared the same enemies. 228 00:13:52,532 --> 00:13:55,733 WALTERS: Al-Husseini put out an appeal for volunteers to fight, 229 00:13:55,802 --> 00:13:58,036 and the end result was the formation of 230 00:13:58,137 --> 00:13:59,704 the 13th Waffen-SS Division. 231 00:14:00,941 --> 00:14:03,508 NARRATOR: Following Al-Husseini's call to arms, 232 00:14:03,610 --> 00:14:05,944 some 20,000 Balkan Muslims 233 00:14:06,045 --> 00:14:08,246 join the 13th Waffen-SS Division. 234 00:14:09,816 --> 00:14:13,017 The 13th SS had a fez, and right at 235 00:14:13,019 --> 00:14:16,721 the center of the fez was the totenkopf, 236 00:14:16,723 --> 00:14:19,324 the death's head, the skull with the crossbones. 237 00:14:21,962 --> 00:14:24,262 NARRATOR: In September 1943, 238 00:14:24,330 --> 00:14:26,865 the 13th Division begins training in France, 239 00:14:29,002 --> 00:14:31,703 but a group of them soon stages a mutiny, 240 00:14:31,705 --> 00:14:34,038 killing several of their commanding officers. 241 00:14:35,475 --> 00:14:37,508 It's a pretty catastrophic mutiny. 242 00:14:37,611 --> 00:14:41,246 Many of them actually escaped into the French countryside 243 00:14:41,314 --> 00:14:44,849 and Himmler's like, "Oh, God, did we make a mistake here?" 244 00:14:44,918 --> 00:14:48,820 NARRATOR: In the fall of 1943, Himmler moves 245 00:14:48,822 --> 00:14:52,423 thousands of the 13th Division to the site in the image. 246 00:14:54,761 --> 00:14:57,362 After five months in the Polish woods, 247 00:14:57,430 --> 00:15:00,365 they embark on a series of brutal campaigns 248 00:15:00,433 --> 00:15:02,500 in the Balkan states. 249 00:15:02,635 --> 00:15:06,037 Unfortunately, their aggressions are directed 250 00:15:06,106 --> 00:15:08,940 against ethnic cleansing in the region, 251 00:15:09,042 --> 00:15:11,709 which is exactly what the Nazis had hoped for. 252 00:15:13,013 --> 00:15:15,613 NARRATOR: When the war draws to a close, 253 00:15:15,715 --> 00:15:19,150 the division surrenders to advancing Allied forces, 254 00:15:19,219 --> 00:15:21,953 who executes several officers for war crimes. 255 00:15:23,123 --> 00:15:25,523 Over the following decades, 256 00:15:25,592 --> 00:15:28,626 the site that helped give rise to their atrocities is 257 00:15:28,695 --> 00:15:31,763 abandoned and slowly reclaimed by the forest. 258 00:15:33,233 --> 00:15:37,702 The division was notorious in its cruelty and its brutality, 259 00:15:37,804 --> 00:15:39,737 which taints it with some 260 00:15:39,839 --> 00:15:42,740 of the worst crimes that were committed by the Germans in 261 00:15:42,809 --> 00:15:44,008 the Second World War. 262 00:15:47,814 --> 00:15:51,316 Today, the story of the 13th Waffen Mountain Division 263 00:15:51,418 --> 00:15:52,550 is mired in controversy, 264 00:15:54,321 --> 00:15:57,021 for while their atrocities cannot be denied, 265 00:15:57,023 --> 00:15:59,824 for some, they, too, were victims of Hitler's 266 00:15:59,926 --> 00:16:02,727 exploitation of anyone who stood in his way. 267 00:16:04,831 --> 00:16:07,732 It was a direct manipulation of 268 00:16:07,801 --> 00:16:10,335 the religious diversity of the Balkans. 269 00:16:10,436 --> 00:16:12,136 It was Germany going, we know just 270 00:16:12,205 --> 00:16:13,805 how to turn these people against each other. 271 00:16:15,308 --> 00:16:18,576 RICHIE: This shooting range is part of a vast system 272 00:16:18,578 --> 00:16:24,716 of terror that was unleashed on the 1st September 1939. 273 00:16:29,122 --> 00:16:32,156 NARRATOR: Coming up, swamp things. 274 00:16:32,225 --> 00:16:35,860 It's completely brutal, and only the very toughest 275 00:16:35,962 --> 00:16:37,362 get through. 276 00:16:37,430 --> 00:16:40,631 NARRATOR: And 400,000 tons of terror. 277 00:16:40,733 --> 00:16:43,835 It could pose a threat to the entire region. 278 00:16:52,812 --> 00:16:55,113 NARRATOR: July 2020. 279 00:16:55,115 --> 00:16:59,317 Flying over the wild expanse of northern California, 280 00:16:59,419 --> 00:17:01,519 an aerial survey captures something 281 00:17:01,621 --> 00:17:03,521 in the landscape below. 282 00:17:03,523 --> 00:17:06,424 KOUROUNIS: I'm seeing a strange pattern 283 00:17:06,526 --> 00:17:08,559 of geometric shapes here. 284 00:17:08,628 --> 00:17:13,564 It looks like lines of circles or spheres. 285 00:17:13,633 --> 00:17:17,602 These circles are regularly occurring in a pattern, 286 00:17:17,704 --> 00:17:19,537 but some of them look more like rings. 287 00:17:19,606 --> 00:17:21,739 Some of them have, like, a solid core. 288 00:17:21,841 --> 00:17:25,410 I honestly cannot imagine what this could be. 289 00:17:27,047 --> 00:17:30,014 NARRATOR: Over 150 of the bizarre structures 290 00:17:30,016 --> 00:17:32,350 stretch across a swampy body of water. 291 00:17:33,620 --> 00:17:36,921 KOUROUNIS: It seems very much to be out in the wilderness. 