1 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:05,546 Men have killed for it. 2 00:00:05,589 --> 00:00:08,924 Entire cities were built of it. 3 00:00:10,594 --> 00:00:12,469 And armies were formed 4 00:00:12,513 --> 00:00:15,264 to find it. 5 00:00:17,018 --> 00:00:20,644 What is it about the glittering substance known as gold 6 00:00:20,688 --> 00:00:24,106 that has made it the most coveted of all metals? 7 00:00:24,150 --> 00:00:27,484 In ancient times, it was considered so precious, 8 00:00:27,528 --> 00:00:30,154 it was called, "the flesh of the gods." 9 00:00:30,197 --> 00:00:33,532 today, we use gold for everything 10 00:00:33,576 --> 00:00:38,370 from currency to space travel to electronics. 11 00:00:39,623 --> 00:00:44,126 But beyond its mere commercial value, 12 00:00:44,170 --> 00:00:46,628 could gold have a special power? 13 00:00:46,672 --> 00:00:49,715 Something that draws us to it and compels us 14 00:00:49,759 --> 00:00:51,592 to hold it, own it, 15 00:00:51,635 --> 00:00:54,553 even wear it on our bodies? 16 00:00:55,806 --> 00:00:58,223 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 17 00:00:59,435 --> 00:01:01,393 ♪ ♪ 18 00:01:18,245 --> 00:01:20,496 shatner: While digging an ordinary utility ditch 19 00:01:20,539 --> 00:01:23,415 just off the coast of the black sea, 20 00:01:23,459 --> 00:01:26,710 a worker unearths a number of 21 00:01:26,754 --> 00:01:30,130 unusual metallic objects from the ground. 22 00:01:30,174 --> 00:01:34,218 When archaeologists later excavate the site, 23 00:01:34,261 --> 00:01:36,512 they discover a vast necropolis 24 00:01:36,555 --> 00:01:39,973 containing the oldest gold artifacts ever found-- 25 00:01:40,017 --> 00:01:43,560 dating back to 4600 bc. 26 00:01:43,604 --> 00:01:47,731 Analysis of the elaborate burial ground indicates 27 00:01:47,775 --> 00:01:49,399 that the ancient culture, 28 00:01:49,443 --> 00:01:52,236 known as the chalcolithic varna people, 29 00:01:52,279 --> 00:01:54,988 had a fascination with gold. 30 00:01:55,032 --> 00:01:57,032 Members of the elite were buried 31 00:01:57,076 --> 00:01:59,868 with gold ornaments sewn into shrouds, 32 00:01:59,912 --> 00:02:02,204 and their bodies were placed in graves 33 00:02:02,248 --> 00:02:06,458 laden with exquisite golden artifacts. 34 00:02:06,502 --> 00:02:09,086 6,000 years ago, 35 00:02:09,130 --> 00:02:12,047 neolithic people were fashioning jewelry out of gold. 36 00:02:12,091 --> 00:02:14,550 Now, we can speculate about what attracted them. 37 00:02:14,593 --> 00:02:19,388 It was bright, in probably a very dull world, 38 00:02:19,431 --> 00:02:22,307 and it never corroded. 39 00:02:22,351 --> 00:02:26,603 So it was, in a world in which mortality was ever present-- 40 00:02:26,647 --> 00:02:29,439 sickness and want and starvation-- 41 00:02:29,483 --> 00:02:31,358 here was something eternal, 42 00:02:31,402 --> 00:02:33,152 never lost its luster, 43 00:02:33,195 --> 00:02:37,114 beautiful, shiny, ageless. 44 00:02:40,828 --> 00:02:43,245 Shatner: While the relics found at varna 45 00:02:43,289 --> 00:02:46,081 are the oldest processed gold objects ever found, 46 00:02:46,125 --> 00:02:48,917 they are certainly not unique. 47 00:02:48,961 --> 00:02:51,378 Throughout virtually all of recorded history, 48 00:02:51,422 --> 00:02:54,673 gold was used in everything from ornamentation 49 00:02:54,717 --> 00:02:57,926 to the creation of sacred objects. 50 00:02:57,970 --> 00:03:01,013 It was cherished above all metals, 51 00:03:01,056 --> 00:03:04,141 especially because of its warm, golden color, 52 00:03:04,185 --> 00:03:08,645 which would, when polished, glow like the sun. 53 00:03:08,689 --> 00:03:12,149 The egyptians took the view that gold was the flesh of the gods, 54 00:03:12,193 --> 00:03:14,193 so therefore, a-- very much a divine material. 55 00:03:14,236 --> 00:03:17,487 It was a very appropriate material 56 00:03:17,531 --> 00:03:20,616 to use in funerary contexts, because 57 00:03:20,659 --> 00:03:24,036 ultimately people-- by being reborn in the next world-- 58 00:03:24,079 --> 00:03:26,205 had become gods, to a greater or lesser degree. 59 00:03:26,248 --> 00:03:29,374 And the kings, in particular. 60 00:03:29,418 --> 00:03:33,462 Shatner: The ancient incas also linked gold to the heavens. 61 00:03:33,505 --> 00:03:36,590 They believed it was made from the actual sweat 62 00:03:36,634 --> 00:03:38,926 of their sun god, inti. 63 00:03:38,969 --> 00:03:42,512 Brien foerster: Gold was the most precious metal 64 00:03:42,556 --> 00:03:46,475 of the incas, not because it had any kind of value, 65 00:03:46,518 --> 00:03:50,437 like money, but because it was the sweat of the sun. 66 00:03:51,857 --> 00:03:56,860 The sun was the highest deity of the inca, and therefore, 67 00:03:56,904 --> 00:03:59,696 the sweat of the sun represented 68 00:03:59,740 --> 00:04:02,908 the most sacred possession imaginable. 69 00:04:02,952 --> 00:04:06,578 Shatner: According to stories contained in the hebrew bible, 70 00:04:06,622 --> 00:04:08,247 gold objects were used 71 00:04:08,290 --> 00:04:11,541 not merely to show a symbolic connection to the divine, 72 00:04:11,585 --> 00:04:15,629 but to actually embody the power of god himself. 73 00:04:15,673 --> 00:04:20,467 And to this end, one golden object in particular 74 00:04:20,511 --> 00:04:23,345 became infamous as the most sacred 75 00:04:23,389 --> 00:04:27,849 and most powerful and mysterious of all: 76 00:04:27,893 --> 00:04:32,020 The ark of the covenant. 77 00:04:32,064 --> 00:04:33,939 The ark of the covenant is the central shrine 78 00:04:33,983 --> 00:04:35,482 to ancient israel. 79 00:04:35,526 --> 00:04:39,403 According to the bible, it's a wooden box 80 00:04:39,446 --> 00:04:43,323 made of acacia wood that is overlaid in gold. 81 00:04:43,367 --> 00:04:45,659 Inside of the ark of the covenant 82 00:04:45,703 --> 00:04:47,577 are said to be a couple of things-- 83 00:04:47,621 --> 00:04:49,913 the pieces of the ten commandments 84 00:04:49,957 --> 00:04:51,999 that were smashed by moses, 85 00:04:52,042 --> 00:04:54,209 a jar of the manna, 86 00:04:54,253 --> 00:04:57,963 and aaron's rod was also kept in the ark of the covenant. 