1 00:00:01,802 --> 00:00:02,901 NARRATOR: They're watching you. 2 00:00:02,903 --> 00:00:06,305 More than 6,000 satellites circle the Earth. 3 00:00:06,407 --> 00:00:10,409 Every day, they uncover new, mysterious phenomena 4 00:00:10,544 --> 00:00:13,045 that defy explanation. 5 00:00:15,316 --> 00:00:16,949 Revealed from the skies, 6 00:00:18,219 --> 00:00:22,054 the 3,000-year-old code of the disappeared. 7 00:00:22,156 --> 00:00:24,623 We have to use these structures to 8 00:00:24,725 --> 00:00:27,226 tell the story about how they lived. 9 00:00:28,596 --> 00:00:31,130 NARRATOR: The mystery of the Pennsylvania Terrordome. 10 00:00:32,333 --> 00:00:35,501 What it did was drive people crazy. 11 00:00:36,604 --> 00:00:40,205 NARRATOR: And Kim Jong's secret animal assassins. 12 00:00:40,207 --> 00:00:42,641 They'd swim up to an enemy vessel, and then... 13 00:00:42,710 --> 00:00:44,610 bang! 14 00:00:44,612 --> 00:00:48,514 NARRATOR: Baffling phenomena, mysteries from space. 15 00:00:48,516 --> 00:00:52,117 What on Earth are they? 16 00:01:11,238 --> 00:01:13,105 Sardinia, 17 00:01:13,107 --> 00:01:15,908 the second largest island in the Mediterranean. 18 00:01:19,213 --> 00:01:21,313 Kathleen Nicoll is venturing deep into 19 00:01:21,415 --> 00:01:23,949 this 9,000-square-mile land mass, 20 00:01:24,051 --> 00:01:27,619 lured by something strange captured from the skies. 21 00:01:33,127 --> 00:01:36,528 I'm on my way to investigate a large feature, 22 00:01:36,530 --> 00:01:39,965 and it looks like it's a castle, 23 00:01:40,033 --> 00:01:44,303 but it's like no other castle I've seen before. 24 00:01:45,940 --> 00:01:49,842 NARRATOR: The image, captured on September 27th, 2021, 25 00:01:49,977 --> 00:01:53,812 reveals a strangely-shaped structure located in 26 00:01:53,914 --> 00:01:55,614 the island's arid interior. 27 00:01:57,551 --> 00:02:01,019 This is a really intriguing-looking image. 28 00:02:01,021 --> 00:02:03,122 We've got in the center what seems 29 00:02:03,224 --> 00:02:07,960 to be a triangular tower, then within it there's this kind of 30 00:02:08,028 --> 00:02:10,462 keyhole-type structure. 31 00:02:10,531 --> 00:02:12,865 This is really very unusual. 32 00:02:12,933 --> 00:02:16,335 I've never seen anything like it anywhere else in the world. 33 00:02:19,106 --> 00:02:23,041 NARRATOR: A scan of the wider area deepens the mystery. 34 00:02:23,110 --> 00:02:25,144 NARDI: The island of Sardinia is littered 35 00:02:25,212 --> 00:02:26,512 with these stone structures. 36 00:02:26,514 --> 00:02:28,413 There are literally thousands of them 37 00:02:28,549 --> 00:02:29,848 scattered throughout the island. 38 00:02:32,319 --> 00:02:34,686 NARRATOR: In total, more than 7,000 39 00:02:34,688 --> 00:02:36,321 towering edifices are found here. 40 00:02:39,827 --> 00:02:43,061 Locals call them nuraghi, and they're relics of 41 00:02:43,130 --> 00:02:46,331 an ancient civilization whose origins and fate 42 00:02:46,433 --> 00:02:48,300 are shrouded in mystery. 43 00:02:50,504 --> 00:02:53,038 AUERBACH: It's inherently difficult to reconstruct 44 00:02:53,107 --> 00:02:54,940 their lives and their culture, 45 00:02:55,009 --> 00:02:57,042 because they didn't leave written records. 46 00:03:00,948 --> 00:03:02,848 NICOLL: We don't know much about these people, 47 00:03:02,983 --> 00:03:06,418 so we have to use these structures to tell the story 48 00:03:06,420 --> 00:03:09,655 about who these people were and how they lived. 49 00:03:12,393 --> 00:03:14,860 NARRATOR: The Nuragic civilization emerges from 50 00:03:14,995 --> 00:03:17,863 this island around 1800 BCE. 51 00:03:20,201 --> 00:03:22,301 Over the following 1,500 years, 52 00:03:22,403 --> 00:03:25,337 they build more than 20,000 of these structures, 53 00:03:25,406 --> 00:03:27,940 a third of which survive to this day. 54 00:03:33,214 --> 00:03:35,147 Today, Nicoll is heading to one 55 00:03:35,249 --> 00:03:37,149 concealed in the center of the island. 56 00:03:42,122 --> 00:03:44,056 Wow. 57 00:03:44,124 --> 00:03:45,624 That's something. 58 00:03:46,827 --> 00:03:48,527 It's actually breathtaking. 59 00:03:51,966 --> 00:03:53,832 NARRATOR: The crumbling structure sits 60 00:03:53,967 --> 00:03:56,668 on the summit of a 2,500-foot-high hill 61 00:03:56,670 --> 00:04:00,205 and commands views of a large region of the countryside. 62 00:04:04,745 --> 00:04:07,212 As Nicoll explores the central towers, 63 00:04:07,314 --> 00:04:11,917 she discovers their walls are 10 feet thick. 64 00:04:11,919 --> 00:04:14,052 NICOLL: This is incredibly impressive. 65 00:04:14,121 --> 00:04:19,224 This wall that I'm standing on is basically three layers deep. 66 00:04:19,326 --> 00:04:23,262 It has limestone layers that are built in upon themselves. 67 00:04:24,531 --> 00:04:26,698 NARRATOR: The structure and others like it 68 00:04:26,700 --> 00:04:30,302 were built during the Bronze Age. 69 00:04:30,404 --> 00:04:33,839 What sets the Nuragic people apart is that during this time 70 00:04:33,941 --> 00:04:36,708 most other tribes were constructing basic settlements 71 00:04:36,710 --> 00:04:38,443 fashioned from mud or wood. 72 00:04:41,315 --> 00:04:43,548 The Nuragics were master stonemasons, 73 00:04:43,617 --> 00:04:46,652 and they created these structures without any mortar. 74 00:04:48,522 --> 00:04:50,422 Considering that this is a civilization that is 75 00:04:50,524 --> 00:04:51,823 4,000 years old, 76 00:04:51,825 --> 00:04:53,125 that's -- that's really quite impressive. 77 00:04:54,928 --> 00:04:58,063 HUNT: These are sophisticated buildings. 78 00:04:58,165 --> 00:05:01,500 They're the vanguard of high civilization. 79 00:05:02,936 --> 00:05:04,202 NARRATOR: In the past, 80 00:05:04,204 --> 00:05:07,239 a number of the towers were more than 100 feet in height, 81 00:05:07,341 --> 00:05:09,741 making them some of the tallest prehistoric 82 00:05:09,810 --> 00:05:12,244 structures in Europe, 83 00:05:12,313 --> 00:05:15,614 yet to this day, their purpose remains unclear. 84 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,154 Nobody knows exactly for certain, 85 00:05:22,222 --> 00:05:24,856 but the most likely explanation is that 86 00:05:24,991 --> 00:05:26,658 they're kind of like mini castles, 87 00:05:26,727 --> 00:05:29,961 each with its own little territory around it. 88 00:05:32,933 --> 00:05:34,599 NARRATOR: When the nuraghi are built, 89 00:05:34,601 --> 00:05:37,803 Europe is undergoing a period of great upheaval 90 00:05:37,805 --> 00:05:38,937 and extreme violence. 91 00:05:41,308 --> 00:05:44,209 Civilizations are swapping tools and weapons made 92 00:05:44,211 --> 00:05:47,713 from stone with ones fashioned from metal. 93 00:05:47,815 --> 00:05:49,848 At first, this transition brings 94 00:05:49,950 --> 00:05:52,351 great prosperity to the Nuragic civilization. 