292 00:17:38,324 --> 00:17:42,160 Who would build something so geometrically perfect 293 00:17:42,261 --> 00:17:45,930 out in the middle of nowhere? 294 00:17:45,932 --> 00:17:49,600 NARRATOR: Guy Walters thinks the structure's location 295 00:17:49,735 --> 00:17:51,536 and its precise layout 296 00:17:51,604 --> 00:17:54,405 could mean it serves a military purpose. 297 00:17:54,407 --> 00:17:57,341 There's this particular section of the American army 298 00:17:57,443 --> 00:18:00,011 that has this really long and secretive 299 00:18:00,013 --> 00:18:02,914 history of using swamps for its really 300 00:18:02,916 --> 00:18:05,516 grueling training regime. 301 00:18:05,518 --> 00:18:07,718 They're known as the Rangers. 302 00:18:09,622 --> 00:18:11,856 The Rangers are the U.S. Army's 303 00:18:11,958 --> 00:18:14,459 premier light infantry unit and trace 304 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,328 their roots back to before the Revolutionary War. 305 00:18:18,965 --> 00:18:21,499 Today, they play a clandestine role 306 00:18:21,501 --> 00:18:23,734 in conflicts around the world. 307 00:18:23,803 --> 00:18:26,337 What the Rangers do is to specialize in going 308 00:18:26,439 --> 00:18:30,408 behind enemy territory to carry out really daring raids. 309 00:18:30,410 --> 00:18:33,845 So these are the most elite soldiers in the world. 310 00:18:35,315 --> 00:18:38,316 NARRATOR: Before being deployed, recruits must complete 311 00:18:38,451 --> 00:18:40,051 Ranger school, 312 00:18:40,153 --> 00:18:42,720 a brutal 61-day training program. 313 00:18:44,824 --> 00:18:47,425 Each phase of that training is designed to 314 00:18:47,527 --> 00:18:50,528 challenge and exhaust candidates in very 315 00:18:50,597 --> 00:18:51,729 specific ways. 316 00:18:51,831 --> 00:18:53,531 So what the first phase does is to 317 00:18:53,633 --> 00:18:56,300 center on kind of military skills and endurance. 318 00:18:56,302 --> 00:19:00,004 And then the second phase examines survival techniques. 319 00:19:01,641 --> 00:19:04,408 NARRATOR: Up to half of all recruits drop out 320 00:19:04,511 --> 00:19:08,045 of ranger school, many during the feared swamp phase. 321 00:19:09,649 --> 00:19:12,550 The swamp phase is all about waterborne operations, 322 00:19:12,619 --> 00:19:15,052 simulating intense battle environments. 323 00:19:15,154 --> 00:19:17,722 WALTERS: It's completely brutal. 324 00:19:17,724 --> 00:19:20,224 It's completely relentless, and only 325 00:19:20,226 --> 00:19:22,260 the very toughest get through. 326 00:19:22,361 --> 00:19:24,962 You have to know how to push through 327 00:19:25,031 --> 00:19:28,199 even when every fiber of you is screaming stop. 328 00:19:30,303 --> 00:19:33,037 NARRATOR: The structures in this Californian swamp would 329 00:19:33,139 --> 00:19:35,239 be the perfect training ground for Rangers, 330 00:19:37,310 --> 00:19:39,243 but biologists believe this site 331 00:19:39,312 --> 00:19:41,245 serves a more peaceful purpose. 332 00:19:42,949 --> 00:19:45,449 KAYS: What we're looking at in this image is artificial 333 00:19:45,551 --> 00:19:49,954 nest islands set up to provide sanctuary for migratory birds. 334 00:19:50,056 --> 00:19:52,323 These are part of a statewide effort 335 00:19:52,425 --> 00:19:53,858 to address the problems caused 336 00:19:53,993 --> 00:19:56,294 by a series of catastrophic events 337 00:19:56,296 --> 00:19:58,629 that stretch back over a century. 338 00:19:58,731 --> 00:20:01,933 NARRATOR: Those events begin in 1848, 339 00:20:02,035 --> 00:20:04,936 at the dawn of the Gold Rush. 340 00:20:05,071 --> 00:20:08,206 The Gold Rush brought an endless surge of 341 00:20:08,274 --> 00:20:12,410 ambitious gold seekers to San Francisco, in particular. 342 00:20:12,545 --> 00:20:14,946 And at one point, it was the fastest growing city 343 00:20:15,081 --> 00:20:16,314 in the world. 344 00:20:18,551 --> 00:20:21,519 NARRATOR: 300,000 people travel to California 345 00:20:21,521 --> 00:20:23,120 during the Gold Rush, 346 00:20:23,223 --> 00:20:26,123 the largest mass migration in U.S. history. 347 00:20:27,860 --> 00:20:30,962 The city was utterly flooded with workers, who were 348 00:20:31,097 --> 00:20:33,764 spending their days doing backbreaking labor, 349 00:20:33,833 --> 00:20:35,032 hunting for gold. 350 00:20:35,101 --> 00:20:37,802 In the evenings, these guys were ravenously hungry. 351 00:20:39,105 --> 00:20:41,906 At the time, this area had fairly limited agriculture. 352 00:20:41,908 --> 00:20:45,042 So when all these gold prospectors arrived, 353 00:20:45,111 --> 00:20:47,445 the area had a hard time providing enough food 354 00:20:47,513 --> 00:20:49,413 for all the people. 