87 00:04:58,007 --> 00:05:01,800 The idea was that wherever the ark of the covenant went, 88 00:05:01,844 --> 00:05:05,304 that's where the power of god would be. 89 00:05:05,347 --> 00:05:07,014 Shatner: Is it possible 90 00:05:07,057 --> 00:05:10,350 that objects made of gold actually have some sort 91 00:05:10,394 --> 00:05:12,853 of cosmic significance, 92 00:05:12,896 --> 00:05:17,149 a power that literally connected ancient people to something 93 00:05:17,192 --> 00:05:20,610 or someone beyond this world? 94 00:05:20,654 --> 00:05:22,279 But if so, how? 95 00:05:22,323 --> 00:05:25,532 Perhaps the answers can be found by examining 96 00:05:25,576 --> 00:05:28,869 the ancient writings of the first known human civilization: 97 00:05:28,912 --> 00:05:31,663 The ancient sumerians. 98 00:05:31,707 --> 00:05:34,416 Jason martell: The sumerians had a very intricate writing system 99 00:05:34,460 --> 00:05:35,959 called "cuneiform" script. 100 00:05:36,003 --> 00:05:39,338 One of the interesting points about the sumerian culture is 101 00:05:39,381 --> 00:05:41,840 the thousands of tablets and pictograms 102 00:05:41,884 --> 00:05:44,426 they've left us describing their daily lives. 103 00:05:44,470 --> 00:05:46,678 Shatner: For decades, 104 00:05:46,722 --> 00:05:49,431 historians and archaeologists remained frustrated 105 00:05:49,475 --> 00:05:53,643 in their efforts to translate the sumerian cuneiform texts. 106 00:05:53,687 --> 00:05:58,732 But one man believed he had, at last, cracked the code. 107 00:05:58,776 --> 00:06:01,818 After years of exhaustive research 108 00:06:01,862 --> 00:06:04,780 and countless hours spent translating hundreds 109 00:06:04,823 --> 00:06:06,448 of cuneiform tablets, 110 00:06:06,492 --> 00:06:11,370 in 1976, author and researcher zecharia sitchin 111 00:06:11,413 --> 00:06:14,956 published a book entitled, the 12th planet. 112 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,250 In it, he claimed that 113 00:06:17,294 --> 00:06:20,087 contained within the sumerian ancient writings was 114 00:06:20,130 --> 00:06:21,838 a profoundly unique account 115 00:06:21,882 --> 00:06:25,217 of mankind's origins on planet earth. 116 00:06:25,260 --> 00:06:29,054 According to sitchin, the so-called sumerian gods were, 117 00:06:29,098 --> 00:06:32,766 in fact, visitors from the planet nibiru, 118 00:06:32,810 --> 00:06:35,852 who landed on earth in mesopotamia 119 00:06:35,896 --> 00:06:39,815 more than 450,000 years ago. 120 00:06:39,858 --> 00:06:42,317 The anunnaki are among the most mysterious 121 00:06:42,361 --> 00:06:45,404 and powerful beings of myth and sacred tradition. 122 00:06:45,447 --> 00:06:48,365 We're told that the anunnaki had 123 00:06:48,409 --> 00:06:51,827 these enormous life spans of thousands of years. 124 00:06:51,870 --> 00:06:54,621 They came to earth on a special mission 125 00:06:54,665 --> 00:06:58,792 to bring wisdom and also to mine certain materials 126 00:06:58,836 --> 00:07:01,878 from the earth plane itself. 127 00:07:01,922 --> 00:07:03,547 Now one of the interesting proponents 128 00:07:03,590 --> 00:07:06,091 of the story of zecharia sitchin's research 129 00:07:06,135 --> 00:07:08,343 isn't just the anunnaki, 130 00:07:08,387 --> 00:07:10,470 but where the anunnaki actually come from. 131 00:07:10,514 --> 00:07:12,973 The sumerians were very clear 132 00:07:13,016 --> 00:07:15,976 in diagramming all the known outer planets 133 00:07:16,019 --> 00:07:17,853 in our solar system accurately. 134 00:07:17,896 --> 00:07:20,313 However, they included an additional planet 135 00:07:20,357 --> 00:07:22,232 which they called "nibiru." 136 00:07:22,276 --> 00:07:25,861 the anunnaki had damaged their atmosphere. 137 00:07:25,904 --> 00:07:27,821 And by using gold, 138 00:07:27,865 --> 00:07:31,241 they found that they could patch these atmospheric holes-- 139 00:07:31,285 --> 00:07:34,453 hence becomes the story of our humanity. 140 00:07:34,496 --> 00:07:37,706 The anunnaki literally came to earth to mine the gold. 141 00:07:37,749 --> 00:07:40,542 And when realizing it was such a toil to do so, 142 00:07:40,586 --> 00:07:45,297 created us as a worker race to do that for them. 143 00:07:45,340 --> 00:07:47,507 Shatner: Zecharia sitchin's hypothesis-- 144 00:07:47,551 --> 00:07:50,635 that the anunnaki came to earth to mine gold 145 00:07:50,679 --> 00:07:54,264 and then created humans to perform the task for them-- 146 00:07:54,308 --> 00:07:57,017 was both bold and controversial. 147 00:07:57,060 --> 00:07:58,810 If true, it would mean 148 00:07:58,854 --> 00:08:00,562 that mankind's near-obsession 149 00:08:00,606 --> 00:08:03,940 with everything gold had an historical foundation. 150 00:08:03,984 --> 00:08:05,692 But this incredible notion-- 151 00:08:05,736 --> 00:08:08,862 that humans were formed to retrieve gold 152 00:08:08,906 --> 00:08:10,530 and present it to the gods-- 153 00:08:10,574 --> 00:08:14,117 was not merely a theory created by sitchin. 154 00:08:14,161 --> 00:08:16,536 Believe it or not, 155 00:08:16,580 --> 00:08:18,663 there is archaeological evidence 156 00:08:18,707 --> 00:08:22,417 to suggest that ancient people did exactly that. 157 00:08:27,090 --> 00:08:30,300 Shatner: Believed to be the site of an ancient meteor crater, 158 00:08:30,344 --> 00:08:34,054 this circular-shaped mountain lake was once the site 159 00:08:34,097 --> 00:08:38,725 of remarkable ancient rituals involving gold, centuries ago. 160 00:08:38,769 --> 00:08:43,605 Lake guatavita was within the territory of the muisca 161 00:08:43,649 --> 00:08:47,817 or the chibcha people, which was a chiefdom, 162 00:08:47,861 --> 00:08:51,363 not quite as high a civilization as the incas 163 00:08:51,406 --> 00:08:54,324 or as the aztecs, but a chiefdom 164 00:08:54,368 --> 00:08:57,953 with civilization itself that had a lot of gold. 165 00:08:57,996 --> 00:09:01,331 Shatner: The ruler in the southern half 166 00:09:01,375 --> 00:09:04,251 of the muisca territory was known as the zipa, 167 00:09:04,294 --> 00:09:06,086 who was responsible 168 00:09:06,129 --> 00:09:09,589 for performing the muisca's most sacred ritual. 