1 00:00:01,302 --> 00:00:03,302 [narrator] They're watching you. 2 00:00:03,304 --> 00:00:06,205 More than 6,000 satellites circle the Earth. 3 00:00:07,441 --> 00:00:10,642 Every day, they uncover new mysterious phenomena 4 00:00:11,312 --> 00:00:12,811 that defy explanation. 5 00:00:15,416 --> 00:00:17,916 Revealed from high in the sk 6 00:00:17,918 --> 00:00:20,252 the secret Armageddon weapon 7 00:00:20,287 --> 00:00:23,655 It could absolutely knock us back to the stone age. 8 00:00:23,724 --> 00:00:26,225 [narrator] A mystery mountaintop tsunami. 9 00:00:26,227 --> 00:00:30,062 You can't really wrap your head around what you're seeing. 10 00:00:30,164 --> 00:00:32,798 [narrator] And the lost arm of the dead. 11 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,100 They're known for their fearsomeness 12 00:00:35,102 --> 00:00:36,301 when called to battle. 13 00:00:37,038 --> 00:00:38,437 [narrator] Baffling phenomenon. 14 00:00:38,539 --> 00:00:40,506 Mysteries from space. 15 00:00:40,508 --> 00:00:42,207 What on Earth are they? 16 00:01:03,831 --> 00:01:07,032 May 8th, 2018. 17 00:01:07,134 --> 00:01:08,700 A group of urban explorers 18 00:01:08,702 --> 00:01:11,937 are trekking through the Russian Wilderness. 19 00:01:12,039 --> 00:01:15,040 Heading for something weird revealed from the skies. 20 00:01:16,744 --> 00:01:18,544 [man speaking] 21 00:01:22,416 --> 00:01:26,819 [narrator] A drone, scannin a forest 33 miles to the west of Moscow, 22 00:01:26,821 --> 00:01:29,054 has uncovered towering structures 23 00:01:29,056 --> 00:01:30,322 hidden in a clearing. 24 00:01:32,126 --> 00:01:34,460 [man] Now, this is just truly bizarre. 25 00:01:34,528 --> 00:01:37,563 You have massive, kind of, industrial sized, 26 00:01:37,631 --> 00:01:40,899 like, towers and pillars and coils. 27 00:01:40,901 --> 00:01:42,701 And it's in the middle of nowhere. 28 00:01:44,205 --> 00:01:46,738 [Guy Walters] These towers are really strangely shaped 29 00:01:46,807 --> 00:01:48,907 And they've got this kind of bulbous hoops 30 00:01:48,909 --> 00:01:50,309 that run right up the side. 31 00:01:52,613 --> 00:01:55,814 [narrator] The towers are around 130 feet tall, 32 00:01:55,816 --> 00:01:59,118 and form part of a three million sq ft compou 33 00:02:01,222 --> 00:02:05,891 They look like some kind of strange '80s space weapon. 34 00:02:05,893 --> 00:02:09,161 These towers are kept away from prying eyes. 35 00:02:09,230 --> 00:02:11,630 So what I wanna know is, what are they trying to hide? 36 00:02:21,208 --> 00:02:22,407 [man speaking] 37 00:02:27,848 --> 00:02:30,315 [narrator] A ten-foot high fence forms a barrier 38 00:02:30,317 --> 00:02:31,717 around the entire site. 39 00:02:34,255 --> 00:02:36,655 Presence of fencing around the site 40 00:02:37,057 --> 00:02:38,857 is suspicious. 41 00:02:38,926 --> 00:02:40,959 That automatically makes me suspect 42 00:02:40,961 --> 00:02:43,428 that maybe it's some sort of military facility. 43 00:02:48,302 --> 00:02:50,235 [narrator] After finally gaining access, 44 00:02:50,304 --> 00:02:52,104 the teams discovers that a fence 45 00:02:52,106 --> 00:02:54,206 isn't the only thing guarding the site. 46 00:03:08,622 --> 00:03:09,655 Let's go. 47 00:03:15,896 --> 00:03:17,629 [narrator] Using the trees as cover, 48 00:03:19,133 --> 00:03:20,933 the team heads for these structures 49 00:03:21,001 --> 00:03:22,301 at the edge of the compound 50 00:03:30,411 --> 00:03:31,510 [man speaking] 51 00:03:32,112 --> 00:03:33,645 [chuckling] 52 00:03:34,615 --> 00:03:36,081 Crazy place. 53 00:03:39,853 --> 00:03:43,822 [narrator] The towers sit on giant tanks of viscous liquid. 54 00:03:44,692 --> 00:03:45,958 [man speaking] 55 00:03:56,770 --> 00:03:59,204 [narrator] If this is a military facility, 56 00:03:59,206 --> 00:04:02,040 it's one with a highly unusual purpose. 57 00:04:03,410 --> 00:04:05,611 [Walters] If you get a good look at this tower, 58 00:04:05,613 --> 00:04:08,547 there appear to be, like, weird high-voltage equipment. 59 00:04:10,618 --> 00:04:15,854 These installations have a very eerie similarity 60 00:04:15,956 --> 00:04:17,789 to Tesla coils. 61 00:04:17,791 --> 00:04:21,260 But why would they be built out in the middle of nowhere 62 00:04:21,328 --> 00:04:22,261 in Russia? 63 00:04:24,365 --> 00:04:26,231 [narrator] Declassified Soviet files 64 00:04:26,233 --> 00:04:29,334 reveal that the drone has captured a bizarre reli 65 00:04:29,436 --> 00:04:31,903 of one of the most extraordinary minds 66 00:04:31,905 --> 00:04:33,205 of the 19th century. 67 00:04:35,142 --> 00:04:38,844 Nicola Tesla is one of the true geniuses 68 00:04:38,945 --> 00:04:41,813 of early electrical power. 69 00:04:41,815 --> 00:04:46,952 He was a pioneer, whose inventions are still being studied today. 70 00:04:47,054 --> 00:04:48,854 [thunderclap] 71 00:04:48,955 --> 00:04:52,858 [narrator] Born during a lightning storm, in 1856, 72 00:04:52,959 --> 00:04:55,427 Nicola Tesla was one of the most prolific 73 00:04:55,429 --> 00:04:57,863 and innovative engineers in history. 74 00:04:59,066 --> 00:05:00,299 During his career, 75 00:05:00,301 --> 00:05:02,834 he developed over 300 inventions. 76 00:05:02,936 --> 00:05:04,636 Including the alternating current 77 00:05:04,705 --> 00:05:07,806 that still powers nearly eve modern electrical device. 78 00:05:09,810 --> 00:05:11,910 The structures revealed from the skies 79 00:05:11,912 --> 00:05:16,148 are the legacy of perhaps his most ambitious project. 80 00:05:16,216 --> 00:05:18,817 [Ruben] One of the ideas Tesla was most obsessed with 81 00:05:18,819 --> 00:05:22,521 was this idea of sending out electricity, wirelessly. 82 00:05:23,724 --> 00:05:25,624 [Kourounis] He had grand plans 83 00:05:25,626 --> 00:05:28,527 of beaming wireless electricity 84 00:05:28,529 --> 00:05:31,196 all across the country, to every household. 85 00:05:31,198 --> 00:05:32,464 [machinery whirring] 86 00:05:33,934 --> 00:05:35,400 [narrator] As well as homes 87 00:05:35,402 --> 00:05:37,703 the engineer hopes his wireless beams 88 00:05:37,705 --> 00:05:39,604 will power planes and ships 89 00:05:43,944 --> 00:05:46,712 Key to his plan is the Tesla coil, 90 00:05:46,714 --> 00:05:49,114 which he develops in 1891. 91 00:05:51,418 --> 00:05:53,719 [Cerveny] A Tesla coil basically acts 92 00:05:53,721 --> 00:05:55,954 like a magnetic container. 93 00:05:56,022 --> 00:05:59,224 It allows for electrical charge to build up 94 00:05:59,226 --> 00:06:01,159 and then be released 95 00:06:01,261 --> 00:06:03,228 in one big burst. 