95 00:05:54,421 --> 00:05:59,424 It seems that Sardinia was a place of incredible wealth. 96 00:05:59,526 --> 00:06:01,727 The reason for that was minerals. 97 00:06:02,963 --> 00:06:05,630 AUERBACH: In terms of natural resources, 98 00:06:05,733 --> 00:06:07,332 this is quite a rich island. 99 00:06:07,434 --> 00:06:11,303 You have copper and tin, which means that they could 100 00:06:11,438 --> 00:06:13,605 make bronze. 101 00:06:13,607 --> 00:06:16,708 NARRATOR: Over the years, the Nuragic people 102 00:06:16,810 --> 00:06:19,411 become expert miners and metal workers. 103 00:06:20,614 --> 00:06:22,814 Word of their skills in bronze making 104 00:06:22,816 --> 00:06:24,049 spreads throughout Europe. 105 00:06:25,519 --> 00:06:28,120 The Nuragics established significant trading 106 00:06:28,122 --> 00:06:29,354 partnerships, and there is some 107 00:06:29,456 --> 00:06:31,923 evidence of metals being traded as far away 108 00:06:31,925 --> 00:06:33,425 as Scandinavia. 109 00:06:33,427 --> 00:06:34,960 [battle noises] 110 00:06:35,062 --> 00:06:36,895 NARRATOR: Yet as their wealth grows, 111 00:06:36,897 --> 00:06:39,965 the Nuragic become the targets for foreign powers 112 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,634 looking to exploit their mineral-rich lands. 113 00:06:44,371 --> 00:06:48,407 HORTON: When a society controls valuable commodities, 114 00:06:48,542 --> 00:06:52,043 the civilizations around the Mediterranean look jealously 115 00:06:52,145 --> 00:06:55,947 upon it and want to control it for themselves. 116 00:06:57,918 --> 00:07:01,720 It's a time when people were trying to control the landscape, 117 00:07:01,789 --> 00:07:04,823 so this could be a fortified tower. 118 00:07:08,061 --> 00:07:11,229 NARRATOR: Other experts favor different theories, 119 00:07:11,231 --> 00:07:12,964 speculating that the structures were 120 00:07:13,033 --> 00:07:15,300 used as temples or observatories. 121 00:07:17,104 --> 00:07:21,740 We still are reaching out to try to understand, 122 00:07:21,775 --> 00:07:25,043 because the real purpose of these towers 123 00:07:25,112 --> 00:07:27,145 is a mystery to this day. 124 00:07:31,051 --> 00:07:33,118 NARRATOR: What is known is that at some point 125 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,555 during the Nuragic reign, a mystery event hit Sardinia. 126 00:07:38,826 --> 00:07:41,359 Something bad happened. 127 00:07:41,428 --> 00:07:44,629 Whether it was a snowballing of effects 128 00:07:44,631 --> 00:07:47,432 or whether it was one sudden cataclysm, 129 00:07:47,534 --> 00:07:50,001 the builders of the nuraghis 130 00:07:50,003 --> 00:07:52,204 in Sardinia took a pause. 131 00:07:54,274 --> 00:07:56,942 NARRATOR: What's more, this event has been linked to 132 00:07:57,010 --> 00:07:59,644 one of the most enduring mysteries of antiquity. 133 00:08:01,748 --> 00:08:04,516 Some have advanced the idea that 134 00:08:04,518 --> 00:08:08,854 the Nuragic civilization was the inspiration for Atlantis. 135 00:08:15,762 --> 00:08:18,430 NARRATOR: Coming up -- tsunamis, 136 00:08:18,432 --> 00:08:21,800 Atlantis, and the fall of Egypt. 137 00:08:21,902 --> 00:08:25,637 We do know what happened was inconceivably destructive. 138 00:08:25,706 --> 00:08:28,039 NARRATOR: And the island of the dead. 139 00:08:28,108 --> 00:08:30,308 It's bizarre -- I mean, this looks like the island's 140 00:08:30,310 --> 00:08:33,211 been hit by a giant shotgun round from outer space. 141 00:08:41,822 --> 00:08:44,189 NARRATOR: Drawn by mystery ancient structures 142 00:08:44,191 --> 00:08:46,057 revealed from the skies, 143 00:08:46,126 --> 00:08:48,660 Kathleen Nicoll is on the Mediterranean island 144 00:08:48,762 --> 00:08:50,362 of Sardinia. 145 00:08:50,430 --> 00:08:52,564 Wow, look at that. 146 00:08:56,136 --> 00:08:59,538 NARRATOR: The structures, called nuraghi, are the relics 147 00:08:59,606 --> 00:09:02,541 of a civilization that suffered a mysterious decline 148 00:09:02,642 --> 00:09:05,010 in the 12th century BCE. 149 00:09:05,012 --> 00:09:08,413 One of the possible reference points 150 00:09:08,548 --> 00:09:12,384 for the decline is the legend of Atlantis, 151 00:09:12,386 --> 00:09:14,819 the city buried beneath the waves. 152 00:09:17,024 --> 00:09:20,825 The Greek philosopher Plato documents the story 153 00:09:20,927 --> 00:09:24,396 of Atlantis in around 360 BCE. 154 00:09:24,398 --> 00:09:27,933 He writes that, like the Nuragic people, 155 00:09:28,035 --> 00:09:31,136 it was a highly advanced civilization whose island is 156 00:09:31,237 --> 00:09:34,239 filled with gates and towers. 157 00:09:34,308 --> 00:09:37,342 After becoming greedy and morally bankrupt, 158 00:09:37,411 --> 00:09:40,512 the gods punish it with a cataclysmic event. 159 00:09:44,918 --> 00:09:46,918 HORTON: The myth of Atlantis has been 160 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,454 a matter of great archaeological and historical debate. 161 00:09:50,724 --> 00:09:53,525 NARDI: So Plato actually wrote that there was an island 162 00:09:53,627 --> 00:09:55,961 that succumbed to a massive 163 00:09:56,062 --> 00:09:58,763 marine disaster and was destroyed in a night and a day. 164 00:10:00,300 --> 00:10:03,735 NARRATOR: The theory goes that in the 12th century BCE, 165 00:10:03,804 --> 00:10:05,737 a similar event engulfed Sardinia, 166 00:10:07,007 --> 00:10:10,542 a celestial catastrophe that destroyed many nuraghi 167 00:10:10,544 --> 00:10:13,211 and gave rise to the legend of Atlantis. 168 00:10:16,016 --> 00:10:20,251 Some people have suggested a meteorite coming onto water 169 00:10:20,353 --> 00:10:22,554 and creating a large tsunami 170 00:10:22,622 --> 00:10:26,324 could generate enough force to impact the coast. 171 00:10:27,628 --> 00:10:31,630 HUNT: If you had a big meteor land in the water 172 00:10:31,732 --> 00:10:34,599 near the island, yeah, it could create tsunamis. 173 00:10:34,701 --> 00:10:35,833 There's no question. 174 00:10:38,038 --> 00:10:41,039 NARRATOR: If a giant wave did once hit Sardinia, 175 00:10:41,141 --> 00:10:44,009 it would likely have engulfed the low-lying southern part of 176 00:10:44,011 --> 00:10:46,311 the island. 177 00:10:46,313 --> 00:10:48,213 But Nicoll doubts this is evidence 178 00:10:48,215 --> 00:10:50,515 of the annihilation described by Plato. 179 00:10:54,921 --> 00:10:59,324 Most of the nuraghi in Sardinia are in mountaintop areas. 180 00:11:01,061 --> 00:11:03,962 So even if a tsunami came in, 181 00:11:04,064 --> 00:11:08,199 it probably wouldn't have completely killed off 182 00:11:08,301 --> 00:11:09,467 the Nuragic people. 183 00:11:14,207 --> 00:11:17,308 NARRATOR: Nicoll heads inland, searching for more clues 184 00:11:17,411 --> 00:11:18,410 that could shed light 185 00:11:18,545 --> 00:11:21,246 on the fate of the Nuragic civilization. 