169 00:09:09,633 --> 00:09:12,842 According to legend, the zipa would float out 170 00:09:12,886 --> 00:09:16,012 on a royal barge in the middle of lake guatavita 171 00:09:16,056 --> 00:09:18,181 to make offerings of gold 172 00:09:18,225 --> 00:09:21,935 to a god believed to live at the bottom of the lake. 173 00:09:21,979 --> 00:09:26,940 Deyermenjian: It was said that the chief, adorned with resin, 174 00:09:26,984 --> 00:09:29,693 and then adorned with gold dust, would then 175 00:09:29,736 --> 00:09:32,988 jump into the water in order to wash the gold dust off. 176 00:09:33,031 --> 00:09:37,659 And that this gold would accumulate in that lake, 177 00:09:37,703 --> 00:09:40,453 and that golden objects, as sacrifices, 178 00:09:40,497 --> 00:09:43,957 would be thrown into that particular lake. 179 00:09:44,001 --> 00:09:46,251 Shatner: In 1911, 180 00:09:46,295 --> 00:09:49,337 an excavation of lake guatavita was led 181 00:09:49,381 --> 00:09:52,465 by british engineer hartley knowles. 182 00:09:52,509 --> 00:09:55,802 Knowles reported that he had recovered some $20,000 worth 183 00:09:55,846 --> 00:09:58,138 of treasure from the bottom of the lake, 184 00:09:58,181 --> 00:10:01,099 including golden artifacts. 185 00:10:01,143 --> 00:10:04,477 Could this remarkable find have offered tangible proof 186 00:10:04,521 --> 00:10:07,814 that ancient peoples mined gold for the purpose 187 00:10:07,858 --> 00:10:11,776 of offering it to their gods, just as sitchin's translations 188 00:10:11,820 --> 00:10:14,863 of the ancient sumerian tablets had indicated? 189 00:10:14,906 --> 00:10:16,489 Perhaps. 190 00:10:16,533 --> 00:10:18,450 But there is another theory-- 191 00:10:18,493 --> 00:10:21,911 one that suggests mankind's obsession with gold 192 00:10:21,955 --> 00:10:23,913 is not due to some mere historical connection 193 00:10:23,957 --> 00:10:27,375 that stretches back to our ancient past, 194 00:10:27,419 --> 00:10:31,921 but due to the genuine power that gold possesses-- 195 00:10:31,965 --> 00:10:35,175 a power that, if unleashed, 196 00:10:35,218 --> 00:10:38,928 could unlock the mysteries of the universe. 197 00:10:44,936 --> 00:10:48,188 Bill still: Is there any gold in fort knox? 198 00:10:48,231 --> 00:10:52,067 Like its color, its shine, its conductivity, 199 00:10:52,110 --> 00:10:55,070 there is one factor that makes it among the most prized 200 00:10:55,113 --> 00:10:58,740 and valuable of all precious metals. 201 00:10:58,784 --> 00:11:03,787 It is genuinely very, very scarce. 202 00:11:03,830 --> 00:11:06,456 Hart: Now, how much mined gold actually is there in the world? 203 00:11:06,500 --> 00:11:09,084 Considering that we've been mining it 204 00:11:09,127 --> 00:11:12,754 for 6,000 years, 205 00:11:12,798 --> 00:11:15,006 not all that much. 206 00:11:15,050 --> 00:11:17,717 In fact, if you... 207 00:11:17,761 --> 00:11:20,428 Took all the gold ever mined in all of history, 208 00:11:20,472 --> 00:11:23,181 melted it down into a single block, 209 00:11:23,225 --> 00:11:25,558 it would probably cover a tennis court 210 00:11:25,602 --> 00:11:28,228 to a depth of about 30 feet. 211 00:11:28,271 --> 00:11:30,730 That's it. That's the whole total. 212 00:11:30,774 --> 00:11:33,191 Shatner: The reason why gold is so hard to come by 213 00:11:33,235 --> 00:11:35,402 is that every ounce of gold 214 00:11:35,445 --> 00:11:37,696 that has ever been found on earth 215 00:11:37,739 --> 00:11:40,615 did not actually originate on our planet. 216 00:11:40,659 --> 00:11:42,283 Derrick pitts: There is gold in space. 217 00:11:42,327 --> 00:11:43,576 There's no question about it. 218 00:11:43,620 --> 00:11:45,995 In fact, all of the elements that we know of 219 00:11:46,039 --> 00:11:48,790 have been created at the cores of stars. 220 00:11:48,834 --> 00:11:52,293 The more heavy elements are created 221 00:11:52,337 --> 00:11:54,170 in the explosion of a star 222 00:11:54,214 --> 00:11:56,297 when it goes supernova. 223 00:11:56,341 --> 00:11:58,258 All the elements that we know of, 224 00:11:58,301 --> 00:12:02,220 including gold, are made in this fashion. 225 00:12:02,264 --> 00:12:04,764 During the so-called late heavy bombardment period, 226 00:12:04,808 --> 00:12:08,059 some 3.8 to 4.1 billion years ago, 227 00:12:08,103 --> 00:12:10,562 billions of tons of heavy metals 228 00:12:10,605 --> 00:12:14,315 and these rare elements rained to earth through meteorites 229 00:12:14,359 --> 00:12:16,401 and asteroids impacting the planet. 230 00:12:16,445 --> 00:12:18,903 These meteorites are what brought gold, tungsten 231 00:12:18,947 --> 00:12:21,364 and other precious elements to our planet. 232 00:12:21,408 --> 00:12:24,993 Shatner: But while gold is a genuinely rare commodity 233 00:12:25,036 --> 00:12:28,788 on our planet, it is by no means the rarest. 234 00:12:28,832 --> 00:12:31,499 Michael dennin: Platinum has great conductive abilities. 235 00:12:31,543 --> 00:12:33,418 It's rather rare. 236 00:12:33,462 --> 00:12:36,629 It's actually one of the rarest elements we have, 237 00:12:36,673 --> 00:12:39,591 and it's a very useful metal in a lot of what we do. 238 00:12:39,634 --> 00:12:41,384 Shatner: Platinum is considered 239 00:12:41,428 --> 00:12:43,595 to be 30 times more rare than gold, 240 00:12:43,638 --> 00:12:46,598 and yet, it is not unusual for the price of gold 241 00:12:46,641 --> 00:12:48,767 to be higher than that of platinum, 242 00:12:48,810 --> 00:12:52,645 particularly in times of economic uncertainty. 243 00:12:52,689 --> 00:12:54,230 But why? 244 00:12:54,274 --> 00:12:57,150 The origins of this primitive desire 245 00:12:57,194 --> 00:12:59,527 to love and value and treasure gold, 246 00:12:59,571 --> 00:13:02,030 that you can scratch your head over forever. 247 00:13:02,073 --> 00:13:05,700 All we know is that our distant preliterate ancestors 248 00:13:05,744 --> 00:13:07,243 were attracted to it, 249 00:13:07,287 --> 00:13:09,329 and somehow that's come down to us. 250 00:13:09,372 --> 00:13:13,333 Shatner: Perhaps a clue as to why we are so passionately-- 251 00:13:13,376 --> 00:13:16,753 and almost illogically-- drawn to gold above all other metals 252 00:13:16,797 --> 00:13:19,172 can be found in our collective tendency 253 00:13:19,216 --> 00:13:21,508 to adorn our bodies with it, 254 00:13:21,551 --> 00:13:26,304 as if it had some kind of magical properties. 