96 00:06:06,834 --> 00:06:08,500 [narrator] In his early experiments, 97 00:06:08,502 --> 00:06:10,802 Tesla successfully beams electricity 98 00:06:10,804 --> 00:06:13,405 over a 130-foot distance. 99 00:06:14,942 --> 00:06:16,241 In 1901, 100 00:06:16,343 --> 00:06:18,944 he dramatically scales up his technology. 101 00:06:19,045 --> 00:06:21,513 Constructing the 190-foot ta 102 00:06:21,515 --> 00:06:23,715 Wardenclyffe Tower, on Long Island. 103 00:06:24,618 --> 00:06:26,017 [Walters] Tesla designed this tower 104 00:06:26,019 --> 00:06:28,587 to create this huge static charge 105 00:06:28,589 --> 00:06:31,957 that would electrify the stations, thousands of miles away. 106 00:06:32,025 --> 00:06:35,127 Tesla was attempting to, literally, electrify 107 00:06:35,129 --> 00:06:36,628 the entire planet. 108 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:41,333 [narrator] Tesla runs out of money 109 00:06:41,435 --> 00:06:43,502 before completing the tower 110 00:06:43,504 --> 00:06:45,804 But he continues to develop his inventions 111 00:06:45,806 --> 00:06:49,141 and allegedly accepts a $25,000 payment 112 00:06:49,209 --> 00:06:50,609 from the Soviet Union. 113 00:06:53,547 --> 00:06:55,313 The secret forest facility 114 00:06:55,315 --> 00:06:58,550 is evidence that the Kremli later repurposed his inventi 115 00:06:58,652 --> 00:07:00,218 for military purposes. 116 00:07:03,657 --> 00:07:06,057 [Ruben] These towers are something called Marx Generators. 117 00:07:06,159 --> 00:07:09,294 Which are giant machines for making artificial lightning. 118 00:07:09,296 --> 00:07:11,162 [thunder clapping] 119 00:07:13,033 --> 00:07:18,637 All the explorers have found is essentially a giant, outdoor lightning laboratory. 120 00:07:21,975 --> 00:07:25,310 [narrator] The laboratory begins operations in the 1970s, 121 00:07:25,312 --> 00:07:28,313 amid a major upgrade of the Soviet Air Force. 122 00:07:30,551 --> 00:07:32,517 Older planes are being replaced 123 00:07:32,519 --> 00:07:37,923 by a new generation of 2,000 mile per hour MiG-25 fighters. 124 00:07:37,925 --> 00:07:40,325 The fastest combat aircraft on Earth. 125 00:07:42,496 --> 00:07:45,931 But supersonic dives through electrically charged clouds 126 00:07:45,933 --> 00:07:47,933 make these war machines vulnerable. 127 00:07:51,038 --> 00:07:52,838 [Morgan] Aircrafts are often lost, 128 00:07:52,906 --> 00:07:54,773 and experience a failure of systems, 129 00:07:54,775 --> 00:07:56,408 as a result of lightning strikes. 130 00:07:57,544 --> 00:08:00,912 [Munoz] It was imperative for the Soviet military 131 00:08:00,914 --> 00:08:04,516 to understand how their aircraft reacted to lightning strikes. 132 00:08:04,518 --> 00:08:07,252 and whether those planes could still complete their missions. 133 00:08:10,524 --> 00:08:11,756 [narrator] To solve the problem, 134 00:08:13,026 --> 00:08:15,093 engineers used this central tower 135 00:08:15,095 --> 00:08:16,628 to generate and release 136 00:08:16,630 --> 00:08:18,964 nine million volts of electricity. 137 00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:22,601 Sparking 500-footlong lightning bolts 138 00:08:22,603 --> 00:08:24,836 that strike aircrafts positioned below. 139 00:08:29,042 --> 00:08:30,108 [man speaking] 140 00:08:33,514 --> 00:08:36,515 Imagine having the power of Zeus. 141 00:08:36,517 --> 00:08:40,252 And being capable of conjuring your own lightning bolts. 142 00:08:40,353 --> 00:08:43,955 And directing them exactly where you want them to be. 143 00:08:43,991 --> 00:08:45,957 That's what this facility does. 144 00:08:48,629 --> 00:08:51,596 [narrator] Using science developed at the site in the image, 145 00:08:51,598 --> 00:08:56,034 the Soviet Union amasses a fleet of 10,000 military planes, 146 00:08:56,036 --> 00:08:58,403 the largest air force of any nation. 147 00:09:00,507 --> 00:09:02,007 Yet, it appears, 148 00:09:02,009 --> 00:09:04,676 the facility's role in clandestine Cold War experiments 149 00:09:04,678 --> 00:09:06,678 doesn't end there. 150 00:09:08,048 --> 00:09:12,050 [Morgan] Not terribly far aw is the footprint of this other, very large, building 151 00:09:13,220 --> 00:09:16,454 Footprint suggests something that was very big 152 00:09:16,523 --> 00:09:17,556 and very important. 153 00:09:19,459 --> 00:09:20,992 [narrator] Soviet military documents 154 00:09:20,994 --> 00:09:23,728 reveal something disturbing 155 00:09:23,730 --> 00:09:25,330 [Munoz] This facility was actually used 156 00:09:25,332 --> 00:09:28,934 for development of a next generation Soviet weapon. 157 00:09:29,703 --> 00:09:32,037 When used as a weapon of war, 158 00:09:32,138 --> 00:09:34,105 it could knock us back to the stone age. 159 00:09:38,345 --> 00:09:41,646 [narrator] Coming up... Apocalypse America... 160 00:09:41,748 --> 00:09:44,516 Everything would suddenly cease to be. 161 00:09:45,519 --> 00:09:48,420 ...and the spies who lost a nuke. 162 00:09:48,422 --> 00:09:52,324 The CIA has somehow lost the key ingredient 163 00:09:52,326 --> 00:09:53,358 of an atom bomb, 164 00:09:53,393 --> 00:09:56,361 up on some desolate mountainside. 165 00:10:05,839 --> 00:10:07,939 [narrator] Structures hidden in the Russian wilderness, 166 00:10:07,941 --> 00:10:11,810 have lured urban explorers to a secret laboratory, 167 00:10:11,812 --> 00:10:15,213 used for researching lightning strikes on fighter jets. 168 00:10:24,024 --> 00:10:26,324 [narrator] The ghostly outli of another structure 169 00:10:26,326 --> 00:10:30,061 reveals this site's most secretive work has been wiped from the map 170 00:10:34,201 --> 00:10:36,701 Declassified records offer more clues. 171 00:10:38,405 --> 00:10:41,940 [Morgan] If you'd been at this site in 1985, 172 00:10:41,942 --> 00:10:45,910 what you'd have seen was this massive dome-shaped structure. 173 00:10:47,114 --> 00:10:49,948 Bigger than anything like i in the world. 174 00:10:50,017 --> 00:10:51,716 It could be seen for miles around. 175 00:10:54,121 --> 00:10:55,854 [narrator] The dome that once stood here 176 00:10:55,955 --> 00:10:58,123 was codenamed Allure. 177 00:10:58,125 --> 00:11:01,559 And is rumored to have house a revolutionary Soviet weapo 178 00:11:03,063 --> 00:11:05,096 Early on, in the Cold War period, 179 00:11:05,098 --> 00:11:06,864 the main threat was nuclear. 180 00:11:08,502 --> 00:11:11,703 As time went on, you saw the evolution of a different kind of threa 181 00:11:11,705 --> 00:11:13,505 That was known as the EMP attack. 182 00:11:15,409 --> 00:11:18,943 [narrator] The cataclysmic power of electromagnetic pulse weapons, 183 00:11:19,045 --> 00:11:21,246 or EMPs, 184 00:11:21,347 --> 00:11:25,450 is accidentally discovered by US scientists in 1962. 