186 00:11:21,347 --> 00:11:23,214 Wow. 187 00:11:23,216 --> 00:11:26,351 This is really incredible. 188 00:11:26,420 --> 00:11:28,953 I can see 189 00:11:29,055 --> 00:11:33,124 a triangle surrounded by a circular court, 190 00:11:33,226 --> 00:11:36,428 and the shape is what you think of as a keyhole structure. 191 00:11:37,764 --> 00:11:41,800 NARRATOR: The keyhole entrance guides the geographer down 192 00:11:41,902 --> 00:11:44,035 towards what appears to be a well. 193 00:11:47,340 --> 00:11:51,209 The walls are getting narrower as I go down. 194 00:11:54,147 --> 00:11:58,917 This whole place is designed to draw you into the center. 195 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,954 I can definitely conclude 196 00:12:03,056 --> 00:12:04,956 that this is a sacred place. 197 00:12:04,991 --> 00:12:09,427 NARRATOR: Historians speculate that this well 198 00:12:09,429 --> 00:12:11,629 was a kind of subterranean temple, 199 00:12:11,631 --> 00:12:15,934 a place used for ceremonial worship for many centuries. 200 00:12:17,304 --> 00:12:20,939 Archaeologists found some very unusual bronze figurines under 201 00:12:21,007 --> 00:12:22,941 the water in the well, 202 00:12:23,009 --> 00:12:25,744 which leads us to believe that they were some sort of offering 203 00:12:25,812 --> 00:12:28,546 or a way of asking for assistance from the water gods. 204 00:12:28,615 --> 00:12:32,217 There are cultic associations 205 00:12:32,219 --> 00:12:34,619 with water in Sardinia. 206 00:12:34,754 --> 00:12:38,823 There are goddesses and gods of springs and water. 207 00:12:42,462 --> 00:12:44,462 NARRATOR: Such was the importance of water 208 00:12:44,531 --> 00:12:46,264 to the people here that they construct 209 00:12:46,366 --> 00:12:49,601 40 similar aqueduct temples across the island. 210 00:12:49,603 --> 00:12:53,138 It would appear that ritualized activities 211 00:12:53,206 --> 00:12:54,806 take place within them, 212 00:12:54,808 --> 00:12:58,243 because without water, you can't have life. 213 00:12:58,344 --> 00:13:00,945 NICOLL: Sardinia does not get very much water, 214 00:13:01,047 --> 00:13:02,313 and it is drought-prone, 215 00:13:02,315 --> 00:13:06,618 so coming here has deep significance. 216 00:13:11,525 --> 00:13:14,159 NARRATOR: Like the towers dotting the island, 217 00:13:14,227 --> 00:13:16,761 it is uncertain what took place within this temple. 218 00:13:18,698 --> 00:13:21,032 But the Nuragics' deep connection with water 219 00:13:21,101 --> 00:13:23,201 and the ocean could shed more light 220 00:13:23,203 --> 00:13:25,303 on why they stopped building their remarkable 221 00:13:25,405 --> 00:13:27,806 stone structures three millennia ago. 222 00:13:30,110 --> 00:13:33,011 What is interesting is that in Sardinia 223 00:13:33,013 --> 00:13:35,814 at around the same time, we see that 224 00:13:35,916 --> 00:13:39,851 many of the sites are being abandoned, and this 225 00:13:39,953 --> 00:13:42,720 might well be connected to the Sea Peoples 226 00:13:42,822 --> 00:13:44,122 in the ancient texts. 227 00:13:46,026 --> 00:13:48,526 NARRATOR: The Sea Peoples are mysterious groups 228 00:13:48,528 --> 00:13:50,528 of naval raiders who begin 229 00:13:50,530 --> 00:13:52,730 attacking different Mediterranean civilizations 230 00:13:52,732 --> 00:13:54,699 around 1200 BCE. 231 00:13:57,304 --> 00:14:00,605 Some historians speculate they originated from Sardinia. 232 00:14:02,409 --> 00:14:07,045 The Sea Peoples are recorded in both Egyptian 233 00:14:07,113 --> 00:14:10,114 and the Mycenaean history and seem to 234 00:14:10,217 --> 00:14:14,252 have had a massive impact on both civilizations -- 235 00:14:14,321 --> 00:14:18,656 destroyed their towns and palaces and so forth. 236 00:14:18,725 --> 00:14:22,460 Egyptian inscriptions reveal that pharaoh Ramesses III 237 00:14:22,562 --> 00:14:26,764 battles the Sea Peoples in around 1177 BCE. 238 00:14:28,535 --> 00:14:31,502 Some of the invaders are called Shardana, 239 00:14:31,605 --> 00:14:33,938 a possible ancient name for Sardinia. 240 00:14:35,609 --> 00:14:38,343 There were whole migrations of peoples, 241 00:14:38,444 --> 00:14:42,313 and many of them went to invade Egypt. 242 00:14:42,415 --> 00:14:45,617 NARRATOR: Whether the Nuragic people sailed from Sardinia 243 00:14:45,619 --> 00:14:48,820 to conquer and occupy other lands remains unclear. 244 00:14:50,323 --> 00:14:52,056 But over the following centuries, 245 00:14:52,125 --> 00:14:54,425 their civilization begins to disintegrate 246 00:14:54,427 --> 00:14:56,728 and ultimately disappears from history. 247 00:14:58,265 --> 00:15:02,133 NICOLL: We're not exactly sure what happened to this people. 248 00:15:02,235 --> 00:15:05,904 What's certain is that the Nuragic civilization was 249 00:15:05,906 --> 00:15:09,140 an amazing, amazing culture 250 00:15:09,175 --> 00:15:11,409 NARRATOR: Today, all that remains of 251 00:15:11,411 --> 00:15:15,013 these extraordinary people are these strange codes 252 00:15:15,015 --> 00:15:18,049 wrought in stone and visible from the skies. 253 00:15:19,419 --> 00:15:20,684 AUERBACH: When you think about it, 254 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,622 this is a culture that lasted for more than 1,000 years, 255 00:15:24,624 --> 00:15:26,057 and it's really quite impressive. 256 00:15:33,233 --> 00:15:37,001 NARRATOR: Coming up, inside the chamber of horrors. 257 00:15:37,003 --> 00:15:39,103 It's really shocking to think that 258 00:15:39,205 --> 00:15:42,640 this was allowed to happen on U.S. soil. 259 00:15:42,709 --> 00:15:46,311 NARRATOR: And the disappearing ghost fleet. 260 00:15:46,313 --> 00:15:48,146 These ships vanish completely. 261 00:15:58,725 --> 00:16:02,160 NARRATOR: July 30th, 2019, 262 00:16:02,261 --> 00:16:05,463 a satellite flying over the eastern 263 00:16:05,532 --> 00:16:08,232 United States spots something abnormal 264 00:16:08,301 --> 00:16:09,934 in the Philadelphia suburbs. 265 00:16:12,138 --> 00:16:15,106 What we see are 10 large individual spokes, 266 00:16:15,241 --> 00:16:18,509 all jutting out of a central circular point. 267 00:16:18,511 --> 00:16:21,212 So weird, because you have 268 00:16:21,214 --> 00:16:23,614 this whole urban area, and then all 269 00:16:23,616 --> 00:16:25,116 of a sudden, here in the middle of it, 270 00:16:25,251 --> 00:16:28,586 there's this strange structure. 271 00:16:28,588 --> 00:16:30,321 NARRATOR: The mystery edifice measures 272 00:16:30,323 --> 00:16:33,424 around 1,000 feet in diameter. 273 00:16:33,426 --> 00:16:36,728 I mean, it's huge, but you couldn't really guess 274 00:16:36,730 --> 00:16:40,031 just from looking at it what this structure is for. 275 00:16:43,103 --> 00:16:45,803 NARRATOR: To some, the structure's shape suggests 276 00:16:45,805 --> 00:16:48,006 it could be a relic of a defining time 277 00:16:48,008 --> 00:16:50,308 in 19th century history. 