255 00:13:31,770 --> 00:13:34,229 The museum of pre-history and early history acquires 256 00:13:34,272 --> 00:13:35,939 a glittering artifact 257 00:13:35,982 --> 00:13:38,900 from an anonymous swiss collector-- 258 00:13:38,944 --> 00:13:42,445 a tall, cone-shaped hat, 259 00:13:42,489 --> 00:13:44,572 crafted from a thin sheet of gold 260 00:13:44,616 --> 00:13:48,868 and embellished with dozens of sun and moon symbols. 261 00:13:48,912 --> 00:13:51,496 It is one of four that have been unearthed 262 00:13:51,540 --> 00:13:53,748 at various sites throughout europe, 263 00:13:53,792 --> 00:13:56,334 and is believed by historians to date back 264 00:13:56,378 --> 00:13:59,462 as far as 1000 bc. 265 00:14:01,258 --> 00:14:05,093 What is so important about them is that they indicate 266 00:14:05,136 --> 00:14:07,303 that there was a common culture. 267 00:14:07,347 --> 00:14:11,266 The images on them represent astronomy, 268 00:14:11,309 --> 00:14:12,642 the study of the stars. 269 00:14:12,686 --> 00:14:14,894 They also have complicated mathematical implications, 270 00:14:14,938 --> 00:14:18,064 suggesting a level of philosophical development 271 00:14:18,108 --> 00:14:20,233 that's very advanced for what we thought 272 00:14:20,277 --> 00:14:22,193 was available at that time. 273 00:14:22,237 --> 00:14:25,280 Shatner: German researchers carefully studied the symbols 274 00:14:25,323 --> 00:14:27,907 on the golden hat and concluded they represent 275 00:14:27,951 --> 00:14:30,869 a complex mathematical table, 276 00:14:30,912 --> 00:14:35,081 one that can accurately calculate the long-term cycles 277 00:14:35,125 --> 00:14:36,916 of the sun and the moon. 278 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:38,668 But how could ancient people 279 00:14:38,712 --> 00:14:40,879 have been able to make such advanced 280 00:14:40,922 --> 00:14:45,425 and highly sophisticated astronomical predictions? 281 00:14:45,468 --> 00:14:47,802 And why was it so important 282 00:14:47,846 --> 00:14:51,764 that they construct this incredible hat out of gold? 283 00:14:51,808 --> 00:14:55,768 Andrew collins: The suggestion is that they belonged 284 00:14:55,812 --> 00:14:58,021 to what might be referred to as oracles-- 285 00:14:58,064 --> 00:15:02,150 people that could fall into an altered state 286 00:15:02,193 --> 00:15:05,403 and prophesize-- could come up with statements 287 00:15:05,447 --> 00:15:10,491 relating to the future or otherworldly situations. 288 00:15:10,535 --> 00:15:13,328 There's also this idea that certain metals 289 00:15:13,371 --> 00:15:16,998 resonate or vibrate at certain resonant frequencies. 290 00:15:17,042 --> 00:15:20,251 So if you wear a lot of gold, it gets you connected 291 00:15:20,295 --> 00:15:24,130 to the broader energy fields that we all live in 292 00:15:24,174 --> 00:15:26,633 and move through on a regular basis. 293 00:15:26,676 --> 00:15:29,552 So the golden hats are kind of interesting, 294 00:15:29,596 --> 00:15:31,220 because if gold is something 295 00:15:31,264 --> 00:15:35,808 that actually enhances your connection with energies, 296 00:15:35,852 --> 00:15:37,727 then the wearing of a golden hat, 297 00:15:37,771 --> 00:15:41,064 especially in a conical shape, would tend to amplify 298 00:15:41,107 --> 00:15:44,108 the signal that you were getting from on high. 299 00:15:44,152 --> 00:15:48,321 Shatner: Ancient oracles using golden hats 300 00:15:48,365 --> 00:15:52,325 to receive esoteric knowledge about the universe? 301 00:15:52,369 --> 00:15:54,285 While this may seem like a farfetched notion, 302 00:15:54,329 --> 00:15:57,080 it is just one of many instances 303 00:15:57,123 --> 00:16:00,041 in which ancient cultures believed that gold adornments 304 00:16:00,085 --> 00:16:03,086 held a special power within them 305 00:16:03,129 --> 00:16:06,881 and could bestow that power upon those who possessed 306 00:16:06,925 --> 00:16:08,967 these gold ornaments. 307 00:16:09,010 --> 00:16:10,385 Henry: Throughout history, 308 00:16:10,428 --> 00:16:13,346 people have adorned themselves with gold, 309 00:16:13,390 --> 00:16:16,432 because it symbolizes power, wealth, beauty. 310 00:16:16,476 --> 00:16:18,434 But ultimately, gold is considered 311 00:16:18,478 --> 00:16:20,770 a very good conductor of electricity. 312 00:16:20,814 --> 00:16:24,440 Pitts: Gold is one of the best conductors there is. 313 00:16:24,484 --> 00:16:26,985 The other thing that's very important about it is that gold 314 00:16:27,028 --> 00:16:31,406 is an inert material-- it doesn't react with anything. 315 00:16:31,449 --> 00:16:33,366 And since there's no corrosion, 316 00:16:33,410 --> 00:16:37,286 electrical contacts can remain clean and good. 317 00:16:37,330 --> 00:16:40,248 When you really want the best electrical connectivity, 318 00:16:40,291 --> 00:16:43,501 we always buy our gold-coated connectors. 319 00:16:43,545 --> 00:16:45,461 It's incredibly easy to work with, 320 00:16:45,505 --> 00:16:47,964 you can make it very thin-- gold leafing is something 321 00:16:48,008 --> 00:16:49,424 we're very familiar with-- 322 00:16:49,467 --> 00:16:51,426 and you don't need a lot of gold 323 00:16:51,469 --> 00:16:53,845 to get good conductive properties. 324 00:16:53,888 --> 00:16:56,431 Henry: So it's possible that when you're wearing gold, 325 00:16:56,474 --> 00:16:59,017 that you are able to better conduct electricity, 326 00:16:59,060 --> 00:17:01,811 and might possess amazing powers. 327 00:17:01,855 --> 00:17:05,231 Shatner: If you think that the belief in gold objects 328 00:17:05,275 --> 00:17:07,650 having some sort of intrinsic power 329 00:17:07,694 --> 00:17:10,611 is the quaint notion of a bygone era, 330 00:17:10,655 --> 00:17:12,363 well, you'd be wrong. 331 00:17:12,407 --> 00:17:14,240 After all, we still reward 332 00:17:14,284 --> 00:17:16,951 our nation's highest athletic achievements 333 00:17:16,995 --> 00:17:19,287 with gold medals. 334 00:17:19,330 --> 00:17:22,165 Gold jewelry is still more desirable than that of silver 335 00:17:22,208 --> 00:17:23,958 or platinum. 