355 00:20:49,515 --> 00:20:52,216 NARRATOR: The lack of available food 356 00:20:52,318 --> 00:20:54,218 causes prices to soar. 357 00:20:57,190 --> 00:21:01,058 Stores charge the equivalent of $56 for a slice 358 00:21:01,127 --> 00:21:04,662 of buttered bread and $30 for a single egg. 359 00:21:06,633 --> 00:21:09,400 Looking to cash in on the protein shortage, 360 00:21:09,535 --> 00:21:11,702 entrepreneurs turn their attention 361 00:21:11,704 --> 00:21:13,504 to the Farallon Islands, 362 00:21:13,606 --> 00:21:17,008 A desolate set of rocks some 30 miles off the coast. 363 00:21:18,711 --> 00:21:21,112 Every spring, a colossal number of sea birds would 364 00:21:21,114 --> 00:21:24,949 arrive and basically cover the island with their nests. 365 00:21:25,018 --> 00:21:26,851 KOUROUNIS: If what you wanted was eggs, 366 00:21:26,953 --> 00:21:30,121 this place was an open treasure chest filled with them. 367 00:21:32,125 --> 00:21:35,259 NARRATOR: Migratory birds, similar to those now found 368 00:21:35,328 --> 00:21:37,628 at the nesting grounds seen from space 369 00:21:37,630 --> 00:21:40,064 blanket the Farallon Islands in eggs. 370 00:21:40,133 --> 00:21:43,601 This means there are riches to be made 371 00:21:43,703 --> 00:21:46,037 for anyone who dares venture there. 372 00:21:47,307 --> 00:21:51,008 Every trip out to the islands was a dangerous journey. 373 00:21:51,110 --> 00:21:54,645 There was the rough crossing through treacherous waters, 374 00:21:54,747 --> 00:21:57,648 slippery rocks where many men fell to their deaths. 375 00:21:58,818 --> 00:22:00,751 And, of course, there was the competition. 376 00:22:02,055 --> 00:22:04,221 KAYS: Each year, more and more people would arrive at 377 00:22:04,223 --> 00:22:06,624 the Farallons to try to harvest the eggs in the spring, 378 00:22:06,693 --> 00:22:09,126 which led to more and more competition. 379 00:22:09,228 --> 00:22:12,029 Eventually, tensions even escalated to the point 380 00:22:12,031 --> 00:22:13,364 where there were stabbings 381 00:22:13,466 --> 00:22:15,933 and shootings between rival gangs of egg collectors. 382 00:22:17,804 --> 00:22:22,440 NARRATOR: Between 1849 and 1896, gangs steal 383 00:22:22,541 --> 00:22:25,109 millions of eggs from the islands. 384 00:22:25,211 --> 00:22:29,313 The bird population plummets by 85 percent. 385 00:22:29,415 --> 00:22:31,515 The speed at which we managed to kill these birds 386 00:22:31,617 --> 00:22:35,720 off that were once so plentiful is astonishing. 387 00:22:35,822 --> 00:22:38,155 But the birds in the Farallons weren't the only ones 388 00:22:38,257 --> 00:22:39,957 to face this kind of devastation 389 00:22:40,026 --> 00:22:42,126 in the 19th century. 390 00:22:42,128 --> 00:22:45,529 NARRATOR: One such bird is the passenger pigeon. 391 00:22:45,531 --> 00:22:47,131 A. MORGAN: The passenger pigeon used to be 392 00:22:47,233 --> 00:22:49,433 the most common bird in North America. 393 00:22:49,502 --> 00:22:52,336 You would regularly see billions flying overhead. 394 00:22:53,506 --> 00:22:55,239 WALTERS: There were so many of them, 395 00:22:55,341 --> 00:22:58,008 they would literally kind of blacken the skies 396 00:22:58,010 --> 00:23:00,044 for hours at a time. 397 00:23:00,112 --> 00:23:03,948 The problem was, these gigantic congregations, if you like, 398 00:23:04,049 --> 00:23:07,351 also made them very, very easy to hunt. 399 00:23:09,122 --> 00:23:11,122 NARRATOR: Over a period of just 50 years, 400 00:23:11,257 --> 00:23:14,358 hunters erased the passenger pigeon from existence. 401 00:23:15,828 --> 00:23:17,428 During the 20th century, 402 00:23:17,530 --> 00:23:20,431 the slaughter of other species continues, with 403 00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:24,301 three billion birds lost since 1970 alone. 404 00:23:26,906 --> 00:23:29,240 But thanks to artificial nesting sites, 405 00:23:29,308 --> 00:23:31,509 like those captured from the sky, 406 00:23:31,611 --> 00:23:35,112 the decimation may finally be coming to an end. 407 00:23:35,214 --> 00:23:37,214 These artificial islands in this image 408 00:23:37,316 --> 00:23:38,549 are one small example of 409 00:23:38,618 --> 00:23:40,818 our attempt to right our wrongs 410 00:23:40,820 --> 00:23:42,119 against wildlife in the past. 411 00:23:47,427 --> 00:23:51,762 NARRATOR: Coming up, 100 square miles of nasty. 412 00:23:51,831 --> 00:23:53,364 What we're looking at here is one 413 00:23:53,432 --> 00:23:55,833 of the most disgusting things on Earth. 414 00:23:55,968 --> 00:23:58,636 NARRATOR: And the wrath of the Golden Horde. 415 00:23:58,737 --> 00:24:01,338 Take no prisoner was their rule. 416 00:24:08,614 --> 00:24:11,549 April 30th, 2021. 417 00:24:11,617 --> 00:24:14,852 Satellites scan the coast of Northwest Turkey, 418 00:24:14,954 --> 00:24:16,353 along the Sea of Marmara. 