278 00:16:50,410 --> 00:16:54,212 These spokes radiating out are reminiscent of 279 00:16:54,214 --> 00:16:59,650 a railroad roundhouse with a rail turntable at its center. 280 00:17:02,956 --> 00:17:05,023 NARRATOR: In the 1860s, Philadelphia is 281 00:17:05,025 --> 00:17:07,558 a major hub of America's fastest-growing 282 00:17:07,660 --> 00:17:08,826 railroad network. 283 00:17:11,564 --> 00:17:15,600 Many of the 230-ton locomotives 284 00:17:15,702 --> 00:17:17,335 have trouble backing up, 285 00:17:17,437 --> 00:17:21,606 necessitating the introduction of special rotating platforms. 286 00:17:23,843 --> 00:17:26,644 AUERBACH: These were really a game-changing 287 00:17:26,746 --> 00:17:28,146 piece of technology, 288 00:17:28,247 --> 00:17:30,715 incredibly space-saving and time-saving, too, 289 00:17:30,717 --> 00:17:34,052 and they became standard pieces of equipment across 290 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:35,420 the industrialized world. 291 00:17:39,859 --> 00:17:42,160 NARRATOR: To others, the presence of a wall 292 00:17:42,261 --> 00:17:43,661 around the structure indicates 293 00:17:43,730 --> 00:17:45,863 that it dates from a much darker time 294 00:17:45,965 --> 00:17:47,031 in this city's history. 295 00:17:49,102 --> 00:17:51,102 There's a good chance that these walls 296 00:17:51,204 --> 00:17:52,437 are here to keep people in. 297 00:17:55,708 --> 00:17:59,710 I believe this is the notorious Holmesburg Prison. 298 00:17:59,813 --> 00:18:03,147 NARRATOR: Local records confirm that Holmesburg 299 00:18:03,216 --> 00:18:06,818 opened at this site in 1896. 300 00:18:08,221 --> 00:18:10,822 It represents an attempt to revolutionize 301 00:18:10,923 --> 00:18:12,022 the U.S. penal system. 302 00:18:16,463 --> 00:18:19,630 Before Holmesburg, prisons were more like dorms. 303 00:18:19,765 --> 00:18:22,033 There were these big, open structures where people 304 00:18:22,135 --> 00:18:24,202 could mix. 305 00:18:24,204 --> 00:18:25,937 RODRIGUEZ McROBBIE: Prisons were more or less these sort of 306 00:18:26,038 --> 00:18:29,040 open stews, where prisoners of 307 00:18:29,109 --> 00:18:32,143 all different crimes were lumped together. 308 00:18:32,212 --> 00:18:34,612 The conditions were unsanitary. 309 00:18:34,614 --> 00:18:37,115 They were really not pleasant places to be. 310 00:18:39,953 --> 00:18:41,552 NARRATOR: Unlike traditional prisons, 311 00:18:41,654 --> 00:18:44,822 Holmesburg's layout means that guards in a central hub 312 00:18:44,924 --> 00:18:47,758 can monitor the 600 cells at all times. 313 00:18:48,828 --> 00:18:51,529 Designed by evangelical Quakers, 314 00:18:51,531 --> 00:18:53,231 the isolation of the inmates is 315 00:18:53,233 --> 00:18:56,200 meant to encourage penitence and remorse. 316 00:18:56,335 --> 00:18:58,803 This new system was intended to give 317 00:18:58,905 --> 00:19:02,607 people individual rooms to think about their crimes, 318 00:19:02,742 --> 00:19:05,910 but unfortunately, what it basically did 319 00:19:05,912 --> 00:19:08,513 was just kind of drive people crazy. 320 00:19:12,285 --> 00:19:15,686 NARRATOR: Studies reveal that such isolation leads to spikes 321 00:19:15,688 --> 00:19:19,824 in psychosis and other mental disorders among prisoners. 322 00:19:19,926 --> 00:19:22,827 RODRIGUEZ McROBBIE: Part of the problem came from 323 00:19:22,829 --> 00:19:25,563 a sort of imperfect understanding of human nature, 324 00:19:25,665 --> 00:19:27,331 one of those things being that people 325 00:19:27,433 --> 00:19:30,601 do need to be around other people. 326 00:19:30,603 --> 00:19:33,504 NARRATOR: What's more, many of Holmesburg's inmates are 327 00:19:33,506 --> 00:19:34,872 violent criminals, 328 00:19:34,941 --> 00:19:41,512 meaning riots, bloody beatings, and killings are commonplace. 329 00:19:41,514 --> 00:19:45,316 And in the 1950s, their suffering steps up a gear, 330 00:19:45,318 --> 00:19:47,718 when authorities hire dermatologist, 331 00:19:47,853 --> 00:19:51,722 Dr. Albert Kligman to treat skin conditions among the prisoners. 332 00:19:53,026 --> 00:19:56,727 But when Kligman gets a view of these facilities 333 00:19:56,796 --> 00:19:59,530 and its occupants, he has some other ideas 334 00:19:59,532 --> 00:20:01,065 about how they could be utilized. 335 00:20:01,133 --> 00:20:04,101 RUBEN: When Dr. Kligman sees the inmates, 336 00:20:04,204 --> 00:20:08,005 he's quoted as saying that he sees acres of skin 337 00:20:08,007 --> 00:20:11,242 on which he can conduct his medical experiments. 338 00:20:13,413 --> 00:20:15,713 NARRATOR: Outside of prison, Kligman works for 339 00:20:15,815 --> 00:20:17,114 pharmaceutical companies. 340 00:20:18,518 --> 00:20:20,718 After embedding himself at Holmesburg, 341 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,555 he begins to test unlicensed medical products on the inmates 342 00:20:24,657 --> 00:20:26,657 in exchange for money. 343 00:20:26,726 --> 00:20:28,359 These tests help the facility 344 00:20:28,428 --> 00:20:30,962 gain the nickname the Terrordome. 345 00:20:33,499 --> 00:20:36,801 There are regular reports of inmates' hair and teeth 346 00:20:36,903 --> 00:20:39,437 falling out, and bandages conceal evidence of 347 00:20:39,505 --> 00:20:42,039 chemical burns. 348 00:20:42,141 --> 00:20:46,944 SPICER RICE: He's turning these human beings into animals. 349 00:20:47,046 --> 00:20:50,514 The pain that he's inflicting upon these people is immense. 350 00:20:52,252 --> 00:20:55,519 RUBEN: Kligman gives the inmates herpes and staph infections 351 00:20:55,521 --> 00:20:57,054 in order to look for treatments. 352 00:20:57,123 --> 00:20:59,457 He even administers radioactive isotopes. 353 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,061 NARRATOR: Between 1951 and 1974, 354 00:21:04,163 --> 00:21:07,665 Kligman experiments on thousands of inmates. 355 00:21:07,733 --> 00:21:12,036 In one study, around 70 are exposed to large amounts 356 00:21:12,105 --> 00:21:13,337 of dioxin, 357 00:21:13,406 --> 00:21:16,607 the highly poisonous component of Agent Orange. 358 00:21:18,811 --> 00:21:20,311 Many of these men were left 359 00:21:20,413 --> 00:21:22,513 with lifelong debilitating health conditions. 360 00:21:22,515 --> 00:21:25,116 In fact, to this day, it's said that you can recognize 361 00:21:25,118 --> 00:21:27,084 a Holmesburg prisoner because of 362 00:21:27,086 --> 00:21:30,154 the distinctive scars from skin burns and patch tests. 363 00:21:30,223 --> 00:21:32,657 It's really shocking to think that this 364 00:21:32,758 --> 00:21:36,027 was not just allowed to happen on U.S. soil, 365 00:21:36,029 --> 00:21:39,664 but encouraged and funded by U.S. companies. 