336 00:17:24,002 --> 00:17:29,338 And monarchs still wear gold crowns on their heads. 337 00:17:29,382 --> 00:17:33,259 These are very ancient symbols of power, 338 00:17:33,303 --> 00:17:39,098 and this set off the great scramble for gold, 339 00:17:39,142 --> 00:17:41,142 the great search, the lust, 340 00:17:41,186 --> 00:17:42,643 the desire to have gold. 341 00:17:42,687 --> 00:17:44,645 That's what installed gold 342 00:17:44,689 --> 00:17:48,649 as something that was central to our whole culture 343 00:17:48,693 --> 00:17:51,110 and way of life. 344 00:17:51,154 --> 00:17:54,113 Shatner: Truth is, gold objects have tremendous power 345 00:17:54,157 --> 00:17:56,032 in our world, 346 00:17:56,076 --> 00:17:59,660 perhaps even a more profound power than we've realized. 347 00:17:59,704 --> 00:18:02,580 And there are those who believe that this extraordinary power 348 00:18:02,624 --> 00:18:05,666 can be best appreciated while examining 349 00:18:05,710 --> 00:18:09,337 a bizarre behavioral phenomenon known as... 350 00:18:09,380 --> 00:18:11,756 "gold fever." 351 00:18:22,393 --> 00:18:24,644 shatner: Carpenter james marshall 352 00:18:24,687 --> 00:18:26,312 is building a water-powered sawmill 353 00:18:26,356 --> 00:18:28,064 on the banks of the american river 354 00:18:28,149 --> 00:18:29,816 when he makes an unexpected 355 00:18:29,859 --> 00:18:32,902 and understandably thrilling discovery. 356 00:18:32,987 --> 00:18:37,990 Flakes of gold are floating in the water. 357 00:18:38,034 --> 00:18:40,576 When news gets out, people from all over the world 358 00:18:40,662 --> 00:18:42,495 head for california-- 359 00:18:42,539 --> 00:18:46,207 more than 300,000 in just six years. 360 00:18:46,292 --> 00:18:49,544 It is the start of the california gold rush, 361 00:18:49,587 --> 00:18:53,673 a frenzied hunt for an estimated $2 billion 362 00:18:53,716 --> 00:18:55,550 in buried treasure. 363 00:18:55,635 --> 00:18:58,010 Hart: In ten years, 364 00:18:58,054 --> 00:19:02,014 they mined 850 tons of gold. 365 00:19:02,058 --> 00:19:04,016 Now, when we think of a gold rush, 366 00:19:04,060 --> 00:19:06,519 we generally think of what they call in the business 367 00:19:06,563 --> 00:19:08,896 an "area play." 368 00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:10,731 gold is discovered in one place-- 369 00:19:10,817 --> 00:19:14,777 people rush to that place to see if they, too, can discover gold. 370 00:19:14,863 --> 00:19:16,863 That's how the california gold rush worked. 371 00:19:16,906 --> 00:19:19,615 Shatner: The california gold rush 372 00:19:19,701 --> 00:19:21,909 is perhaps the most famous example 373 00:19:21,953 --> 00:19:24,579 of what is known as "gold fever," 374 00:19:24,664 --> 00:19:29,292 a phenomenon which has compelled people and even entire countries 375 00:19:29,377 --> 00:19:32,086 to embark on a quest for gold, 376 00:19:32,130 --> 00:19:35,715 often with only the slightest chance of success, 377 00:19:35,758 --> 00:19:40,553 and sometimes even less than that. 378 00:19:40,597 --> 00:19:44,223 Gold's a very big metal in the human imagination. 379 00:19:44,267 --> 00:19:46,559 They call it the "emotive metal" 380 00:19:46,603 --> 00:19:48,102 in the bullion business, 381 00:19:48,146 --> 00:19:51,564 because it tends to follow emotions. 382 00:19:51,608 --> 00:19:53,983 There is this possibility of winning the lottery, 383 00:19:54,068 --> 00:19:58,404 of getting some extraordinary fortune that was just found. 384 00:19:58,448 --> 00:20:01,699 Symbolically, it may mean even more. 385 00:20:01,743 --> 00:20:04,035 Maybe psychologically, within ourselves, 386 00:20:04,078 --> 00:20:07,914 a sense of self-esteem, or the value of life. 387 00:20:07,957 --> 00:20:10,124 Ganz: You have people willing to go 388 00:20:10,168 --> 00:20:12,919 to every extreme known to man 389 00:20:12,962 --> 00:20:14,795 in order to acquire gold. 390 00:20:14,839 --> 00:20:17,882 You have the roman legion 391 00:20:17,926 --> 00:20:19,759 that traveled throughout the known world 392 00:20:19,802 --> 00:20:22,136 to try and get gold. 393 00:20:22,180 --> 00:20:24,931 You have the crusaders who went 394 00:20:24,974 --> 00:20:27,266 into the near east and the far east, 395 00:20:27,310 --> 00:20:29,644 searching for gold. 396 00:20:29,729 --> 00:20:33,648 You had cortez enslave indian peoples 397 00:20:33,691 --> 00:20:35,983 of latin america in order to mine it, 398 00:20:36,069 --> 00:20:38,611 extract it and send it back to europe. 399 00:20:38,655 --> 00:20:41,489 And, of course, in the 20th century, 400 00:20:41,532 --> 00:20:45,326 you have explorers diving under the sea 401 00:20:45,370 --> 00:20:47,995 in order to get gold that was lost in storms 402 00:20:48,081 --> 00:20:50,373 400 years before. 403 00:20:50,458 --> 00:20:54,168 If you look at what people have done to get gold, 404 00:20:54,212 --> 00:20:56,837 it's everything that you can imagine, 405 00:20:56,923 --> 00:20:58,965 and then some things that you probably can't. 406 00:20:59,008 --> 00:21:01,801 Shatner: It is perhaps safe to say 407 00:21:01,844 --> 00:21:03,344 that throughout history, 408 00:21:03,388 --> 00:21:06,180 there is no limit to the lengths that humans will go 409 00:21:06,224 --> 00:21:07,974 to possess gold. 410 00:21:08,017 --> 00:21:11,310 And if they couldn't acquire it by traditional methods, 411 00:21:11,354 --> 00:21:13,312 there were some who thought that it was possible 412 00:21:13,356 --> 00:21:15,106 to make it artificially, 413 00:21:15,149 --> 00:21:17,692 by means of a strange, mysterious process 414 00:21:17,735 --> 00:21:20,987 known as alchemy. 415 00:21:21,030 --> 00:21:22,822 Dennin: The alchemists, their main goal 416 00:21:22,865 --> 00:21:24,323 was to turn lead into gold. 417 00:21:24,367 --> 00:21:26,742 Lead was viewed as kind of a boring, dull, 418 00:21:26,828 --> 00:21:28,828 not important metal, and gold, of course, 419 00:21:28,871 --> 00:21:30,371 was very valuable and precious. 