419 00:24:18,224 --> 00:24:20,324 KOUROUNIS: There are boats along the coast, 420 00:24:20,426 --> 00:24:27,131 but all the water around them is just a smear of goo. 421 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,200 It looks disgusting. 422 00:24:29,335 --> 00:24:32,903 It's like someone emptied a load of cream or paint 423 00:24:32,905 --> 00:24:36,307 into the water and started mixing it all around. 424 00:24:36,409 --> 00:24:39,510 Whatever this white stuff is, it's definitely not something 425 00:24:39,612 --> 00:24:41,545 that's supposed to be in the water. 426 00:24:43,649 --> 00:24:48,219 NARRATOR: Analysts examine the creamy concoction for clues. 427 00:24:48,221 --> 00:24:52,823 It's this grayish-greenish slime or sludge 428 00:24:52,958 --> 00:24:55,759 that looks like it's sticking to everything. 429 00:24:55,861 --> 00:25:00,831 One possible explanation is a fish called the hagfish 430 00:25:00,933 --> 00:25:03,033 that exudes a enormous 431 00:25:03,102 --> 00:25:05,936 amount of slime that looks very similar to what we're 432 00:25:06,038 --> 00:25:07,538 seeing in this image. 433 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,641 NARRATOR: Hagfish are primitive creatures, 434 00:25:10,710 --> 00:25:12,343 which, when threatened, release 435 00:25:12,444 --> 00:25:15,713 vast amounts of slime that clogs predators' gills. 436 00:25:17,416 --> 00:25:19,850 Up to 400 times the volume of 437 00:25:19,952 --> 00:25:23,721 a hagfish's body can be converted into slime. 438 00:25:23,723 --> 00:25:25,856 It almost physically shouldn't be possible. 439 00:25:29,128 --> 00:25:32,630 NARRATOR: But when scientists sample the waters in the image, 440 00:25:32,732 --> 00:25:34,632 they discover that it contains something 441 00:25:34,733 --> 00:25:37,535 even more nauseating than hagfish slime. 442 00:25:39,005 --> 00:25:42,039 In fact, what we're looking at here is a substance called 443 00:25:42,108 --> 00:25:44,108 sea snot, which must be 444 00:25:44,110 --> 00:25:46,310 one of the most disgusting things on Earth. 445 00:25:49,115 --> 00:25:51,515 NARRATOR: See snot is a foul-smelling, 446 00:25:51,517 --> 00:25:53,317 thick, mucus-like substance. 447 00:25:55,421 --> 00:25:58,822 It's a weird byproduct of several microorganisms, 448 00:25:58,891 --> 00:26:01,759 including phytoplankton. 449 00:26:01,827 --> 00:26:05,529 Phytoplankton actually create tiny little drops of 450 00:26:05,631 --> 00:26:09,133 mucus naturally that float down into the ocean. 451 00:26:09,201 --> 00:26:10,935 But for it to accumulate at 452 00:26:11,036 --> 00:26:13,504 this level, something must be wrong. 453 00:26:14,941 --> 00:26:17,841 NARRATOR: Phytoplankton are crucial to life on Earth, 454 00:26:19,412 --> 00:26:21,712 generating half our planet's oxygen 455 00:26:21,847 --> 00:26:23,447 as a byproduct of their growth. 456 00:26:25,952 --> 00:26:28,953 But human interference has triggered a catastrophic 457 00:26:29,055 --> 00:26:31,455 sequence of events in the Sea of Marmara. 458 00:26:32,625 --> 00:26:34,725 KAYS: The problem occurs when pollution, 459 00:26:34,727 --> 00:26:37,928 in the form of runoff fertilizers from agriculture 460 00:26:37,930 --> 00:26:41,732 or from a sewage that runs into the ocean basically fertilizes 461 00:26:41,834 --> 00:26:45,302 the ocean, and the phytoplankton populations go nuts. 462 00:26:46,539 --> 00:26:49,206 NARRATOR: When the microorganisms multiply, 463 00:26:49,208 --> 00:26:51,308 so does the amount of mucus they produce. 464 00:26:52,712 --> 00:26:55,546 Stagnant water turbocharges the process, 465 00:26:55,615 --> 00:27:00,017 creating vast mats of sea snot that cover 100 square miles. 466 00:27:01,554 --> 00:27:04,622 As it starts to accumulate, it traps all sorts of other 467 00:27:04,690 --> 00:27:06,523 things in there, some debris, 468 00:27:06,525 --> 00:27:09,226 and other rotting material, which produces a really good 469 00:27:09,361 --> 00:27:13,330 environment for other types of bacteria to grow. 470 00:27:13,432 --> 00:27:16,800 The problem isn't limited to one harbor or one cove. 471 00:27:16,902 --> 00:27:19,603 This stuff is everywhere, all throughout the Sea 472 00:27:19,705 --> 00:27:22,740 of Marmara and other coastal areas as well. 473 00:27:22,841 --> 00:27:24,808 The situation is completely out of control. 474 00:27:27,813 --> 00:27:30,214 NARRATOR: As the sea snot overwhelms the coast, 475 00:27:30,216 --> 00:27:32,616 it cripples Turkey's multibillion-dollar 476 00:27:32,618 --> 00:27:34,518 tourism and fishing industries. 477 00:27:36,322 --> 00:27:38,022 This amount of sea snot can really 478 00:27:38,024 --> 00:27:41,058 cause all kinds of problems for local communities. 