185 00:11:27,220 --> 00:11:28,553 On July 9th, 186 00:11:28,555 --> 00:11:32,357 the 1.4 megaton Starfish Prime nuclear warhead 187 00:11:32,426 --> 00:11:35,326 detonates 240 miles above the Pacific. 188 00:11:39,533 --> 00:11:44,102 This huge explosion generates this just enormous EMP, 189 00:11:44,104 --> 00:11:47,205 sparking aurora though this planet's magnetic field 190 00:11:47,207 --> 00:11:50,809 And it's frying electronic devices in Hawaii 191 00:11:50,811 --> 00:11:52,544 That's 900 miles away. 192 00:11:56,817 --> 00:12:00,018 [narrator] A year later, the US and the Soviets sign a treaty 193 00:12:00,020 --> 00:12:02,987 prohibiting these kinds of high altitude atomic test 194 00:12:04,725 --> 00:12:08,059 But with EMP's power now out in the open, 195 00:12:08,061 --> 00:12:10,962 military forces on each side of the iron curtain 196 00:12:10,964 --> 00:12:13,531 race to convert it into a battlefield weapon. 197 00:12:15,202 --> 00:12:19,204 It was a period where weapons were being designed on both sides 198 00:12:19,206 --> 00:12:21,539 to, potentially, take out the other 199 00:12:21,641 --> 00:12:25,243 without triggering a global thermonuclear war. 200 00:12:26,546 --> 00:12:27,879 [Ruben] An electromagnetic pulse 201 00:12:27,881 --> 00:12:30,882 can be used as a very specific sort of weapon. 202 00:12:30,884 --> 00:12:34,552 It's like a bomb for electrical components. 203 00:12:38,058 --> 00:12:40,158 [narrator] The Soviet scientists' aim 204 00:12:40,227 --> 00:12:41,292 is to develop a device 205 00:12:41,294 --> 00:12:44,863 that can generate a burst of 50,000 volts. 206 00:12:44,931 --> 00:12:47,632 Enough to cripple US electrical infrastructure 207 00:12:49,302 --> 00:12:51,102 A report on its capability 208 00:12:51,104 --> 00:12:53,505 sends shockwaves through Washington. 209 00:12:55,242 --> 00:12:58,610 [Walters] That report, to Congress, makes really, really terrifying reading. 210 00:12:58,612 --> 00:13:01,112 Just a single 1.4 megaton explosion 211 00:13:01,114 --> 00:13:03,014 above Kansas 212 00:13:03,016 --> 00:13:05,950 has the power to potentially bring down 213 00:13:05,952 --> 00:13:09,154 the entire US power grid. 214 00:13:09,222 --> 00:13:11,523 [Kourounis] No power. No electronics. 215 00:13:12,192 --> 00:13:13,224 Nothing. 216 00:13:13,226 --> 00:13:14,659 All of it, gone. 217 00:13:14,761 --> 00:13:17,962 Because it was blown away by an electromagnetic pulse. 218 00:13:19,599 --> 00:13:21,599 [narrator] Without this critical infrastructure 219 00:13:21,601 --> 00:13:25,036 civilized society will soon descend into anarchy. 220 00:13:26,139 --> 00:13:27,405 [glass shattering] 221 00:13:29,442 --> 00:13:32,110 [Morgan] That is a terrifying thing to imagin 222 00:13:33,446 --> 00:13:34,946 People living in rural area 223 00:13:34,948 --> 00:13:37,448 might be able to weather this quite a bit better, 224 00:13:37,517 --> 00:13:40,451 But people that are living in metropolitan areas, 225 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:41,619 they're going to suffer. 226 00:13:41,621 --> 00:13:43,354 They're gonna suffer very, very quickly. 227 00:13:44,624 --> 00:13:45,623 [narrator] In New York, 228 00:13:45,625 --> 00:13:48,927 a 25-hour blackout in 1977 229 00:13:48,929 --> 00:13:51,763 unleashes a wave of violenc across the city. 230 00:13:52,699 --> 00:13:56,134 Causing $350 million worth of damage. 231 00:13:57,237 --> 00:14:00,939 And leaving over 600 people injured. 232 00:14:01,007 --> 00:14:05,510 If an EMP blast take out the current US grid for a year, 233 00:14:05,512 --> 00:14:07,912 analysts estimate that ensuing bloodshed 234 00:14:07,914 --> 00:14:10,648 will claim the lives of 90 percent of the population. 235 00:14:15,522 --> 00:14:20,124 [Kourounis] An EMP is a weapon of mass confusion. 236 00:14:20,126 --> 00:14:23,027 Our government, our society would basically 237 00:14:23,029 --> 00:14:25,430 stop functioning. 238 00:14:25,432 --> 00:14:29,634 It would so heavily disrupt daily life 239 00:14:29,703 --> 00:14:32,937 that it would produce absolute mass chaos. 240 00:14:38,511 --> 00:14:40,311 [narrator] How close the Soviets got 241 00:14:40,313 --> 00:14:43,314 to perfecting their apocalypse device is unknown. 242 00:14:44,050 --> 00:14:45,149 In the 1980s, 243 00:14:45,151 --> 00:14:48,620 the dome in the image mysteriously implodes. 244 00:14:48,622 --> 00:14:50,321 Taking its secrets with it. 245 00:14:54,261 --> 00:14:56,961 Yet the presence of security personnel at the site 246 00:14:57,030 --> 00:14:58,228 is worrying evidence 247 00:14:58,231 --> 00:15:00,565 that experiments at the clandestine facility 248 00:15:00,633 --> 00:15:02,133 continue to this day. 249 00:15:05,105 --> 00:15:06,938 [Morgan] When I look at these structures, 250 00:15:06,940 --> 00:15:09,107 I find that they provide, 251 00:15:09,109 --> 00:15:10,808 sort of, this menacing narrative 252 00:15:10,810 --> 00:15:13,044 about the world we are living in, right now 253 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:21,719 [narrator] Coming up... 254 00:15:21,721 --> 00:15:24,222 The Sahara's extraterrestrial cove... 255 00:15:24,224 --> 00:15:25,523 [Kourounis] It is extraordinary. 256 00:15:25,525 --> 00:15:27,191 But these are clustered together 257 00:15:27,193 --> 00:15:30,128 in the same pattern that galaxies have. 258 00:15:31,131 --> 00:15:33,965 ...and hunt for the emperor's hoard. 259 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,503 They thought they will find an immense room of treasure to make their fortune. 260 00:15:46,546 --> 00:15:48,813 [narrator] February 8h, 2020 261 00:15:50,083 --> 00:15:51,716 A satellite passing over 262 00:15:51,718 --> 00:15:54,152 a seemingly endless desert in Sudan, 263 00:15:54,220 --> 00:15:57,355 scans the ground 420 miles below. 264 00:16:01,328 --> 00:16:04,062 [Bellinger] It's a desolate desert area. 265 00:16:04,064 --> 00:16:06,564 where you wouldn't expect to find anything at all, 266 00:16:06,666 --> 00:16:07,632 but... 267 00:16:08,401 --> 00:16:11,302 ...there are these swarms of dark dots, 268 00:16:11,304 --> 00:16:12,937 all over the landscape. 269 00:16:15,909 --> 00:16:18,676 [Anthony] Each one of these little dot is exactly the same. 270 00:16:18,678 --> 00:16:20,712 And they seem to stretch out for miles. 271 00:16:23,817 --> 00:16:25,984 [narrator] Analysis of the wider region reveals 272 00:16:25,986 --> 00:16:28,653 10,000 similar stone structures, 273 00:16:28,722 --> 00:16:31,923 covering an area three times the size of Los Angeles. 