420 00:21:30,415 --> 00:21:34,000 So you try and get various chemical reactions to occur 421 00:21:34,043 --> 00:21:37,169 and turn the lead into gold. 422 00:21:37,213 --> 00:21:39,046 Shatner: For thousands of years, 423 00:21:39,132 --> 00:21:41,382 kings sought out a magical substance 424 00:21:41,426 --> 00:21:46,178 that could transform common, ordinary metals into gold. 425 00:21:46,222 --> 00:21:50,099 Scientists and alchemists spent centuries trying to invent one. 426 00:21:50,184 --> 00:21:53,686 Over time, this mythical object became referred to 427 00:21:53,730 --> 00:21:56,522 as the philosopher's stone. 428 00:21:56,566 --> 00:22:00,443 A.J. Shaka: The philosopher's stone was an idea that you could have 429 00:22:00,528 --> 00:22:03,738 a magic kind of material do the alchemy. 430 00:22:03,781 --> 00:22:06,073 And the thought that one could do that 431 00:22:06,159 --> 00:22:09,410 is attractive in and of itself. 432 00:22:09,454 --> 00:22:11,620 And if somebody tells you that something exists 433 00:22:11,706 --> 00:22:14,623 and you're smart, like isaac newton, 434 00:22:14,709 --> 00:22:16,417 you might think, "well, I'm smart enough 435 00:22:16,461 --> 00:22:20,755 to figure it out for myself, so I should go looking for it." 436 00:22:20,798 --> 00:22:24,425 and I think that motivated a lot of the early scientists 437 00:22:24,510 --> 00:22:27,553 to get distracted by this idea. 438 00:22:27,597 --> 00:22:30,765 We have a kind of guidance coming from beyond 439 00:22:30,808 --> 00:22:32,600 our ordinary knowing, 440 00:22:32,643 --> 00:22:35,978 a whole series of sacred mysteries involved 441 00:22:36,064 --> 00:22:39,273 in this rather simple form. 442 00:22:39,317 --> 00:22:43,944 The philosopher's stone was this simple material, a stone, 443 00:22:43,988 --> 00:22:46,781 out of which something very powerful can emerge. 444 00:22:46,824 --> 00:22:49,950 It has rich psychological symbolism. 445 00:22:49,994 --> 00:22:54,455 Shatner: A simple stone that can turn anything into gold? 446 00:22:54,499 --> 00:22:56,332 It sounds outlandish. 447 00:22:56,417 --> 00:23:00,044 So outlandish, you might think the philosopher's stone 448 00:23:00,088 --> 00:23:03,297 is a symbol of how the pursuit of gold can cause people 449 00:23:03,341 --> 00:23:05,800 to lose their grip on reality. 450 00:23:05,843 --> 00:23:07,760 But believe it or not, 451 00:23:07,804 --> 00:23:11,972 this is one fantasy that has actually come true. 452 00:23:20,316 --> 00:23:23,317 In an early experiment with nuclear energy, 453 00:23:23,403 --> 00:23:26,278 professor hantaro nagaoka 454 00:23:26,322 --> 00:23:28,948 directs 150,000 volts of electricity 455 00:23:28,991 --> 00:23:33,953 at a mercury isotope isolated in the laboratory. 456 00:23:33,996 --> 00:23:38,290 His goal, to remove a proton from the nucleus of the mercury 457 00:23:38,334 --> 00:23:42,294 and produce a new element: Gold. 458 00:23:42,338 --> 00:23:46,882 Incredibly, the experiment is a success. 459 00:23:46,968 --> 00:23:49,176 Shaka: In prior times, 460 00:23:49,220 --> 00:23:53,472 the idea of turning a base metal like lead into gold 461 00:23:53,516 --> 00:23:55,474 was extremely attractive 462 00:23:55,518 --> 00:23:58,310 because one could make a lot of money by doing that. 463 00:23:58,354 --> 00:24:00,855 The problem was that, at that time, 464 00:24:00,898 --> 00:24:03,691 people didn't even know atoms existed, 465 00:24:03,734 --> 00:24:06,861 or that the number of protons in the nucleus determined 466 00:24:06,946 --> 00:24:09,822 the element and that one would have to change those, 467 00:24:09,866 --> 00:24:12,032 somehow, to do the alchemy. 468 00:24:12,076 --> 00:24:14,410 Shatner: On the periodic table of elements, 469 00:24:14,495 --> 00:24:19,707 gold is element number 79, and mercury is number 80, 470 00:24:19,750 --> 00:24:23,169 which is why removing a single proton from mercury 471 00:24:23,212 --> 00:24:26,922 can actually transform it into gold. 472 00:24:27,008 --> 00:24:29,758 But doing so requires a staggering amount 473 00:24:29,844 --> 00:24:33,512 of both electrical energy and money. 474 00:24:33,556 --> 00:24:36,015 Shaka: You have to get a nuclear reactor 475 00:24:36,058 --> 00:24:39,518 or a particle accelerator or something like that, 476 00:24:39,562 --> 00:24:42,688 and it takes a long time running the reactor 477 00:24:42,732 --> 00:24:45,399 to make even a tiny amount of gold. 478 00:24:45,443 --> 00:24:49,403 If you irradiate for about a day in our reactor, 479 00:24:49,447 --> 00:24:53,574 you make three-tenths of a cent worth of gold. 480 00:24:53,618 --> 00:24:58,579 Since we charge $200 an hour to operate the reactor, 481 00:24:58,623 --> 00:25:00,456 you're pretty far in the hole. 482 00:25:02,293 --> 00:25:04,251 Shatner: Whether it's panning a river 483 00:25:04,295 --> 00:25:07,087 or harnessing the power of a nuclear reactor, 484 00:25:07,131 --> 00:25:10,549 humans are always searching for new sources of gold. 485 00:25:10,593 --> 00:25:12,676 But since creating gold in a laboratory 486 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:14,887 is not yet economically feasible, 487 00:25:14,931 --> 00:25:17,223 maybe it's time we ask ourselves 488 00:25:17,266 --> 00:25:19,850 how much gold has already been mined 489 00:25:19,894 --> 00:25:23,646 and how can we acquire a fresh supply? 490 00:25:23,731 --> 00:25:26,690 Perhaps the answer lies behind the sealed doors 491 00:25:26,734 --> 00:25:32,655 of the largest gold depository in the world, fort knox. 492 00:25:41,582 --> 00:25:44,250 Shatner: U.S. Treasury secretary steven mnuchin 493 00:25:44,293 --> 00:25:46,961 and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell 494 00:25:47,004 --> 00:25:51,257 visit the united states bullion depository for an inspection. 495 00:25:51,300 --> 00:25:54,301 They are part of the first civilian delegation to lay eyes 496 00:25:54,345 --> 00:25:59,056 on the country's gold bullion reserves in more than 40 years. 497 00:25:59,100 --> 00:26:03,185 But curiously, the media is prohibited from the event, 498 00:26:03,271 --> 00:26:09,650 which starts to raise more questions than answers. 499 00:26:09,694 --> 00:26:11,735 Powell: The depository at fort knox 500 00:26:11,779 --> 00:26:15,447 is a symbol of perhaps america's greatest secret. 