366 00:21:42,101 --> 00:21:44,402 NARRATOR: A series of lawsuits finally brings 367 00:21:44,504 --> 00:21:48,606 the brutal experiments to an end in 1974. 368 00:21:48,708 --> 00:21:52,510 But despite public outcry, Kligman escapes sanction. 369 00:21:53,946 --> 00:21:56,514 In the end, nothing happened to him really. 370 00:21:56,649 --> 00:22:00,718 I mean, he died when he was 93 years old, and in many cases, 371 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,788 revered for discoveries that he made. 372 00:22:03,790 --> 00:22:09,160 We still use chemicals that he developed by testing them on 373 00:22:09,228 --> 00:22:11,629 these prisoners many years ago. 374 00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:18,402 NARRATOR: Officials finally decommission Holmesburg in 1995. 375 00:22:18,537 --> 00:22:21,105 Despite calls for demolition, 376 00:22:21,207 --> 00:22:23,507 the haunting facility still stands, 377 00:22:23,609 --> 00:22:27,511 a stain on U.S. history, visible from space. 378 00:22:27,613 --> 00:22:29,947 For many, this is a disturbing 379 00:22:30,049 --> 00:22:32,049 and harrowing reminder of some of 380 00:22:32,118 --> 00:22:34,518 the more frightening parts of our past. 381 00:22:40,493 --> 00:22:45,963 Coming up, Kim Jong Un's secret subsea assassins. 382 00:22:46,032 --> 00:22:48,399 We're talking about a power-crazed despot. 383 00:22:48,401 --> 00:22:51,836 So we've got to be extremely vigilant. 384 00:22:51,938 --> 00:22:55,139 NARRATOR: And the 100-square-mile cipher. 385 00:22:55,241 --> 00:22:57,608 The dead were so numerous that they were 386 00:22:57,710 --> 00:22:58,709 stacked up in layers. 387 00:23:05,651 --> 00:23:09,220 NARRATOR: November 4th, 2021. 388 00:23:09,222 --> 00:23:12,456 Satellites keeping a watchful eye over 389 00:23:12,558 --> 00:23:16,026 North Korea identify an unfamiliar object 390 00:23:16,028 --> 00:23:17,294 in a river below. 391 00:23:19,098 --> 00:23:22,700 There's some very unusual manmade structure floating out 392 00:23:22,802 --> 00:23:25,636 in the river, maybe anchored in the river. 393 00:23:25,705 --> 00:23:31,041 It looks like there's five hexagons that are all connected 394 00:23:31,143 --> 00:23:36,046 to each other, and then they're also connected to the mainland. 395 00:23:36,115 --> 00:23:38,215 It looks like a strange structure. 396 00:23:39,385 --> 00:23:41,018 NARRATOR: At 30 feet wide, 397 00:23:41,020 --> 00:23:42,620 each of the shapes appear to be 398 00:23:42,622 --> 00:23:45,823 enclosures for fish or other aquatic animals. 399 00:23:48,161 --> 00:23:51,195 Yet the structure's location puzzles analysts. 400 00:23:51,197 --> 00:23:54,064 KOUROUNIS: There are naval units located 401 00:23:54,100 --> 00:23:56,200 in close proximity to this structure, 402 00:23:56,302 --> 00:24:00,004 so that makes me wonder if somehow the North Korean 403 00:24:00,006 --> 00:24:02,807 military is involved in whatever is going on here. 404 00:24:05,845 --> 00:24:07,344 NARRATOR: Analysts turned to Maxar's 405 00:24:07,446 --> 00:24:09,847 SecureWatch technology for more clues. 406 00:24:11,818 --> 00:24:15,119 It turns out the structure bears a striking resemblance to 407 00:24:15,221 --> 00:24:20,057 one used by the Russian military some 4,500 miles away. 408 00:24:20,125 --> 00:24:23,527 These hexagon shapes look very similar 409 00:24:23,596 --> 00:24:26,564 to this facility on the Black Sea. 410 00:24:26,665 --> 00:24:31,602 This facility is known for training dolphins, and this same 411 00:24:31,604 --> 00:24:35,406 hexagon shape is the pen where the dolphins are kept. 412 00:24:35,408 --> 00:24:37,408 These sites in North Korea 413 00:24:37,510 --> 00:24:40,811 could be where dolphins are trained for military purposes. 414 00:24:40,813 --> 00:24:43,214 NARRATOR: Over the past few decades, 415 00:24:43,216 --> 00:24:46,617 dolphins have been used by several military superpowers 416 00:24:46,619 --> 00:24:48,552 for highly clandestine missions. 417 00:24:49,856 --> 00:24:53,357 The satellite image appears to be 418 00:24:53,459 --> 00:24:56,660 evidence that North Korea is following suit. 419 00:24:56,696 --> 00:25:02,199 There's one thing you can rely on, is that no matter how dire 420 00:25:02,301 --> 00:25:05,302 and perilous the state of North Korea's economy is, 421 00:25:05,304 --> 00:25:08,706 its leader will always ensure that its weapons 422 00:25:08,841 --> 00:25:09,973 technology grows. 423 00:25:12,044 --> 00:25:16,046 The use of dolphins in naval missions begins in 1960, 424 00:25:16,148 --> 00:25:19,750 when U.S. researchers study the animals to streamline 425 00:25:19,819 --> 00:25:21,018 torpedo design. 426 00:25:22,221 --> 00:25:25,055 But they soon realize that the highly intelligent mammals 427 00:25:25,124 --> 00:25:28,826 can play a much more direct role in warfare. 428 00:25:28,928 --> 00:25:32,630 The U.S. Navy has conducted a lot of research 429 00:25:32,732 --> 00:25:36,901 and experimentation using dolphins for non-combat roles, 430 00:25:36,903 --> 00:25:39,937 to sort of achieved tactical and operational 431 00:25:40,039 --> 00:25:44,508 objectives that simply can't be done by humans. 432 00:25:46,712 --> 00:25:49,046 NARRATOR: In the first open sea exercises, 433 00:25:49,148 --> 00:25:53,217 a dolphin named Tuffy successfully relays equipment 434 00:25:53,219 --> 00:25:55,819 to divers 200 feet below the surface. 435 00:25:55,955 --> 00:26:00,124 In further tests, the Navy uses 436 00:26:00,226 --> 00:26:05,229 the mammals to detect and identify underwater explosives. 437 00:26:05,231 --> 00:26:09,833 Their sonar is extremely sensitive, and it gives them 438 00:26:09,969 --> 00:26:14,305 an acoustic picture of what the environment looks like. 439 00:26:14,407 --> 00:26:18,309 This allows them to travel through murky waters 440 00:26:18,411 --> 00:26:23,414 and locate mines on the sea floor or at the surface. 441 00:26:25,718 --> 00:26:28,018 NARRATOR: In response, the Soviets also 442 00:26:28,020 --> 00:26:30,654 begin assembling units of military dolphins. 443 00:26:32,625 --> 00:26:35,426 Former Communist dolphin trainers claim the mammals 444 00:26:35,494 --> 00:26:38,128 were kept in small, isolated pens, 445 00:26:38,263 --> 00:26:40,364 like the ones seen in North Korea 446 00:26:40,433 --> 00:26:43,701 and deprived of food to make them reliant on their handlers. 447 00:26:45,104 --> 00:26:47,504 MUNOZ: The Russians actually tried 448 00:26:47,607 --> 00:26:49,807 to weaponize these animals, 449 00:26:49,909 --> 00:26:53,844 trying to use dolphins as a method of carrying 450 00:26:53,946 --> 00:26:57,514 either munitions or bombs and using them to 451 00:26:57,516 --> 00:26:59,249 attack adversaries 452 00:26:59,351 --> 00:27:01,819 in actual combat operations. 