479 00:27:41,126 --> 00:27:44,061 No one wants to go sit next to a stinky, slimy beach, 480 00:27:44,163 --> 00:27:48,165 not to mention the damage that this is causing for the natural 481 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:49,633 marine life that lives there 482 00:27:49,702 --> 00:27:51,702 and now finds themselves covered in sea snot. 483 00:27:53,339 --> 00:27:55,506 NARRATOR: The gruesome mats of slime don't 484 00:27:55,608 --> 00:27:57,408 just affect the surface of the sea. 485 00:27:59,045 --> 00:28:00,044 As they grow, 486 00:28:00,112 --> 00:28:02,946 they can become 100 feet thick, 487 00:28:03,049 --> 00:28:06,717 sucking oxygen out of the water column and choking sea life. 488 00:28:07,853 --> 00:28:11,355 Organisms like corals, sponges, mollusks, 489 00:28:11,424 --> 00:28:14,758 they're all being smothered to death in enormous numbers. 490 00:28:14,860 --> 00:28:17,127 It's terrifying to think of the mass 491 00:28:17,129 --> 00:28:20,030 die off that's happening beneath the waves. 492 00:28:20,032 --> 00:28:23,500 The situation has gotten so bad that workers are being sent 493 00:28:23,602 --> 00:28:25,636 to literally vacuum up 494 00:28:25,705 --> 00:28:28,305 the sea snot, load it into trucks, 495 00:28:28,307 --> 00:28:30,140 and truck it away to a landfill. 496 00:28:31,711 --> 00:28:34,745 NARRATOR: As the problem intensifies, 40 ships 497 00:28:34,814 --> 00:28:36,947 and 1,000 workers join the cleanup, 498 00:28:39,218 --> 00:28:43,654 collecting 100,000 cubic feet of sea snot in just one week. 499 00:28:46,058 --> 00:28:49,359 It's a tremendous effort, but it might prove futile. 500 00:28:49,461 --> 00:28:51,195 I mean, what is the point of vacuuming up 501 00:28:51,197 --> 00:28:52,863 just the snot at the surface 502 00:28:52,965 --> 00:28:54,898 when the conditions are still right for 503 00:28:54,900 --> 00:28:57,801 the phytoplankton to keep making more and more of it? 504 00:28:59,004 --> 00:29:01,038 NARRATOR: Scientists fear that this is just 505 00:29:01,107 --> 00:29:04,208 the first stage of a global sea snot invasion. 506 00:29:05,511 --> 00:29:08,512 Increases in global water temperatures and pollutants 507 00:29:08,514 --> 00:29:09,947 mean we're likely to see 508 00:29:10,015 --> 00:29:13,117 many more attacks from this aquatic booger monster. 509 00:29:14,453 --> 00:29:16,620 If we don't find a way to limit the amount of pollution 510 00:29:16,622 --> 00:29:17,654 that runs into the oceans, 511 00:29:17,756 --> 00:29:20,190 we're gonna see this kind of sea snot show up 512 00:29:20,192 --> 00:29:22,426 more and more frequently and in more and more places. 513 00:29:29,135 --> 00:29:32,669 NARRATOR: Coming up, the desert time capsules. 514 00:29:32,705 --> 00:29:34,705 Some claim that these balls 515 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,207 are created by underground lightning. 516 00:29:37,309 --> 00:29:40,844 NARRATOR: And... red death. 517 00:29:40,846 --> 00:29:44,348 The disaster could have global consequences. 518 00:29:52,525 --> 00:29:56,527 NARRATOR: March 2022 -- in Western Kazakhstan, 519 00:29:56,529 --> 00:30:00,764 a drone scans the barren 80,000-square-mile 520 00:30:00,866 --> 00:30:02,299 Ustyurt Plateau 521 00:30:03,936 --> 00:30:06,203 and captures an unexpected sight. 522 00:30:07,506 --> 00:30:09,907 All around, there's this kind of featureless landscape, 523 00:30:09,909 --> 00:30:11,542 and then you've got this big, 524 00:30:11,643 --> 00:30:14,211 big cluster of all these kind of giant balls. 525 00:30:14,213 --> 00:30:16,480 It's completely bewildering. 526 00:30:16,615 --> 00:30:19,349 NARRATOR: Thousands of the rocky orbs 527 00:30:19,418 --> 00:30:21,418 litter the rugged landscape. 528 00:30:21,420 --> 00:30:26,156 Looking closer at some of these balls, 529 00:30:26,225 --> 00:30:29,526 they are amazingly round. 530 00:30:29,528 --> 00:30:33,330 It's fairly common to see rocks worn smooth 531 00:30:33,432 --> 00:30:34,898 by rivers or the sea, 532 00:30:34,900 --> 00:30:38,001 but we almost never see them like this. 533 00:30:38,003 --> 00:30:39,303 It seems unnatural. 534 00:30:41,807 --> 00:30:45,642 NARRATOR: The Ustyurt Plateau has a long and bloody history, 535 00:30:47,813 --> 00:30:49,513 one which could offer a clue to 536 00:30:49,515 --> 00:30:52,816 the strange spherical boulders revealed from the skies. 537 00:30:54,220 --> 00:30:57,354 It's not entirely far-fetched to imagine that these boulders 538 00:30:57,422 --> 00:30:59,823 polka-dotting the landscape were the result 539 00:30:59,825 --> 00:31:01,325 of a military assault. 540 00:31:01,460 --> 00:31:04,428 HORTON: One possibility is that these could have been flung 541 00:31:04,529 --> 00:31:06,730 from catapults, from trebuchets, 542 00:31:06,732 --> 00:31:11,935 which was a very favored method in medieval warfare for 543 00:31:12,037 --> 00:31:14,705 besieging cities and attacking armies. 