501 00:26:15,491 --> 00:26:18,534 Uh, you are more likely to obtain 502 00:26:18,619 --> 00:26:20,786 from the united states government the blueprints 503 00:26:20,830 --> 00:26:23,330 for the construction of a nuclear weapon 504 00:26:23,374 --> 00:26:25,499 than you are to obtain any accurate, 505 00:26:25,543 --> 00:26:28,502 detailed accounting of the disposition 506 00:26:28,546 --> 00:26:30,671 of the united states gold reserve. 507 00:26:30,715 --> 00:26:32,464 Still: Is there any gold in fort knox? 508 00:26:32,508 --> 00:26:34,383 That's a good question, and the government 509 00:26:34,468 --> 00:26:37,678 certainly hasn't been helpful in providing the answer. 510 00:26:37,722 --> 00:26:40,055 One would think that there would be 511 00:26:40,141 --> 00:26:41,807 some sort of accountability. 512 00:26:41,851 --> 00:26:43,475 But there's substantial evidence 513 00:26:43,519 --> 00:26:46,478 that the government is hiding something. 514 00:26:46,522 --> 00:26:49,481 Shatner: By law, the u.S. Treasury 515 00:26:49,525 --> 00:26:52,192 operates fort knox under the direct orders 516 00:26:52,236 --> 00:26:55,696 and supervision of the president of the united states. 517 00:26:55,740 --> 00:26:59,742 And not only does the treasury print money, collect taxes 518 00:26:59,827 --> 00:27:01,952 and enforce trade agreements, 519 00:27:01,996 --> 00:27:08,208 it also oversees america's most precious commodity, its gold. 520 00:27:08,252 --> 00:27:10,210 Powell: Militaries will pack 521 00:27:10,254 --> 00:27:12,838 their pilot's survival kits with gold coins, 522 00:27:12,882 --> 00:27:14,548 not with paper currency, 523 00:27:14,592 --> 00:27:17,051 because gold is the universal money. 524 00:27:17,094 --> 00:27:21,221 And its value determines the value of government currencies. 525 00:27:21,265 --> 00:27:25,225 Gold's value also, uh, profoundly influences 526 00:27:25,269 --> 00:27:28,687 interest rates, uh, and the price of government bonds. 527 00:27:28,731 --> 00:27:31,065 This is the primary reason why governments 528 00:27:31,108 --> 00:27:34,818 have always tried to control the price of gold. 529 00:27:34,862 --> 00:27:37,696 The gold price is the determinant of the value 530 00:27:37,740 --> 00:27:41,408 of all capital, labor, goods and services in the world. 531 00:27:41,452 --> 00:27:43,285 There is nothing else. 532 00:27:45,206 --> 00:27:47,915 Shatner: As of 2020, the united states claimed 533 00:27:47,958 --> 00:27:51,460 to have more than 8,000 tons of gold. 534 00:27:51,545 --> 00:27:53,587 Worth trillions of dollars, 535 00:27:53,673 --> 00:27:56,215 it is the single largest holding in the world. 536 00:27:56,258 --> 00:27:59,635 Not entirely surprising, since there was a time, 537 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,556 in 1933, when u.S. President franklin d. Roosevelt 538 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:06,975 made it illegal for american individuals 539 00:28:07,061 --> 00:28:09,853 to own the precious metal. 540 00:28:09,897 --> 00:28:12,439 Ganz: In 1933, 541 00:28:12,483 --> 00:28:14,066 america nationalized its gold. 542 00:28:14,110 --> 00:28:16,568 In essence, it stole it from the american people. 543 00:28:16,612 --> 00:28:21,115 It required them to turn in all the gold that they had. 544 00:28:21,158 --> 00:28:22,783 Paul urbhans: This was franklin roosevelt 545 00:28:22,827 --> 00:28:24,910 bringing us out of the depression. 546 00:28:24,954 --> 00:28:29,581 He gathered up gold coins and other gold that people owned 547 00:28:29,625 --> 00:28:33,293 and melted them down into little gold bricks 548 00:28:33,337 --> 00:28:35,379 that weighed 27 and a half pounds each. 549 00:28:35,423 --> 00:28:38,674 Once he acquired all the gold in the country, 550 00:28:38,759 --> 00:28:40,300 he doubled its value. 551 00:28:40,344 --> 00:28:43,011 You could do that when you own it all. 552 00:28:43,097 --> 00:28:47,433 Ganz: Overnight, the gold went from $20.67 an ounce 553 00:28:47,476 --> 00:28:49,810 to $35 an ounce. 554 00:28:49,854 --> 00:28:52,312 The greatest robbery in history wasn't 555 00:28:52,356 --> 00:28:54,481 the mere confiscation, it was revaluing the gold 556 00:28:54,567 --> 00:28:56,150 after it was confiscated. 557 00:28:56,193 --> 00:28:57,818 The difference is, the government had the profit, 558 00:28:57,862 --> 00:29:00,279 not the individual people. 559 00:29:00,322 --> 00:29:02,990 And that was the way that the new deal attempted 560 00:29:03,033 --> 00:29:04,491 to jumpstart the economy. 561 00:29:04,577 --> 00:29:06,160 Shatner: Prior to this time, 562 00:29:06,203 --> 00:29:09,371 every american dollar was backed up by gold. 563 00:29:09,457 --> 00:29:12,332 It even said so right on the currency: 564 00:29:12,376 --> 00:29:15,669 Payable to the bearer in gold. 565 00:29:15,713 --> 00:29:20,090 But now, with america in the grip of the great depression, 566 00:29:20,134 --> 00:29:22,509 the government couldn't take a chance that foreign governments 567 00:29:22,553 --> 00:29:24,887 wouldn't trade currency for coin 568 00:29:24,972 --> 00:29:29,016 and make off with america's gold supply. 569 00:29:29,059 --> 00:29:31,018 In less than two years, 570 00:29:31,103 --> 00:29:35,898 fdr had consolidated the single greatest concentration of wealth 571 00:29:35,983 --> 00:29:37,858 in modern history. 572 00:29:37,902 --> 00:29:40,068 And to house most of it, 573 00:29:40,154 --> 00:29:43,864 he constructed the country's strongest fortress-- 574 00:29:43,908 --> 00:29:46,325 fort knox. 575 00:29:46,368 --> 00:29:49,244 The federal government is taking no chances. 576 00:29:49,330 --> 00:29:52,331 This is the people's gold supply, 577 00:29:52,374 --> 00:29:54,875 and they intend for it to stay there. 578 00:29:54,919 --> 00:29:58,712 There's a military unit at fort knox 579 00:29:58,756 --> 00:30:01,381 that is at all times responsible 580 00:30:01,425 --> 00:30:03,884 if any attack was made on the gold vault. 581 00:30:03,969 --> 00:30:07,513 And they're available all the time around the clock. 582 00:30:07,556 --> 00:30:11,517 If you violated the security and got into the vault, 583 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,102 then no way you could get out of there. 