274 00:16:34,627 --> 00:16:37,962 If these were homes, I would expect to see 275 00:16:38,064 --> 00:16:41,699 roads, infrastructure, pathways, something. 276 00:16:41,701 --> 00:16:43,034 But there is none of that. 277 00:16:45,105 --> 00:16:46,304 Very mysterious. 278 00:16:48,942 --> 00:16:50,942 [narrator] Archaeologist Klint Janulis 279 00:16:51,011 --> 00:16:53,211 recognizes the strange desert features. 280 00:16:55,815 --> 00:16:58,483 I've worked in areas that have structures like these, 281 00:16:58,485 --> 00:17:00,051 in Saudi Arabia. 282 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,054 They look, to me, like Islamic burial mounds from the middle ages, 283 00:17:03,056 --> 00:17:04,222 called qubba. 284 00:17:08,161 --> 00:17:11,262 But rarely do you see them in such large numbers 285 00:17:11,297 --> 00:17:13,531 spread out across such a vast area. 286 00:17:16,836 --> 00:17:18,703 [narrator] The tombs sit in territories 287 00:17:18,705 --> 00:17:20,938 controlled by a secretive tribespeople 288 00:17:20,940 --> 00:17:22,706 called the Beja. 289 00:17:24,310 --> 00:17:28,146 [Janulis] The Beja people have lived in this area for over 2,000 years. 290 00:17:29,149 --> 00:17:31,049 There's very little known about them 291 00:17:31,150 --> 00:17:32,550 because they were nomadic. 292 00:17:32,618 --> 00:17:35,019 Leaving behind very little archaeological evidence. 293 00:17:36,689 --> 00:17:39,157 [Bellinger] The Beja generally travel around, 294 00:17:39,225 --> 00:17:41,959 living a pretty peaceful insular lifestyle. 295 00:17:42,862 --> 00:17:44,595 But what they are most known for 296 00:17:44,597 --> 00:17:47,165 is their fearsomeness when called to battle. 297 00:17:52,806 --> 00:17:55,940 [narrator] One of the earlie example of Beja's ferocity 298 00:17:56,009 --> 00:17:59,043 is documented in 250 BCE. 299 00:17:59,045 --> 00:18:01,312 When Roman garrisons are sent to Sudan 300 00:18:01,314 --> 00:18:03,080 to establish trade routes. 301 00:18:05,518 --> 00:18:08,920 [Janulis] The Beja wanted to defend their land against Roman incursion. 302 00:18:08,922 --> 00:18:11,122 So they used guerilla hit-and-run tacks. 303 00:18:11,524 --> 00:18:13,524 And ambushed. 304 00:18:13,526 --> 00:18:16,794 And the Beja attacks become so frequent and regular, 305 00:18:16,796 --> 00:18:19,363 it actually forces the Romans to pull out of the area. 306 00:18:21,835 --> 00:18:23,201 [narrator] Over the following centuries, 307 00:18:23,203 --> 00:18:25,503 the Beja strike uneasy alliances 308 00:18:25,505 --> 00:18:28,106 with the Romans and the Egyptians, 309 00:18:28,108 --> 00:18:31,042 before taking on the largest empire in histor 310 00:18:33,012 --> 00:18:34,312 [Janulis] In the 1880s, 311 00:18:34,314 --> 00:18:37,715 the British colonial expansion was occurring in this region. 312 00:18:39,752 --> 00:18:43,754 And these people, armed with spears, charged the British garrison 313 00:18:43,823 --> 00:18:45,723 going right into gunfire. 314 00:18:46,860 --> 00:18:48,759 Spears meet rifles and spears win. 315 00:18:50,130 --> 00:18:51,129 It's pretty incredible. 316 00:18:52,765 --> 00:18:55,433 [man] They resisted, time and again, 317 00:18:55,535 --> 00:18:58,803 slaughtering thousands of British soldiers. 318 00:19:01,508 --> 00:19:03,207 [narrator] The long history of the Beja 319 00:19:03,209 --> 00:19:06,110 means the mysterious tombs captured from the skies 320 00:19:06,112 --> 00:19:08,412 likely date back many centuries. 321 00:19:09,449 --> 00:19:11,415 In 2021, 322 00:19:11,417 --> 00:19:14,285 archaeologists deploy groundbreaking technology 323 00:19:14,287 --> 00:19:17,955 to decode their unusual distribution. 324 00:19:17,957 --> 00:19:22,226 One of the ways in which archaeologists have studied these tombs 325 00:19:22,228 --> 00:19:25,062 is using a statistical method 326 00:19:25,164 --> 00:19:28,499 known as the Neyman-Scott Cluster Process. 327 00:19:31,538 --> 00:19:33,404 [narrator] The Neyman-Scott Cluster Process 328 00:19:33,406 --> 00:19:35,139 looks for patterns in the cosmos 329 00:19:35,208 --> 00:19:38,109 by charting the invisible forces that shape galaxies. 330 00:19:41,047 --> 00:19:43,714 Applying the same technique to the Islamic tombs 331 00:19:43,716 --> 00:19:45,616 reveals something astonishin 332 00:19:48,621 --> 00:19:52,123 It's extraordinary, but these tombs are clustered together 333 00:19:52,125 --> 00:19:55,026 in the same patterns that galaxies have. 334 00:19:58,631 --> 00:20:03,134 [Janulis] It's almost as if the Beja have organized this graveyard 335 00:20:03,203 --> 00:20:06,304 in a way that mirrors the cosmos, the stars. 336 00:20:11,811 --> 00:20:15,213 [narrator] The Islamic worl has been a crucible of space science 337 00:20:15,215 --> 00:20:16,614 for thousands of years. 338 00:20:16,616 --> 00:20:19,884 And is knows as the birthplace of astronomy 339 00:20:19,886 --> 00:20:24,822 From using the stars to understand which way to face Mecca for prayers, 340 00:20:24,824 --> 00:20:27,925 or understanding time zones 341 00:20:27,927 --> 00:20:31,462 the cosmos has always been interwoven with the Muslim faith. 342 00:20:32,332 --> 00:20:33,931 Our understanding of the universe today 343 00:20:33,933 --> 00:20:35,933 wouldn't be anywhere near where it is 344 00:20:35,935 --> 00:20:37,802 without Muslim scholars. 345 00:20:39,405 --> 00:20:42,807 [Horton] One possibility is that these clusters of tombs 346 00:20:42,809 --> 00:20:45,176 reflect that same obsession 347 00:20:45,244 --> 00:20:47,645 with the cluster in the stars 348 00:20:47,713 --> 00:20:49,614 that they could see overhead, every night. 349 00:20:52,151 --> 00:20:55,720 [narrator] Like celestial objects gravitating towards a star, 350 00:20:55,722 --> 00:20:58,022 the tombs at the center of each cluster 351 00:20:58,024 --> 00:21:01,959 appear to contain the remains of revered membe of the Beja people. 352 00:21:04,163 --> 00:21:07,498 [Hunt] The connection to ancestors and lineage 353 00:21:07,500 --> 00:21:11,535 is what becomes the, sort of, gravitational hub or pull 354 00:21:12,105 --> 00:21:14,038 to build tombs 355 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:18,342 around your oldest, venerated ancestor. 356 00:21:18,444 --> 00:21:20,611 [Anthony] As more and more generations are added, 357 00:21:20,613 --> 00:21:23,748 the small clusters start to balloon into these super clusters. 358 00:21:26,653 --> 00:21:29,120 [narrator] The structures in the image are the legacy 359 00:21:29,122 --> 00:21:31,055 of an extraordinary desert people. 360 00:21:31,157 --> 00:21:33,958 Revealed and decoded from space. 