544 00:31:16,609 --> 00:31:19,209 NARRATOR: One army known to have used trebuchets 545 00:31:19,211 --> 00:31:22,412 in Kazakhstan are the Mongol Hordes of Genghis Khan. 546 00:31:23,616 --> 00:31:28,252 In 1219 CE, his army of 200,000 horsemen 547 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:29,953 sweeps through the region 548 00:31:30,022 --> 00:31:33,357 on its way to creating the largest unified land empire 549 00:31:33,458 --> 00:31:35,025 in history. 550 00:31:35,027 --> 00:31:39,463 The way the Mongols, on the move, completely 551 00:31:39,531 --> 00:31:41,231 devastated cultures, 552 00:31:41,333 --> 00:31:46,503 the speed and murderous rate at which they expanded, 553 00:31:46,505 --> 00:31:50,908 struck terror into the hearts of everyone in the way. 554 00:31:52,411 --> 00:31:54,945 NARRATOR: At the time, much of Central Asia is 555 00:31:55,014 --> 00:31:57,447 ruled by the wealthy Khwarazmian Empire. 556 00:31:59,018 --> 00:32:01,718 The ferocity of the Mongol assault is unlike 557 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:04,521 anything they have experienced in their long history. 558 00:32:04,523 --> 00:32:08,525 [shouting] 559 00:32:08,627 --> 00:32:11,929 The Mongols besieged the richest cities in 560 00:32:11,931 --> 00:32:14,965 the empire, and they murdered their citizens. 561 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,935 HUNT: The brutality of the Mongols is 562 00:32:18,070 --> 00:32:22,539 well attested -- when they took a territory, 563 00:32:22,608 --> 00:32:26,610 that literal phrase, "Take no prisoner," was their rule. 564 00:32:27,813 --> 00:32:30,213 NARRATOR: Perhaps the most fearsome Mongol siege 565 00:32:30,215 --> 00:32:33,317 weapon is the boulder-launching trebuchet. 566 00:32:33,419 --> 00:32:35,686 The principle behind a trebuchet 567 00:32:35,688 --> 00:32:37,821 is actually deceptively simple. 568 00:32:37,956 --> 00:32:40,457 It's just really basic physics around torque, 569 00:32:40,526 --> 00:32:44,761 but scaled up, it can become devastating. 570 00:32:44,863 --> 00:32:46,863 The great thing about a trebuchet 571 00:32:46,932 --> 00:32:48,498 is their long distance. 572 00:32:48,500 --> 00:32:54,104 You can shoot a boulder with a trebuchet hundreds of feet, 573 00:32:54,106 --> 00:32:56,106 so long before your army 574 00:32:56,241 --> 00:32:59,543 has to break through a defensive wall, the trebuchet 575 00:32:59,611 --> 00:33:02,045 can do the most effective damage. 576 00:33:05,050 --> 00:33:07,751 NARRATOR: Yet while Mongols are known to have 577 00:33:07,819 --> 00:33:09,720 waged war in the region, 578 00:33:09,855 --> 00:33:12,255 some analysts doubt the giant balls 579 00:33:12,324 --> 00:33:14,057 are relics of their conquests. 580 00:33:14,126 --> 00:33:18,028 It's tempting to look at this image and think, oh well, 581 00:33:18,030 --> 00:33:22,132 maybe these could be abandoned projectiles left by the Mongols 582 00:33:22,234 --> 00:33:24,134 in pursuit of some citadel. 583 00:33:24,236 --> 00:33:27,204 But, you know, even the Mongols wouldn't have hurled 584 00:33:27,206 --> 00:33:28,805 quite so many. 585 00:33:31,043 --> 00:33:33,410 Geologists believe the spheres are bizarre 586 00:33:33,512 --> 00:33:34,811 natural formations, 587 00:33:34,946 --> 00:33:38,048 but their origin divides opinion. 588 00:33:38,150 --> 00:33:43,553 Some in Kazakhstan have claimed that these balls are created by 589 00:33:43,622 --> 00:33:45,956 a kind of form of underground lightning 590 00:33:46,058 --> 00:33:48,125 linked to volcanic activity 591 00:33:48,227 --> 00:33:51,361 that fuses this material together. 592 00:33:51,463 --> 00:33:53,096 Some of the locals even believe 593 00:33:53,098 --> 00:33:56,299 that these spheres are fossilized dinosaur eggs. 594 00:33:58,037 --> 00:34:01,405 NARRATOR: Analysis confirms the mystery spheres do date 595 00:34:01,407 --> 00:34:04,307 from a time when dinosaurs walked these lands. 596 00:34:06,812 --> 00:34:10,514 They're called concretions, and they're time capsules 597 00:34:10,516 --> 00:34:13,216 from the Earth's distant past. 598 00:34:13,285 --> 00:34:15,619 So even though they're not giant dinosaur eggs, 599 00:34:15,721 --> 00:34:19,122 there's actually a grain of truth to the fact that there 600 00:34:19,257 --> 00:34:22,959 are evidence of ancient life captured within the rock. 601 00:34:25,731 --> 00:34:28,065 NARRATOR: 150 million years ago, 602 00:34:29,401 --> 00:34:32,502 Western Kazakhstan is covered in ocean, 603 00:34:32,604 --> 00:34:36,506 a primeval abyss filled with hunters and the hunted. 604 00:34:38,343 --> 00:34:41,211 And beneath the seabed, A process is beginning 605 00:34:41,213 --> 00:34:44,114 that will eventually create the strange spheres 606 00:34:44,216 --> 00:34:45,314 in the image. 