453 00:27:03,055 --> 00:27:05,155 WALTERS: They'd swim up to an enemy vessel, 454 00:27:05,224 --> 00:27:07,224 rub against the keel, and then... 455 00:27:08,628 --> 00:27:11,228 bang goes the dolphin and the target. 456 00:27:15,334 --> 00:27:17,735 NARRATOR: In more recent years, Russian dolphins have 457 00:27:17,803 --> 00:27:20,304 been trained to carry out stealthier missions. 458 00:27:22,041 --> 00:27:24,742 Fitted with a lethal gas-filled needle, 459 00:27:24,843 --> 00:27:27,044 they patrol Russian naval facilities to 460 00:27:27,113 --> 00:27:29,546 track down and inject enemy divers. 461 00:27:33,452 --> 00:27:35,619 As far as we can tell, these troubling 462 00:27:35,621 --> 00:27:38,322 dolphin training programs are still up and running. 463 00:27:38,457 --> 00:27:40,391 If anything, they're probably more advanced 464 00:27:40,393 --> 00:27:42,760 and secretive than they were before. 465 00:27:42,861 --> 00:27:46,630 If North Korea is acquiring and training the animals, 466 00:27:46,632 --> 00:27:48,432 that is a real cause for concern. 467 00:27:50,703 --> 00:27:53,437 NARRATOR: North Korea possesses 40 nuclear weapons, 468 00:27:53,539 --> 00:27:55,239 which can be launched from submarines. 469 00:27:57,710 --> 00:27:59,810 The fear is that Kim Jong Un will use 470 00:27:59,812 --> 00:28:02,813 these animals to prevent Western nations from monitoring 471 00:28:02,815 --> 00:28:04,148 their deployment. 472 00:28:09,822 --> 00:28:11,722 Historically, Kim Jong Un has 473 00:28:11,724 --> 00:28:14,625 been deeply mistrustful of foreign powers. 474 00:28:14,627 --> 00:28:17,428 So he could have trained dolphins to try to take out 475 00:28:17,430 --> 00:28:19,530 any vessels or divers that could have come close 476 00:28:19,632 --> 00:28:20,964 to his nuclear arsenal. 477 00:28:22,935 --> 00:28:24,735 NARRATOR: North Korea has a history of 478 00:28:24,804 --> 00:28:28,405 such preemptive strikes against naval adversaries. 479 00:28:28,407 --> 00:28:31,608 In 2010, a mysterious blast sinks 480 00:28:31,610 --> 00:28:35,913 the South Korean Navy ship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors. 481 00:28:39,051 --> 00:28:41,852 The facility is seen from space could represent 482 00:28:41,987 --> 00:28:45,222 an unusual and worrying escalation in tensions 483 00:28:45,324 --> 00:28:47,958 with Kim Jong Un's regime. 484 00:28:48,027 --> 00:28:50,928 We're talking about a totalitarian state, 485 00:28:50,930 --> 00:28:53,931 and it's ruled by this kind of power-crazed despot. 486 00:28:53,933 --> 00:28:58,235 So we've got to be extremely vigilant about North Korea. 487 00:29:04,143 --> 00:29:05,309 NARRATOR: Coming up, 488 00:29:05,411 --> 00:29:09,046 the 400-foot-long floating skeletons. 489 00:29:09,115 --> 00:29:11,048 You'll have the predators come in and strip it 490 00:29:11,117 --> 00:29:12,416 down to its bones. 491 00:29:12,418 --> 00:29:15,953 NARRATOR: And attack of the cannibal army. 492 00:29:16,021 --> 00:29:17,721 MUNOZ: I mean, can you imagine? 493 00:29:17,723 --> 00:29:19,323 It's like something out of a nightmare. 494 00:29:27,366 --> 00:29:30,033 NARRATOR: May 29th, 2020. 495 00:29:31,737 --> 00:29:34,104 Satellites wheeling over the West African 496 00:29:34,206 --> 00:29:36,406 city of Nouadhibou 497 00:29:36,408 --> 00:29:38,509 scan the coastal waters below. 498 00:29:40,946 --> 00:29:43,413 At first glance, it doesn't seem that strange, 499 00:29:43,549 --> 00:29:46,550 a bunch of ships off the shore, 500 00:29:46,585 --> 00:29:50,254 except I'm not seeing any wakes behind them. 501 00:29:50,322 --> 00:29:52,956 These ships don't seem to be moving, and a lot of 502 00:29:53,058 --> 00:29:57,361 them don't look like they're in a very good state of repair. 503 00:29:57,429 --> 00:30:01,098 NARRATOR: Historic images confirm around 300 vessels, 504 00:30:01,100 --> 00:30:02,900 many of them hundreds of feet long, 505 00:30:02,902 --> 00:30:07,204 have lain abandoned for years or run aground. 506 00:30:08,808 --> 00:30:11,308 The fact that they're just sitting here idly is 507 00:30:11,310 --> 00:30:12,409 pretty puzzling. 508 00:30:13,512 --> 00:30:15,746 RUBEN: Ships can cost millions of dollars. 509 00:30:15,815 --> 00:30:17,714 It's strange that all these vessels would 510 00:30:17,817 --> 00:30:19,750 just be left there to rust. 511 00:30:21,420 --> 00:30:24,087 NARRATOR: Nautical records reveal that the ghost fleet 512 00:30:24,089 --> 00:30:25,722 is the legacy of a saga 513 00:30:25,724 --> 00:30:28,525 of corruption that has blighted this city for decades. 514 00:30:30,129 --> 00:30:32,062 Unfortunately, over the years, 515 00:30:32,131 --> 00:30:34,565 Nouadhibou has become the world's largest 516 00:30:34,633 --> 00:30:35,532 ship graveyard. 517 00:30:37,102 --> 00:30:39,803 This is basically a time capsule 518 00:30:39,905 --> 00:30:42,206 of rusting vessels from across the globe. 519 00:30:47,646 --> 00:30:50,514 NARRATOR: Globally, shipyards break up around 520 00:30:50,649 --> 00:30:52,816 800 large vessels each year. 521 00:30:55,621 --> 00:30:58,722 The biggest facilities strip up to 10 million tons of 522 00:30:58,724 --> 00:31:00,390 steel annually, 523 00:31:00,392 --> 00:31:04,928 166 times the amount found in the Empire State Building. 524 00:31:06,232 --> 00:31:09,099 Just because a ship is decrepit and rusted 525 00:31:09,201 --> 00:31:10,601 and derelict doesn't mean that 526 00:31:10,603 --> 00:31:14,104 it doesn't have tremendous value in the raw resources 527 00:31:14,206 --> 00:31:16,240 that are still there. 528 00:31:16,308 --> 00:31:19,643 RUBEN: Everything that can be salvaged will be salvaged. 529 00:31:19,745 --> 00:31:21,411 These ships vanish completely. 530 00:31:24,216 --> 00:31:27,317 NARRATOR: Ship breaking can generate billions of dollars for 531 00:31:27,419 --> 00:31:29,052 yard owners. 532 00:31:29,121 --> 00:31:31,722 The potential for vast riches means 533 00:31:31,724 --> 00:31:33,757 there's a dark side to the industry. 534 00:31:35,327 --> 00:31:37,261 Until about the late 20th century, 535 00:31:37,362 --> 00:31:39,630 these scrapyards would typically be in cities 536 00:31:39,632 --> 00:31:41,798 in industrialized nations, 537 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,935 but with labor being very inexpensive in certain 538 00:31:45,037 --> 00:31:47,804 countries and the cost of steel going up, 539 00:31:47,907 --> 00:31:51,108 it's been more economical for these shipbreaking yards to be 540 00:31:51,110 --> 00:31:54,811 in places like Africa and Bangladesh. 541 00:31:54,813 --> 00:31:58,115 Work in these shipbreaking yards is incredibly dangerous 542 00:31:58,117 --> 00:32:00,417 and is usually performed by migrant workers 543 00:32:00,519 --> 00:32:03,520 who have no choice but to work in these unsafe conditions 544 00:32:03,655 --> 00:32:05,522 or face hunger and homelessness. 