361 00:21:36,129 --> 00:21:40,064 [Janulis] It could be the use of satellite images like this, 362 00:21:40,066 --> 00:21:42,633 through which we unlock the secrets of the Beja. 363 00:21:48,107 --> 00:21:49,206 [narrator] Coming up... 364 00:21:49,208 --> 00:21:51,809 Disaster in the death zone. 365 00:21:51,811 --> 00:21:54,812 Whatever happened must have been devastating. 366 00:21:54,814 --> 00:21:57,615 [narrator] And the killer cross. 367 00:21:57,617 --> 00:22:00,318 It left huge swaths of this land decimated. 368 00:22:08,227 --> 00:22:11,796 [narrator] February 16th, 2021. 369 00:22:11,798 --> 00:22:16,100 An eye in the sky moves over Northeastern Indi 370 00:22:16,102 --> 00:22:18,936 As it scans the snow-capped Himalayan mountains, 371 00:22:20,206 --> 00:22:23,140 it photographs an image that shocks scientists. 372 00:22:25,144 --> 00:22:28,646 [Walters] The satellite is capturing this enormous wound 373 00:22:28,715 --> 00:22:30,047 penetrating the snow. 374 00:22:32,218 --> 00:22:35,152 [narrator] The mystery scar extends around 90 miles 375 00:22:35,221 --> 00:22:36,721 down the frozen mountain. 376 00:22:38,624 --> 00:22:42,326 Just the size and scope of this, it's just massive. 377 00:22:42,328 --> 00:22:47,098 You can't really wrap your head around what you're seeing. 378 00:22:47,100 --> 00:22:50,101 Whatever happened in this area must have been devastating. 379 00:22:53,005 --> 00:22:55,106 [narrator] Emergency worker rush to the site. 380 00:22:58,244 --> 00:23:00,211 They discover that millions of tons 381 00:23:00,213 --> 00:23:02,813 of rock and water have engulfed local villages 382 00:23:04,417 --> 00:23:07,218 Leaving over 200 people buried in its wake. 383 00:23:09,822 --> 00:23:13,657 [Walters] What it's done is to devastate an entire valley. 384 00:23:13,759 --> 00:23:17,161 And no one knows how or why it happened. 385 00:23:19,165 --> 00:23:21,265 [narrator] Winter floods on this scale 386 00:23:21,333 --> 00:23:24,301 are almost unheard of in the Himalayas. 387 00:23:24,303 --> 00:23:26,737 When authorities turn to eyewitnesses, 388 00:23:26,839 --> 00:23:30,941 some claim clandestine forces were responsible. 389 00:23:31,010 --> 00:23:33,310 [Walters] A lot of locals believe that this disaster 390 00:23:33,312 --> 00:23:36,647 is the legacy of a really bizarre sequence of events, 391 00:23:36,749 --> 00:23:39,817 that occurred here, right at the height of the Cold War. 392 00:23:43,055 --> 00:23:46,524 [narrator] Those events begin in 1964. 393 00:23:46,526 --> 00:23:49,126 about 900 miles from the disaster zone. 394 00:23:50,096 --> 00:23:52,329 When, on October 16th, 395 00:23:52,331 --> 00:23:55,232 China shocks the world by successfully detonating 396 00:23:55,301 --> 00:23:56,634 its first nuclear device. 397 00:23:59,605 --> 00:24:02,106 [explosion] 398 00:24:02,108 --> 00:24:04,742 [Munoz] That explosion set off alarm bells 399 00:24:04,811 --> 00:24:06,944 among US Intelligence agencies, 400 00:24:06,946 --> 00:24:08,645 and those of their allies. 401 00:24:10,416 --> 00:24:15,019 [Walters] What it opens up is this really new and frightening dynamic 402 00:24:15,021 --> 00:24:17,688 that hasn't been seen before in the Cold War. 403 00:24:17,690 --> 00:24:19,457 [cheering] 404 00:24:19,558 --> 00:24:22,493 [narrator] The CIA scramble to gather intelligence 405 00:24:22,495 --> 00:24:25,229 on this secretive country's test program. 406 00:24:25,231 --> 00:24:28,799 Finding it hard to gather information from within China, 407 00:24:28,801 --> 00:24:33,037 the intelligence agency formulates an audacious plan 408 00:24:33,105 --> 00:24:34,839 [Munoz] The CIA came up with an idea 409 00:24:34,940 --> 00:24:38,108 that could only have been hatched during the Cold War. 410 00:24:38,110 --> 00:24:42,813 Their idea was to establish a nuclear powered listening post, 411 00:24:43,416 --> 00:24:46,517 high in the Himalayas. 412 00:24:46,519 --> 00:24:50,855 These devices were intended to spy on Chinese nuclear tests. 413 00:24:50,923 --> 00:24:53,924 And also missile firings. 414 00:24:53,926 --> 00:24:57,862 On the plus side, if you have surveillance and reconnaissance equipment 415 00:24:57,930 --> 00:24:59,763 powered by nuclear energy, 416 00:24:59,832 --> 00:25:02,933 you never have to change the batteries on anything. 417 00:25:02,935 --> 00:25:05,603 On the downside, if you do it wrong, 418 00:25:05,605 --> 00:25:07,838 it could create a real catastrophe. 419 00:25:10,510 --> 00:25:12,843 [narrator] In October, 1965 420 00:25:12,945 --> 00:25:15,946 a joint American and Indian task force 421 00:25:16,048 --> 00:25:19,817 hauls the surveillance equipment and seven plutonium fuel cel 422 00:25:19,819 --> 00:25:23,020 up the mountain, next to the disaster zone in the image. 423 00:25:24,023 --> 00:25:26,824 Named Nanda Devi, 424 00:25:26,826 --> 00:25:30,528 its 25,000-foot summit has a direct line of sight 425 00:25:30,530 --> 00:25:32,363 to Chinese nuclear tests. 426 00:25:35,201 --> 00:25:39,203 [Walters] Their mission was espionage at altitude. 427 00:25:39,205 --> 00:25:41,939 But it's a lot easier said than done. 428 00:25:42,041 --> 00:25:44,942 They're hit with this massive double whammy. 429 00:25:45,011 --> 00:25:48,145 Heavy snowfall and low oxygen levels. 430 00:25:49,315 --> 00:25:50,814 [narrator] The perilous conditions 431 00:25:50,816 --> 00:25:52,850 force the team to abandon their mission, 432 00:25:52,919 --> 00:25:54,618 2,000 feet from the summit. 433 00:25:56,355 --> 00:25:59,423 [Munoz] They ended up stashi all the nuclear material 434 00:25:59,425 --> 00:26:00,824 in a mountain crevice. 435 00:26:00,826 --> 00:26:04,628 Only to come back in the spring to continue the mission. 436 00:26:04,630 --> 00:26:08,232 Now when they came back, they had a pretty startling discovery. 437 00:26:08,334 --> 00:26:09,800 The capsules were gone. 438 00:26:11,704 --> 00:26:13,604 [Walters] It's pretty astonishing 439 00:26:13,606 --> 00:26:15,506 when you consider that the C 440 00:26:15,508 --> 00:26:19,310 ha somehow lost a key ingredient of an atom bomb 441 00:26:19,312 --> 00:26:21,946 up on some desolate mountainside. 442 00:26:24,717 --> 00:26:28,953 [narrator] Plutonium fuel cells are unlikely to explode on their own. 443 00:26:29,021 --> 00:26:31,956 But they release heat due to radioactive decay. 444 00:26:34,126 --> 00:26:36,560 The nightmare scenario is that they've triggered 445 00:26:36,662 --> 00:26:39,129 a catastrophic radioactive avalanche, 446 00:26:39,131 --> 00:26:40,965 which then swept into the valley. 