607 00:34:49,221 --> 00:34:51,621 A. MORGAN: Although it's not entirely clear 608 00:34:51,623 --> 00:34:53,757 how these things form, our best guesses at the moment 609 00:34:53,826 --> 00:34:57,461 suggest that it's layers and layers of mineral deposited on 610 00:34:57,562 --> 00:35:01,264 a solid core, like a fossil, over time. 611 00:35:01,300 --> 00:35:05,102 NARRATOR: Most geologists believe the process begins 612 00:35:05,104 --> 00:35:07,704 when minerals dissolved in water percolate through 613 00:35:07,839 --> 00:35:09,105 the seabed. 614 00:35:09,107 --> 00:35:13,710 The solution slowly cements around objects such as teeth 615 00:35:13,845 --> 00:35:18,949 or fossils, and over millennia, forms into giant spheres. 616 00:35:19,050 --> 00:35:22,052 This process is very similar to how an oyster 617 00:35:22,121 --> 00:35:24,321 creates a pearl. 618 00:35:24,423 --> 00:35:27,457 It would be absolutely fascinating to actually 619 00:35:27,526 --> 00:35:28,959 crack them open 620 00:35:29,060 --> 00:35:31,161 and find out what might be in the middle 621 00:35:31,196 --> 00:35:32,762 of these stone balls. 622 00:35:34,233 --> 00:35:36,399 NARRATOR: Today, the ocean is long gone. 623 00:35:38,103 --> 00:35:41,204 And as the soft sedimentary rock from its seabed 624 00:35:41,339 --> 00:35:45,742 wears away, the long-buried spheres emerge. 625 00:35:45,844 --> 00:35:49,513 That's why we see them laying out on the surface, half buried 626 00:35:49,615 --> 00:35:53,216 or completely exposed, because over millions of years, 627 00:35:53,351 --> 00:35:55,752 erosion has removed the softer rock 628 00:35:55,820 --> 00:35:58,054 away from these hard concretions. 629 00:35:58,156 --> 00:36:00,857 The landscape is just littered with them, 630 00:36:00,959 --> 00:36:06,062 hundreds upon hundreds of them, strewn across the landscape, 631 00:36:06,164 --> 00:36:08,832 like some giant marble game. 632 00:36:14,506 --> 00:36:17,941 NARRATOR: Coming up, the multimillion-dollar hijack. 633 00:36:18,043 --> 00:36:20,210 Maybe this is a ghost ship 634 00:36:20,312 --> 00:36:22,245 that's been plundered and left for dead. 635 00:36:30,722 --> 00:36:33,823 NARRATOR: June 17th, 2020. 636 00:36:33,825 --> 00:36:38,195 A satellite flying over the Red Sea 637 00:36:38,197 --> 00:36:40,730 captures an image of a suspicious craft 638 00:36:40,732 --> 00:36:43,200 in the water below. 639 00:36:43,302 --> 00:36:47,938 This vessel is huge, and it looks like an oil tanker, 640 00:36:48,073 --> 00:36:50,607 but it also looks abandoned. 641 00:36:52,644 --> 00:36:54,711 NARRATOR: The 1,100-foot-long vessel 642 00:36:54,780 --> 00:36:58,014 languishes away from established shipping lanes. 643 00:37:00,619 --> 00:37:04,354 The paint is deteriorating, seems to be falling apart, 644 00:37:04,456 --> 00:37:06,122 so there's probably not been any activity 645 00:37:06,124 --> 00:37:07,424 on this ship for quite some time. 646 00:37:08,827 --> 00:37:13,230 AUERBACH: Why would you leave this multimillion-dollar vessel 647 00:37:13,232 --> 00:37:15,799 just floating derelict in the middle of nowhere? 648 00:37:15,801 --> 00:37:17,033 It makes no sense. 649 00:37:19,204 --> 00:37:22,305 NARRATOR: The tanker's location off the coast of Yemen 650 00:37:22,407 --> 00:37:23,440 could offer a clue. 651 00:37:25,210 --> 00:37:26,743 NARRATOR: This tanker is floating in a part 652 00:37:26,812 --> 00:37:29,512 of the world that has a fearsome reputation, 653 00:37:29,514 --> 00:37:32,816 pretty ruthless pirates swarming 654 00:37:32,918 --> 00:37:35,318 onto commercial vessels. 655 00:37:35,420 --> 00:37:38,021 So maybe this is a ghost ship, 656 00:37:38,023 --> 00:37:41,157 a ship that's been plundered and left for dead. 657 00:37:41,226 --> 00:37:44,261 NARRATOR: Over the past two decades, 658 00:37:44,362 --> 00:37:47,797 pirates here have attacked vast numbers of ships heading 659 00:37:47,799 --> 00:37:50,900 to the Suez Canal and the Saudi oil fields. 660 00:37:52,304 --> 00:37:55,405 Somali piracy has posed the biggest threat 661 00:37:55,507 --> 00:37:57,507 to commercial shipping in recent history. 662 00:37:57,609 --> 00:37:58,942 [shots firing] 663 00:37:59,077 --> 00:38:01,611 Between 2010 and 2014, there were more than 664 00:38:01,746 --> 00:38:05,915 350 successful or attempted attacks on commercial 665 00:38:05,917 --> 00:38:07,951 shipping vessels. 666 00:38:08,020 --> 00:38:10,920 NARRATOR: Local reports offer a surprising clue 667 00:38:10,922 --> 00:38:13,556 to the origin of these hijackings. 668 00:38:13,625 --> 00:38:17,427 Part of what may be driving the rise in piracy is 669 00:38:17,429 --> 00:38:19,963 the arrival of international fishing vessels 670 00:38:20,032 --> 00:38:21,798 in these local waters. 671 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,401 And that, of course, depletes the stocks 672 00:38:24,403 --> 00:38:26,436 are available to the local fishermen. 