545 00:32:06,592 --> 00:32:09,626 NARRATOR: In some yards, exploitation is rife. 546 00:32:09,695 --> 00:32:11,728 There are no safety regulations, 547 00:32:11,730 --> 00:32:15,632 and children account for up to 20 percent of the workforce. 548 00:32:15,701 --> 00:32:18,936 It's not uncommon for these workers to have all kinds 549 00:32:19,004 --> 00:32:21,338 of injuries, from being crushed 550 00:32:21,407 --> 00:32:23,607 by equipment to broken limbs to 551 00:32:23,609 --> 00:32:26,610 burns from their blowtorches, you name it. 552 00:32:29,515 --> 00:32:32,716 NARRATOR: Since 2009, more than 400 people have 553 00:32:32,818 --> 00:32:35,552 died while dismantling vessels in these yards. 554 00:32:37,323 --> 00:32:40,824 Other workers face different but equally horrific fates. 555 00:32:42,061 --> 00:32:44,861 Even if these workers leave the job site alive, 556 00:32:44,964 --> 00:32:47,531 they're still in contact with so much hazardous waste that 557 00:32:47,599 --> 00:32:49,299 they can be made sick by what they work on. 558 00:32:51,203 --> 00:32:52,836 RODRIGUEZ McROBBIE: People who work in these places 559 00:32:52,938 --> 00:32:56,406 often succumb to horrible cancers or even diseases like 560 00:32:56,508 --> 00:32:58,709 asbestosis later on in life. 561 00:33:00,746 --> 00:33:03,413 NARRATOR: Despite the toxic, perilous conditions 562 00:33:03,415 --> 00:33:06,316 at these yards, owners must pay large sums 563 00:33:06,418 --> 00:33:08,118 to have their vessels dismantled there. 564 00:33:10,622 --> 00:33:13,724 This has lured ships to end their days at the site 565 00:33:13,726 --> 00:33:14,958 in the image. 566 00:33:16,195 --> 00:33:19,329 It's really expensive to dismantle the ship properly 567 00:33:19,331 --> 00:33:20,764 if you want to do it. 568 00:33:20,833 --> 00:33:24,201 Many owners of these vessels simply can't be bothered. 569 00:33:24,303 --> 00:33:27,437 The solution -- dump them here. 570 00:33:27,506 --> 00:33:30,941 Countries like Mauritania have very depressed economies. 571 00:33:31,076 --> 00:33:32,609 Money is hard to come by. 572 00:33:32,611 --> 00:33:36,046 So it can be very tempting for these officials to take 573 00:33:36,148 --> 00:33:37,647 these bribes to basically 574 00:33:37,749 --> 00:33:40,817 allow their waters to become a dumping 575 00:33:40,952 --> 00:33:42,519 ground for these ships. 576 00:33:45,090 --> 00:33:46,923 NARRATOR: Over the past 40 years, 577 00:33:46,925 --> 00:33:48,959 Nouadhibou has become the global center 578 00:33:49,027 --> 00:33:50,427 for illegal shipbreaking. 579 00:33:51,764 --> 00:33:53,096 Once dumped in the bay, 580 00:33:53,098 --> 00:33:56,299 each vessel is scavenged by swarms of workers 581 00:33:56,435 --> 00:33:58,402 and every morsel sold for profit. 582 00:33:59,738 --> 00:34:03,140 There's value not just in the raw steel, but in things 583 00:34:03,241 --> 00:34:05,008 like the fittings, the windows, 584 00:34:05,010 --> 00:34:08,111 the cutlery, the life preservers. 585 00:34:08,113 --> 00:34:09,346 This totally reminds me of 586 00:34:09,415 --> 00:34:12,315 a carcass left in the woods to decompose. 587 00:34:12,317 --> 00:34:14,251 You'll have the predators come in and strip it 588 00:34:14,319 --> 00:34:16,119 down to its bones, and eventually, 589 00:34:16,121 --> 00:34:17,320 there'll be nothing left. 590 00:34:20,959 --> 00:34:22,926 NARRATOR: As the ships are picked apart, 591 00:34:22,928 --> 00:34:25,162 they release a toxic cocktail 592 00:34:25,230 --> 00:34:27,731 of carcinogens and heavy metals. 593 00:34:29,101 --> 00:34:32,402 These ships are often smeared with paint and oils that seep 594 00:34:32,404 --> 00:34:34,704 out into the ocean, polluting the ecosystem 595 00:34:34,807 --> 00:34:37,340 and harming local wildlife. 596 00:34:37,409 --> 00:34:40,911 The waters around here have become so noxious that 597 00:34:40,913 --> 00:34:43,647 they can change the sex of local sea creatures. 598 00:34:45,017 --> 00:34:48,318 Untold amounts of oil leak from rusting tankers, 599 00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:50,654 polluting local beaches and bays. 600 00:34:55,661 --> 00:34:58,495 At first, abandoning these vessels seems like 601 00:34:58,497 --> 00:34:59,729 a victimless crime, 602 00:34:59,731 --> 00:35:03,400 but in the long run, all of these toxins ending up in 603 00:35:03,402 --> 00:35:06,403 the environment becomes a real ecological catastrophe. 604 00:35:07,706 --> 00:35:10,907 NARRATOR: While officials continue to line their pockets, 605 00:35:10,909 --> 00:35:13,844 those who live here will keep paying with their lives. 606 00:35:15,047 --> 00:35:18,048 The legacy of the abandonment of these ships 607 00:35:18,117 --> 00:35:21,418 is going to last for generations. 608 00:35:27,526 --> 00:35:28,859 NARRATOR: Coming up, 609 00:35:28,961 --> 00:35:31,561 death in paradise. 610 00:35:31,597 --> 00:35:34,064 Something pretty horrific happened here 611 00:35:34,133 --> 00:35:35,532 on the sleepy island of Tonga. 612 00:35:48,947 --> 00:35:51,948 NARRATOR: June 27th, 2020. 613 00:35:54,019 --> 00:35:57,154 Aerial archaeologists study the Pacific archipelago 614 00:35:57,222 --> 00:35:58,622 of Tonga. 615 00:36:00,526 --> 00:36:04,327 As they analyze Lidar scans of the island of Tongatapu, 616 00:36:04,329 --> 00:36:07,063 they spot something strange 617 00:36:07,132 --> 00:36:09,032 hidden beneath the forest canopy. 618 00:36:11,103 --> 00:36:14,638 CAVELL: You see these weird circular marks all over 619 00:36:14,706 --> 00:36:17,841 the island, and there are thousands of them. 620 00:36:17,943 --> 00:36:20,143 AUERBACH: It's bizarre -- I mean, this Lidar scan makes it 621 00:36:20,212 --> 00:36:23,246 look like the island's been hit by a giant shotgun round 622 00:36:23,348 --> 00:36:24,648 from outer space. 623 00:36:27,219 --> 00:36:31,555 NARRATOR: Around 10,000 circular shapes litter the land mass, 624 00:36:31,656 --> 00:36:34,257 relics, some suspect, of a wave of 625 00:36:34,326 --> 00:36:39,529 violence that swept these islands eight decades ago. 626 00:36:39,664 --> 00:36:41,531 WALTERS: The Lidar scan, 627 00:36:41,633 --> 00:36:44,000 if you look at it, your mind turns to 628 00:36:44,002 --> 00:36:48,705 one thing -- bombs -- and that, of course, means war. 629 00:36:48,707 --> 00:36:51,708 ANNOUNCER: The crime of the century. 630 00:36:51,710 --> 00:36:54,311 NARRATOR: In January 1942, 631 00:36:54,313 --> 00:36:56,713 following the attack on Pearl Harbor, 632 00:36:56,715 --> 00:37:00,517 Japan sets its sights on several strategically vital 633 00:37:00,519 --> 00:37:01,818 South Pacific Islands. 