447 00:26:44,804 --> 00:26:47,037 [Munoz] One of the major problems 448 00:26:47,039 --> 00:26:50,708 is that if you pack a material that emanates heat, 449 00:26:50,710 --> 00:26:55,546 into an area that is mostly consisting of ice and snow, 450 00:26:55,615 --> 00:26:57,314 the ice and snow is going to melt. 451 00:27:02,021 --> 00:27:04,321 [narrator] In the aftermath of the disaster, 452 00:27:04,323 --> 00:27:06,690 investigators turn to images of the mountain 453 00:27:06,692 --> 00:27:09,326 taken in the days leading up to the event. 454 00:27:10,796 --> 00:27:12,863 Instead of melting snow, 455 00:27:12,965 --> 00:27:16,300 they discover that a giant ice-covered slab of rock 456 00:27:16,302 --> 00:27:19,637 one and a half times the size of the Eiffel Tower 457 00:27:19,738 --> 00:27:23,107 has splintered off a cliff face, above the valley. 458 00:27:24,944 --> 00:27:27,211 And it broke loose, just like that. 459 00:27:27,213 --> 00:27:29,113 [rumbling] 460 00:27:29,115 --> 00:27:32,149 Catastrophically moving down the valley, 461 00:27:32,218 --> 00:27:34,118 almost vertically a mile. 462 00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:37,655 [Kourounis] This is a truly enormous quantity of debris 463 00:27:37,756 --> 00:27:40,958 That, at one point, was in near freefall. 464 00:27:42,361 --> 00:27:44,428 [narrator] A freak sequence of events 465 00:27:44,430 --> 00:27:48,065 sees the ten million ton mas of frozen rock and rubble 466 00:27:48,133 --> 00:27:49,633 smash into the valley below 467 00:27:50,903 --> 00:27:53,037 The impact releases energy 468 00:27:53,039 --> 00:27:56,640 equivalent to 200,000 tons of TNT. 469 00:27:56,742 --> 00:28:00,511 Liquefying the ice flow in an instant. 470 00:28:00,513 --> 00:28:02,713 [Kourounis] What was originally an avalanche, 471 00:28:02,715 --> 00:28:05,849 ed into a much more mobile flood 472 00:28:05,951 --> 00:28:09,553 of slurry and pulverized rock. 473 00:28:09,655 --> 00:28:12,456 [Cerveny] That allows the ro and rubble to hydroplane, 474 00:28:12,525 --> 00:28:14,892 to kind of glide down the valley, 475 00:28:14,894 --> 00:28:16,760 without any restraint. 476 00:28:18,464 --> 00:28:22,099 [narrator] A rubble tsunami moving at nearly 60 miles per hour 477 00:28:22,101 --> 00:28:23,500 engulfs the valley. 478 00:28:23,502 --> 00:28:25,736 Destroying all in its path. 479 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:31,842 Just imagine looking up to see this avalanche 480 00:28:31,944 --> 00:28:34,244 of debris and boulders 481 00:28:34,346 --> 00:28:36,413 barreling down the mountain towards you 482 00:28:36,415 --> 00:28:39,216 with zero chance of escape. 483 00:28:39,218 --> 00:28:40,851 It must have been terrifying. 484 00:28:45,558 --> 00:28:48,459 [narrator] As the authoritie search for the missing and the dead, 485 00:28:48,527 --> 00:28:50,861 they evacuate more villages in the area. 486 00:28:52,264 --> 00:28:54,498 With temperatures rising across the mountain range, 487 00:28:54,500 --> 00:28:57,034 many fear this won't be the last time 488 00:28:57,036 --> 00:28:59,703 those living here will face death from above. 489 00:29:01,907 --> 00:29:04,808 [Cerveny] Although this was an event that was unprecedented, 490 00:29:04,810 --> 00:29:08,612 the specter is that it might not be unprecedented in the future. 491 00:29:15,921 --> 00:29:17,354 [narrator] Coming up... 492 00:29:17,422 --> 00:29:19,923 Pennsylvania's ghosts of war 493 00:29:19,925 --> 00:29:23,527 No surprise, that people sometimes refer to this region 494 00:29:23,529 --> 00:29:27,331 as the arsenal of America. 495 00:29:27,333 --> 00:29:30,434 [narrator] And the strange tale of Treasure lake. 496 00:29:30,536 --> 00:29:34,404 I can see this image of a lake and then gone. 497 00:29:42,314 --> 00:29:45,849 [narrator] May 9th, 2017. 498 00:29:45,918 --> 00:29:49,653 An eye in the sky over Pittsburg, Pennsylvania 499 00:29:49,721 --> 00:29:52,556 spots something strange in a suburb below. 500 00:29:56,962 --> 00:30:00,130 [McRobbie] This is a really remarkable image. 501 00:30:00,132 --> 00:30:03,700 You've got a very, very clear impression 502 00:30:03,702 --> 00:30:07,437 of a circle with a cross 503 00:30:07,539 --> 00:30:08,839 right through it. 504 00:30:10,042 --> 00:30:14,411 What's even weirder is that within the pie slices 505 00:30:14,413 --> 00:30:16,713 of this cross, 506 00:30:16,715 --> 00:30:20,717 there appears to be some type of reddish coloration. 507 00:30:20,719 --> 00:30:22,452 Looks like it might be liqui 508 00:30:25,057 --> 00:30:29,159 [narrator] Historical satellite imagery adds to the mystery. 509 00:30:29,261 --> 00:30:32,429 What we see is each of those sections of this cross, 510 00:30:32,431 --> 00:30:36,500 they appear to be filling u with this reddish liquid. 511 00:30:36,502 --> 00:30:40,404 And over time that liquid moves from place to place within the cross. 512 00:30:44,844 --> 00:30:47,311 [narrator] Analysts suspect the giant cross 513 00:30:47,313 --> 00:30:49,947 could be a relic of this city's remarkable history. 514 00:30:51,183 --> 00:30:55,552 One which helped build the America we see today. 515 00:30:55,588 --> 00:31:00,324 [Wakefield] Pittsburg was very well known for its steel industry. 516 00:31:00,326 --> 00:31:03,927 And so that gives us a clue as to what might be going on here. 517 00:31:07,333 --> 00:31:10,033 [narrator] Pittsburg's rise as a steel superpower 518 00:31:10,035 --> 00:31:12,502 begins in the 1870s, 519 00:31:12,504 --> 00:31:17,107 when thousands flock here to exploit its extensive coal reserves. 520 00:31:18,410 --> 00:31:21,345 [Dennie] In order to make steel, you need a lot of coal. 521 00:31:21,446 --> 00:31:23,947 Pennsylvania has a tremendous amount of coal 522 00:31:24,016 --> 00:31:26,750 And there, you can essentially strip mine the surface. 523 00:31:31,590 --> 00:31:33,957 [narrator] Thanks to Pittsburg's coal bonanza, 524 00:31:34,026 --> 00:31:37,127 within 40 years, the city's population rocket 525 00:31:37,129 --> 00:31:39,863 from 86,000 to half a million. 526 00:31:41,700 --> 00:31:43,033 By the turn of the century, 527 00:31:43,102 --> 00:31:46,103 its furnaces are producing 25 million tons 528 00:31:46,105 --> 00:31:47,404 of steel a year. 529 00:31:50,509 --> 00:31:53,810 [Wakefield] Steel productio is Pittsburg was massive. 530 00:31:53,812 --> 00:31:57,414 This supported about half of America's need for steel, 531 00:31:57,416 --> 00:31:58,849 just from Pittsburg alone. 532 00:32:01,420 --> 00:32:03,253 There's a reason why the Pittsburg football team 533 00:32:03,355 --> 00:32:04,821 is called the Pittsburg Steelers. 