673 00:38:28,307 --> 00:38:31,041 NARRATOR: As a result, many Somali fishermen 674 00:38:31,109 --> 00:38:32,509 turn to hijacking ships. 675 00:38:34,713 --> 00:38:39,316 Today, oil tankers are the pirates' main target, 676 00:38:39,318 --> 00:38:43,520 helping net them $120 million a year in ransom. 677 00:38:45,023 --> 00:38:48,525 Pirates hijacked a vessel very similar to this one in 2008, 678 00:38:48,627 --> 00:38:50,026 one called the Sirius Star, 679 00:38:50,028 --> 00:38:53,263 which had around two million barrels of oil on board, 680 00:38:53,331 --> 00:38:56,099 worth about $100 million. 681 00:38:57,302 --> 00:38:59,703 NARRATOR: Maritime records reveal the ship 682 00:38:59,805 --> 00:39:03,239 in the image is called the FSO Safer, 683 00:39:03,308 --> 00:39:05,008 and she's at risk of something 684 00:39:05,010 --> 00:39:07,243 much more dangerous than a pirate attack. 685 00:39:09,314 --> 00:39:12,849 It turns out that this tanker is at the center of 686 00:39:12,951 --> 00:39:15,251 a massive international crisis, 687 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:19,122 and it could even pose a threat to the safety 688 00:39:19,124 --> 00:39:21,124 of the entire region. 689 00:39:21,193 --> 00:39:25,128 NARRATOR: Documents show that, since 1986, 690 00:39:25,130 --> 00:39:28,531 the giant tanker has been used as a storage facility for 691 00:39:28,633 --> 00:39:29,899 Yemen's oil fields. 692 00:39:31,236 --> 00:39:35,905 But in 2014, a brutal civil war breaks out in the country. 693 00:39:35,907 --> 00:39:38,742 Since then, engineers have been unable to 694 00:39:38,744 --> 00:39:41,044 conduct vital safety checks on the vessel. 695 00:39:42,414 --> 00:39:46,349 It has the capacity to store three million barrels of oil, 696 00:39:46,385 --> 00:39:47,917 and it's reported that there's 697 00:39:47,919 --> 00:39:51,955 just over a million barrels of crude oil on board right now. 698 00:39:52,023 --> 00:39:54,557 That's an awful lot of oil to be just sitting there in 699 00:39:54,626 --> 00:39:56,326 a rusting, dead tanker. 700 00:39:57,662 --> 00:40:01,464 Reportedly, the vessel is an absolute mess, with cracked 701 00:40:01,533 --> 00:40:04,701 pipes that are leaking seawater into the main engine room. 702 00:40:06,338 --> 00:40:08,438 NARRATOR: The problem with the ship's engine room 703 00:40:08,540 --> 00:40:11,508 threatens to trigger a catastrophic chain reaction. 704 00:40:13,245 --> 00:40:15,912 To keep crucial systems running, steam boilers need to 705 00:40:15,914 --> 00:40:17,213 run around the clock, 706 00:40:17,215 --> 00:40:21,317 but those steam boilers have run out of fuel back in 2017. 707 00:40:23,388 --> 00:40:27,056 NARRATOR: Crews on ships like this need to pump inert gas 708 00:40:27,125 --> 00:40:29,526 into their oil tanks to prevent vapor from 709 00:40:29,528 --> 00:40:31,027 spontaneously igniting. 710 00:40:32,230 --> 00:40:34,431 No engine fuel means no pumps, 711 00:40:34,566 --> 00:40:39,602 making the FSO Safer a 400,000-ton time bomb. 712 00:40:42,007 --> 00:40:44,507 This thing is like a tinderbox. 713 00:40:44,609 --> 00:40:46,342 Even the smallest spark 714 00:40:46,444 --> 00:40:49,546 could lead to an absolute catastrophe. 715 00:40:49,647 --> 00:40:52,715 NARRATOR: An explosion could kill the crew 716 00:40:52,851 --> 00:40:53,916 and breach the hull. 717 00:40:55,921 --> 00:40:59,756 And the FSO Safer contains four times more oil 718 00:40:59,791 --> 00:41:01,424 than the Exxon Valdez tanker, 719 00:41:01,526 --> 00:41:07,063 which in 1989 decimated 1,300 miles of Alaskan coastline. 720 00:41:07,132 --> 00:41:11,501 The Exxon Valdez disaster killed hundreds of thousands of 721 00:41:11,503 --> 00:41:13,803 marine animals and cost billions of dollars in 722 00:41:13,938 --> 00:41:15,405 economic loss. 723 00:41:15,407 --> 00:41:17,307 This possible disaster in the Red Sea 724 00:41:17,409 --> 00:41:19,742 threatens to be many orders of magnitudes worse. 725 00:41:22,047 --> 00:41:24,581 NARRATOR: The ship in the image could soon devastate 726 00:41:24,583 --> 00:41:28,451 untold amounts of wildlife and local fish stocks, 727 00:41:28,487 --> 00:41:30,820 creating a humanitarian disaster. 728 00:41:34,059 --> 00:41:37,160 The aftereffects could rumble around the world. 729 00:41:38,330 --> 00:41:40,263 Ten percent of global shipping trade 730 00:41:40,365 --> 00:41:41,965 passes through the Red Sea, 731 00:41:42,066 --> 00:41:45,201 so any cleanup operation is going to severely disrupt 732 00:41:45,303 --> 00:41:47,504 the supply chain. 733 00:41:47,606 --> 00:41:49,739 AUERBACH: A disaster involving the Safer 734 00:41:49,841 --> 00:41:52,108 could have global economic consequences. 735 00:41:52,243 --> 00:41:53,510 Let's just hope that there's 736 00:41:53,612 --> 00:41:56,813 the political will to avert this crisis.