634 00:37:05,624 --> 00:37:07,824 The Second World War was actually the world's first 635 00:37:07,926 --> 00:37:11,161 truly global conflict, and as a result, 636 00:37:11,263 --> 00:37:15,532 it even makes its way to the relative obscurity of Tonga. 637 00:37:15,601 --> 00:37:18,435 [gunfire blasting] 638 00:37:18,503 --> 00:37:22,105 NARRATOR: As Japanese forces sweep towards the islands, 639 00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:24,507 the U.S. launches a counteroffensive. 640 00:37:25,811 --> 00:37:27,544 In May 1942, 641 00:37:27,613 --> 00:37:31,314 the two nations face off in the Battle of the Coral Sea. 642 00:37:32,718 --> 00:37:35,986 The engagement sees Japan capture territory in 643 00:37:35,988 --> 00:37:38,221 New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, 644 00:37:38,323 --> 00:37:40,657 while U.S. forces seize Tonga. 645 00:37:40,759 --> 00:37:42,959 Tonga's main island became 646 00:37:43,061 --> 00:37:46,730 a major transport hub for the Allied shipping lanes. 647 00:37:46,732 --> 00:37:50,300 It was key to the U.S. strategy in the Pacific theater. 648 00:37:52,437 --> 00:37:55,305 NARRATOR: What's puzzling about the image is that America's 649 00:37:55,407 --> 00:37:57,807 8,000-strong occupying force 650 00:37:57,809 --> 00:38:01,711 ensures Tonga emerges unscathed from the war. 651 00:38:01,713 --> 00:38:04,414 It appears that the American military occupation 652 00:38:04,516 --> 00:38:06,316 functioned as a deterrent, 653 00:38:06,418 --> 00:38:08,818 because the Japanese never attacked the island. 654 00:38:10,055 --> 00:38:13,323 And that produces a bigger question -- if warfare 655 00:38:13,392 --> 00:38:16,559 never came to Tonga during World War II, 656 00:38:16,661 --> 00:38:18,461 what are all these pockmarks? 657 00:38:20,799 --> 00:38:23,133 NARRATOR: Studying the image in more detail gives 658 00:38:23,234 --> 00:38:27,237 a new perspective on the strange circles. 659 00:38:27,339 --> 00:38:28,938 AUERBACH: When you look a little bit closer, 660 00:38:29,007 --> 00:38:31,608 you see that these are not concave. 661 00:38:31,710 --> 00:38:33,510 They're actually convex. 662 00:38:33,512 --> 00:38:38,515 They are small mounds or raised bits of earth. 663 00:38:38,617 --> 00:38:42,852 What these look like to me are burial mounds. 664 00:38:45,490 --> 00:38:48,024 NARRATOR: Archaeological examinations confirm 665 00:38:48,026 --> 00:38:49,959 the presence of cadavers in the mounds. 666 00:38:51,263 --> 00:38:54,230 Some contain over 100 bodies and appear 667 00:38:54,332 --> 00:38:56,800 to have been used for internment for centuries. 668 00:38:59,037 --> 00:39:01,838 They're actually constructed over an extraordinarily long 669 00:39:01,940 --> 00:39:05,308 period of time, and the fact that these mounds are spread 670 00:39:05,310 --> 00:39:09,112 evenly all over the island suggests that what we are 671 00:39:09,214 --> 00:39:15,151 seeing here is some sort of ritual burial practice. 672 00:39:15,253 --> 00:39:20,256 When European explorers first visit Tonga in the 1600s, 673 00:39:20,358 --> 00:39:23,526 they find an island divided between rivaling chiefdoms. 674 00:39:25,063 --> 00:39:28,431 The tribes use the mounds in the image to bury their dead, 675 00:39:29,601 --> 00:39:31,534 but analysis of the distribution of 676 00:39:31,603 --> 00:39:34,003 the graves uncovers a strange anomaly. 677 00:39:37,042 --> 00:39:40,310 What we see on the eastern part of the island is an area 678 00:39:40,412 --> 00:39:42,412 that was relatively underpopulated, 679 00:39:42,514 --> 00:39:45,315 and yet there are a huge number of 680 00:39:45,317 --> 00:39:46,850 these mounds in the region. 681 00:39:48,220 --> 00:39:51,521 AUERBACH: There are a staggering number of them, 682 00:39:51,590 --> 00:39:54,991 which means something pretty horrific happened here on 683 00:39:54,993 --> 00:39:56,559 the sleepy island of Tonga. 684 00:39:59,664 --> 00:40:01,664 NARRATOR: Accounts from missionaries who visited 685 00:40:01,733 --> 00:40:04,801 the island could help explain the mystery. 686 00:40:04,936 --> 00:40:08,204 There's a clue as to why so many deaths appear to have 687 00:40:08,206 --> 00:40:09,939 taken place in just 688 00:40:10,008 --> 00:40:13,042 one part of the island, and that comes from this really 689 00:40:13,111 --> 00:40:15,311 bloody chapter in the island's history -- 690 00:40:15,313 --> 00:40:16,846 the battle of Poha. 691 00:40:18,950 --> 00:40:20,950 NARRATOR: At the turn of the 19th century, 692 00:40:21,085 --> 00:40:23,219 Tonga is gripped by a civil war 693 00:40:23,221 --> 00:40:24,854 between its most powerful chiefs. 694 00:40:26,057 --> 00:40:29,626 In the year 1801, the warlord Vaha'i 695 00:40:29,761 --> 00:40:32,362 moves his warriors eastwards across the island, 696 00:40:32,430 --> 00:40:34,230 intent on attacking his rival. 697 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:38,535 The reason for the western chief invading was that 698 00:40:38,603 --> 00:40:40,036 the eastern tribes 699 00:40:40,138 --> 00:40:41,905 had been involved in the assassination 700 00:40:41,907 --> 00:40:43,440 of the Tongan king. 701 00:40:43,508 --> 00:40:46,509 The chief Vaha'i was on a revenge mission, 702 00:40:46,511 --> 00:40:49,245 and he was not taking any prisoners. 703 00:40:51,516 --> 00:40:53,950 MUNOZ: People were massacred left and right. 704 00:40:54,052 --> 00:40:56,119 The dead were so numerous that they were 705 00:40:56,188 --> 00:41:00,056 laid up across each other in large piles. 706 00:41:00,158 --> 00:41:04,527 There are also accounts that go a step further that discuss 707 00:41:04,596 --> 00:41:06,729 the creation of great pyres, 708 00:41:06,731 --> 00:41:10,733 where bodies of the slain were roasted, with the implication 709 00:41:10,835 --> 00:41:13,837 being that cannibalism happened afterwards. 710 00:41:15,106 --> 00:41:17,640 NARRATOR: After being piled high in mounds all over 711 00:41:17,709 --> 00:41:19,509 the battlefield, 712 00:41:19,611 --> 00:41:21,711 the slain are claimed by the earth. 713 00:41:24,049 --> 00:41:26,516 MUNOZ: The extreme death toll suffered in the east of 714 00:41:26,618 --> 00:41:30,019 the island could explain why the area has more mounds 715 00:41:30,121 --> 00:41:31,921 than elsewhere. 716 00:41:31,923 --> 00:41:33,356 NARRATOR: Over the following centuries, 717 00:41:33,424 --> 00:41:37,861 the warriors' tombs are covered in vegetation, 718 00:41:37,962 --> 00:41:41,664 only to be revealed once more from the skies. 719 00:41:41,733 --> 00:41:46,703 These burial mounds show us that no part in human history 720 00:41:46,805 --> 00:41:50,039 is free from evidence of man's capability 721 00:41:50,108 --> 00:41:51,441 of violence and cruelty. 722 00:41:53,044 --> 00:41:55,345 Man is truly wolf unto man.