534 00:32:05,658 --> 00:32:09,459 Pittsburg steel plays crucial role 535 00:32:09,528 --> 00:32:11,361 in American industry 536 00:32:11,430 --> 00:32:13,030 in the 19th and 20th centuries. 537 00:32:13,032 --> 00:32:16,033 Providing the girders that are gonna help build factories 538 00:32:16,502 --> 00:32:18,936 and skyscrapers. 539 00:32:18,938 --> 00:32:22,105 [Kourounis] Things like the Empire State Building. 540 00:32:22,107 --> 00:32:26,310 The skeletons of those historic, iconic structures, 541 00:32:26,812 --> 00:32:28,011 Pittsburg steel. 542 00:32:31,417 --> 00:32:33,483 [narrator] In the middle of the 20th century, 543 00:32:33,485 --> 00:32:35,452 the city that helped build America, 544 00:32:35,554 --> 00:32:38,055 plays a vital role in defending it. 545 00:32:40,859 --> 00:32:43,860 During World War II, of course, the focus of the steel industry 546 00:32:43,962 --> 00:32:49,199 shifted from constructing girders and beams for skyscrapers 547 00:32:49,201 --> 00:32:52,936 to building things like tank and ships, and guns. 548 00:32:54,907 --> 00:32:58,608 No surprise that people sometimes refer to this region 549 00:32:58,610 --> 00:33:01,144 as the arsenal of America. 550 00:33:05,117 --> 00:33:07,150 [narrator] Yet the structur in the image is evidence 551 00:33:07,219 --> 00:33:10,320 that this economic boom did have a dark side. 552 00:33:13,225 --> 00:33:14,925 [Anthony] As good as coal was for Pittsburg, 553 00:33:15,060 --> 00:33:16,727 and the steel industry, in general, 554 00:33:16,729 --> 00:33:18,962 it was not exactly easy on the environment. 555 00:33:21,133 --> 00:33:24,301 The stripping for coal left huge swaths of this land decimated. 556 00:33:25,304 --> 00:33:26,603 To make matters worse, 557 00:33:26,605 --> 00:33:28,338 the burning of all that coal 558 00:33:28,407 --> 00:33:30,807 turned Pittsburg's air toxic. 559 00:33:33,612 --> 00:33:35,846 [narrator] During part of the 20th century, 560 00:33:35,914 --> 00:33:38,415 thick smog forces Pittsburg's residents 561 00:33:38,417 --> 00:33:41,752 to turn on street lights in the middle of the day. 562 00:33:41,853 --> 00:33:43,854 These lethal levels of pollution 563 00:33:43,922 --> 00:33:45,956 earned the city a new nickname. 564 00:33:46,025 --> 00:33:48,025 "Hell with the lid off." 565 00:33:50,029 --> 00:33:52,429 [narrator] All this pollutio has a devastating impact 566 00:33:52,431 --> 00:33:53,630 on residents' health. 567 00:33:54,333 --> 00:33:55,365 The most lethal fallout 568 00:33:55,367 --> 00:33:57,534 is the rise in something called the Black Lung. 569 00:33:58,537 --> 00:34:00,604 Where coal builds up in the lungs 570 00:34:00,606 --> 00:34:01,538 scarring them. 571 00:34:07,246 --> 00:34:08,311 [narrator] Even today, 572 00:34:08,313 --> 00:34:09,813 air pollution is responsibl 573 00:34:09,815 --> 00:34:12,215 for more premature deaths per capita 574 00:34:12,217 --> 00:34:15,152 in Pennsylvania, than in any other US state. 575 00:34:18,023 --> 00:34:20,824 The red liquid flowing through the mystery cross, 576 00:34:20,826 --> 00:34:23,126 is testimony to another deadly legacy 577 00:34:23,128 --> 00:34:24,728 of its industrial past. 578 00:34:27,232 --> 00:34:30,534 [Wakefield] One of the byproducts of strip-mining coal, 579 00:34:30,602 --> 00:34:31,935 is iron oxide. 580 00:34:31,937 --> 00:34:34,938 And when iron oxide gets into the groundwater, 581 00:34:35,941 --> 00:34:37,941 that's when you see that reddish color. 582 00:34:42,748 --> 00:34:44,848 [narrator] Water flowing out of abandoned mines 583 00:34:44,917 --> 00:34:50,454 can contain over 66 times the safe level of iron oxide. 584 00:34:50,522 --> 00:34:53,757 Poisoning the drinking wate of millions of Pennsylvanian homes. 585 00:34:57,863 --> 00:34:59,930 [Anthony] Too much iron oxide in the water supp 586 00:34:59,932 --> 00:35:02,833 can disrupt liver functionin your stomach. 587 00:35:02,901 --> 00:35:05,102 There's a whole range of health consequences. 588 00:35:07,206 --> 00:35:09,106 [narrator] The structure in the image is used 589 00:35:09,108 --> 00:35:12,042 to filter this noxious liqui 590 00:35:12,044 --> 00:35:17,214 Cleaning 2,000 gallons of contaminated water a minute. 591 00:35:17,216 --> 00:35:21,485 [Wakefield] The groundwater passes from one section to the other section 592 00:35:21,487 --> 00:35:22,652 and through that process, 593 00:35:22,754 --> 00:35:27,057 it filters out the iron oxide from the ground water. 594 00:35:27,059 --> 00:35:28,325 [Anthony] The walls of this cross 595 00:35:28,327 --> 00:35:30,560 are meant to act just like your coffee filter 596 00:35:30,662 --> 00:35:32,529 The iron oxide starts at one side 597 00:35:32,531 --> 00:35:36,233 and because the walls of this X are semi-permeable, 598 00:35:36,301 --> 00:35:37,634 then the water can flow through 599 00:35:37,702 --> 00:35:40,303 but the iron oxide is trapped on the other side. 600 00:35:43,809 --> 00:35:45,242 [narrator] Over the past few years, 601 00:35:45,343 --> 00:35:49,246 the giant cross has removed hundreds of tons of iron oxi 602 00:35:49,347 --> 00:35:51,148 from Pittsburg's groundwater 603 00:35:51,216 --> 00:35:54,518 Helping turn the tide on the city's toxic past. 604 00:35:55,954 --> 00:35:57,854 To me, this is one of the coolest examples 605 00:35:57,890 --> 00:35:59,556 of geoengineering that I've ever seen. 606 00:36:01,126 --> 00:36:04,227 [Kourounis] As unusual as this cross looks from above 607 00:36:04,229 --> 00:36:06,429 it's actually serving a very important purpose. 608 00:36:13,805 --> 00:36:15,138 [narrator] Coming up... 609 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:18,041 The mystery of the vanishing lake. 610 00:36:18,043 --> 00:36:20,143 It's almost as if someone pulled the plug 611 00:36:20,212 --> 00:36:22,746 and drained the lake of all the water. 612 00:36:31,423 --> 00:36:33,857 [narrator] July 11th, 2019. 613 00:36:35,460 --> 00:36:37,827 A sequence of images captured high above 614 00:36:37,829 --> 00:36:40,263 a remote mountain range in Northern Turkey 615 00:36:40,332 --> 00:36:41,631 uncovers a mystery. 616 00:36:44,102 --> 00:36:48,104 I can see the satellite image of a blue-green lake. 617 00:36:49,208 --> 00:36:50,340 And then gone. 618 00:36:51,577 --> 00:36:53,710 [McRobbie] It's almost as if someone pulled the plug, 619 00:36:53,712 --> 00:36:56,313 and drained the lake of all the water. 620 00:36:57,816 --> 00:36:59,716 [narrator] In less than 48 hours, 621 00:36:59,718 --> 00:37:01,718 millions of gallons of wate 622 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:03,653 have vanished. 623 00:37:03,722 --> 00:37:05,622 [Kourounis] The biggest irony of this, 624 00:37:05,624 --> 00:37:07,691 that the lake is called Dipsiz gol, 625 00:37:07,693 --> 00:37:10,527 which translates to bottomless lake. 626 00:37:11,697 --> 00:37:13,263 To lose a deep lake like that 627 00:37:13,332 --> 00:37:14,931 is-- is rather inexplicable 628 00:37:18,804 --> 00:37:20,537 [narrator] Reports from local newspapers 629 00:37:20,639 --> 00:37:22,305 reveal that the disappearing act 630 00:37:22,307 --> 00:37:23,840 is the culmination of a stor 631 00:37:23,942 --> 00:37:26,610 that unfolds over more than 2,000 years. 632 00:37:29,715 --> 00:37:30,914 [Kourounis] It's so crazy. 633 00:37:30,916 --> 00:37:32,816 This story has a bit of everything. 634 00:37:32,818 --> 00:37:36,253 A mysterious vanishing lake, a treasure hunt. 635 00:37:36,354 --> 00:37:41,057 It is all kinds of history and mythology buried in the sands of time 636 00:37:43,128 --> 00:37:46,563 [narrator] The tale begins in the second century CE. 637 00:37:48,300 --> 00:37:50,400 [McRobbie] At the time, this region of Turkey 638 00:37:50,402 --> 00:37:53,036 was famous for gold and silver mining. 639 00:37:53,105 --> 00:37:57,607 And this particular area was a hub of that kind of activity. 640 00:37:57,609 --> 00:38:02,212 [Hunt] The rivers that flow out of this northeastern part of Turkey 641 00:38:02,214 --> 00:38:04,047 are rich in gold. 642 00:38:04,049 --> 00:38:06,716 This is where, according to myth 643 00:38:06,718 --> 00:38:08,418 the golden fleece originates 644 00:38:11,923 --> 00:38:13,823 [narrator] According to the ancient Greeks, 645 00:38:13,825 --> 00:38:17,027 the golden fleece was the wool of a sacred ram. 646 00:38:18,230 --> 00:38:21,231 Stolen from a dragon by Jason and his Argonauts. 647 00:38:23,201 --> 00:38:25,335 Recent archaeological studie in Turkey 648 00:38:25,404 --> 00:38:28,405 suggest there may be some truth to this legend. 649 00:38:31,209 --> 00:38:32,409 [Hunt] It turns out, 650 00:38:32,411 --> 00:38:35,145 that it's where in the streams 651 00:38:35,246 --> 00:38:38,715 people put down heavy sheepskin 652 00:38:38,717 --> 00:38:40,517 with heavy wool. 653 00:38:40,519 --> 00:38:42,152 that the gold float into. 654 00:38:43,121 --> 00:38:46,156 Catching the gold in the curls of wool. 655 00:38:48,627 --> 00:38:51,261 [narrator] In the year 117 A 656 00:38:51,363 --> 00:38:55,598 reports of these riches lur Roman invaders to the area. 657 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,201 These legions were formed by Octavian, 658 00:38:58,203 --> 00:39:00,103 also known as Augustus, 659 00:39:00,105 --> 00:39:01,805 the first emperor of Rome. 660 00:39:02,541 --> 00:39:04,341 A man who has risen to power 661 00:39:04,442 --> 00:39:07,510 following one of the most infamous killings in history 662 00:39:09,414 --> 00:39:11,848 The assassination of Julius Caesar 663 00:39:13,318 --> 00:39:17,354 is followed by a civil war between his successors. 664 00:39:17,422 --> 00:39:18,221 Ultimately, 665 00:39:19,024 --> 00:39:21,257 Octavian, his grandnephew, 666 00:39:21,326 --> 00:39:23,159 takes over the reins. 667 00:39:23,228 --> 00:39:26,696 [Nardi] Octavian was the adopted heir of Julius Caesar. 668 00:39:26,698 --> 00:39:30,800 And really, his goal was to flip the republic into an empire. 669 00:39:33,105 --> 00:39:34,904 [narrator] To fund their empire building, 670 00:39:34,906 --> 00:39:37,307 the Romans need to fill their war chest. 671 00:39:38,710 --> 00:39:41,945 So, the gold mines of Turke are put under the protectio 672 00:39:42,013 --> 00:39:44,514 of some of their most elite forces. 673 00:39:44,516 --> 00:39:48,618 The feared 15th Apollinaris legion. 674 00:39:48,620 --> 00:39:53,123 [Horton] That legion had a huge fortress quite close to this lake, 675 00:39:53,125 --> 00:39:55,258 where the soldiers lived, 676 00:39:55,326 --> 00:39:57,727 and defended the Eastern Frontier 677 00:39:57,729 --> 00:39:59,329 of this part of the Roman Empire. 678 00:40:00,665 --> 00:40:06,102 This lake is also approximately where these ancient gold mines were. 679 00:40:08,006 --> 00:40:09,939 [narrator] Turkey's mines help the empire 680 00:40:09,941 --> 00:40:13,710 accumulate around half a billion dollars worth of gold a year. 681 00:40:17,315 --> 00:40:21,518 The Romans finally abandon the area in the seventh century. 682 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:25,221 But some locals suspected they left stashes of gold behind. 683 00:40:25,223 --> 00:40:27,323 Hidden in abandoned mineshafts. 684 00:40:29,060 --> 00:40:30,326 [Kourounis] As it turns out 685 00:40:30,328 --> 00:40:32,462 there were rumors swirling around 686 00:40:32,530 --> 00:40:35,398 that one of these ancient Roman goldmines 687 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:39,702 was buried or hidden underneath the waters of this lake 688 00:40:41,039 --> 00:40:43,239 [McRobbie] It's believed that the lost treasure 689 00:40:43,341 --> 00:40:45,942 of Octavian's 15th legion was there. 690 00:40:48,313 --> 00:40:50,613 [narrator] In November 2019 691 00:40:50,615 --> 00:40:52,649 treasure hunters drain the lake. 692 00:40:52,717 --> 00:40:57,454 And begin digging for the go they hope lies buried below 693 00:40:57,522 --> 00:41:00,056 They thought they will find an immense Roman treasure 694 00:41:00,625 --> 00:41:01,858 to make their fortune. 695 00:41:02,928 --> 00:41:05,295 [Kourounis] Over the span of just four days, 696 00:41:05,297 --> 00:41:07,363 they excavated this entire lake. 697 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:10,800 And found absolutely nothing. 698 00:41:13,605 --> 00:41:16,105 [narrator] Instead of uncovering a lost mine, 699 00:41:16,107 --> 00:41:20,243 the treasure hunters have destroyed 12,000 years of history. 700 00:41:21,346 --> 00:41:23,413 [Kourounis] This site wasn't a mine at all. 701 00:41:23,415 --> 00:41:25,381 Turns out, this lake was formed 702 00:41:25,383 --> 00:41:28,451 by receding glaciers during the ice age. 703 00:41:30,288 --> 00:41:31,621 [Dennie] It's an unfortunate thing 704 00:41:31,623 --> 00:41:34,257 that we've lost 12,000 years of water, 705 00:41:34,359 --> 00:41:36,426 looking for a mine that didn't exist. 706 00:41:36,428 --> 00:41:38,428 And now we lost a lake too. 707 00:41:40,732 --> 00:41:44,501 [narrator] Multimillion-dollar trove or fool's gold? 708 00:41:44,503 --> 00:41:47,604 The hunt for the legion's lost hoard continues. 709 00:41:49,207 --> 00:41:52,308 [McRobbie] Maybe there stil are ancient Roman mines in Turkey, 710 00:41:52,310 --> 00:41:54,210 waiting to be discovered. 711 00:41:54,212 --> 00:41:56,513 But this lake wasn't one of them.