584 00:30:14,188 --> 00:30:15,979 You know, the reality of the situation is, 585 00:30:16,023 --> 00:30:18,398 I don't think that anybody would ever try 586 00:30:18,442 --> 00:30:20,484 to break into that building to steal the gold, 587 00:30:20,528 --> 00:30:23,028 because it would take an incredible operation 588 00:30:23,072 --> 00:30:25,906 to get that out of there, and the guards used to tell me, 589 00:30:25,950 --> 00:30:28,534 "you'll get in, but you'll never get out alive." 590 00:30:28,577 --> 00:30:30,869 shatner: If someone was fortunate enough 591 00:30:30,913 --> 00:30:34,915 to make it inside fort knox, they would encounter a maze 592 00:30:34,959 --> 00:30:38,210 of 21,000 cubic feet of granite and concrete, 593 00:30:38,254 --> 00:30:40,712 and more than 1,400 tons of steel. 594 00:30:40,756 --> 00:30:44,758 Underneath the first floor is the gold vault, 595 00:30:44,802 --> 00:30:49,596 whose door weighs several tons and is 21 inches thick. 596 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,975 To unlock it requires multiple treasury officials, 597 00:30:53,060 --> 00:30:56,270 each with a unique, secret combination. 598 00:30:56,313 --> 00:31:00,190 Once inside, the vault is divided into individual cells, 599 00:31:00,234 --> 00:31:02,568 said to measure ten feet by ten feet, 600 00:31:02,611 --> 00:31:05,946 and reportedly stacked from floor to ceiling 601 00:31:05,990 --> 00:31:08,615 with gold bars. 602 00:31:08,659 --> 00:31:10,742 But while no one would argue that it's not important 603 00:31:10,786 --> 00:31:13,579 to keep america's gold safe, 604 00:31:13,622 --> 00:31:17,249 are all of these precautions really necessary? 605 00:31:17,293 --> 00:31:22,337 Or do they serve another, more extraordinary purpose? 606 00:31:24,174 --> 00:31:26,300 Urbhans: It's what you don't know 607 00:31:26,343 --> 00:31:29,136 that's more important than what you do know, 608 00:31:29,179 --> 00:31:33,348 as far as the gold vault is concerned. 609 00:31:33,434 --> 00:31:36,602 And there's been various myths and rumors over the years 610 00:31:36,645 --> 00:31:41,481 which have added to that... Secrecy. 611 00:31:41,525 --> 00:31:43,817 Shatner: One of those rumors suggests 612 00:31:43,861 --> 00:31:46,320 that after president richard nixon removed the u.S. Dollar 613 00:31:46,363 --> 00:31:50,115 from the international gold standard in 1971, 614 00:31:50,159 --> 00:31:56,163 the gold in fort knox was all but sold off. 615 00:31:56,206 --> 00:31:58,290 During the 1960s, 616 00:31:58,334 --> 00:32:00,751 when charles de gaulle was prime minister of France, 617 00:32:00,794 --> 00:32:03,462 he told other countries, "if you owe me money, 618 00:32:03,505 --> 00:32:05,839 pay me in american dollars." 619 00:32:05,883 --> 00:32:09,843 and then he would turn those american dollars in for gold. 620 00:32:09,887 --> 00:32:12,387 That probably caused the biggest drain 621 00:32:12,473 --> 00:32:16,475 of gold out of the bullion depository. 622 00:32:16,518 --> 00:32:19,019 The u.S. Gold reserve was being depleted, 623 00:32:19,063 --> 00:32:22,022 and in 1971, president nixon decided 624 00:32:22,066 --> 00:32:23,649 that we could not afford 625 00:32:23,692 --> 00:32:25,692 to keep losing our gold this way, 626 00:32:25,778 --> 00:32:29,488 and, basically, he repudiated the obligation 627 00:32:29,531 --> 00:32:32,407 of the united states to redeem its dollars for gold 628 00:32:32,493 --> 00:32:34,034 to foreign countries. 629 00:32:34,078 --> 00:32:35,702 And since 1971, 630 00:32:35,746 --> 00:32:39,498 the u.S. Dollar has not been explicitly backed 631 00:32:39,541 --> 00:32:43,043 by any particular weight of gold. 632 00:32:43,087 --> 00:32:47,214 Shatner: But how much of america's gold supply was left? 633 00:32:47,257 --> 00:32:51,510 Rumors that fort knox had been steadily drained of gold 634 00:32:51,553 --> 00:32:53,553 for decades began to spread, 635 00:32:53,597 --> 00:32:57,683 and an anxious american public demanded to know: 636 00:32:57,726 --> 00:33:00,143 Did president richard nixon 637 00:33:00,187 --> 00:33:02,187 pull america off the gold standard 638 00:33:02,231 --> 00:33:04,898 because the vault at fort knox was actually... 639 00:33:04,942 --> 00:33:14,533 Empty? 640 00:33:14,576 --> 00:33:16,910 Ner: Director of the u.S. Mint, mary brooks, 641 00:33:16,954 --> 00:33:19,955 leads a carefully-selected group of members of congress 642 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,875 and news media on a half-hour tour of the fort knox vault. 643 00:33:23,919 --> 00:33:26,378 (indistinct chatter) 644 00:33:26,422 --> 00:33:28,714 its purpose: To prove to congress, 645 00:33:28,757 --> 00:33:30,549 and the american public, 646 00:33:30,592 --> 00:33:35,470 that the gold at fort knox is, in fact, still there. 647 00:33:35,556 --> 00:33:38,140 Ganz: We arrived by bus, to drive up bullion blvd, 648 00:33:38,225 --> 00:33:39,933 aptly named. 649 00:33:39,977 --> 00:33:43,770 And as you approach the depository, you see signs 650 00:33:43,814 --> 00:33:46,398 that warn that federal officers inside 651 00:33:46,442 --> 00:33:47,983 are authorized to shoot to kill, 652 00:33:48,068 --> 00:33:51,778 and that admission is absolutely forbidden. 653 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:54,906 We went down from the first floor 654 00:33:54,950 --> 00:33:56,616 on by an elevator, went down 655 00:33:56,702 --> 00:34:01,121 to the lower level where the gold is actually stored. 656 00:34:01,206 --> 00:34:03,248 And as we got off the elevator, 657 00:34:03,292 --> 00:34:06,460 we just walked in right next 658 00:34:06,503 --> 00:34:08,628 to the vaults themselves, 659 00:34:08,672 --> 00:34:10,630 the cells full of gold. 660 00:34:13,594 --> 00:34:15,886 Shatner: The delegation was ushered into one 661 00:34:15,929 --> 00:34:18,597 of the smallest compartments-- vault 13-- 662 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:23,643 and directed not to approach any of the other cells. 663 00:34:23,687 --> 00:34:25,979 The thing that stands out to me is just walking in 664 00:34:26,023 --> 00:34:27,689 and seeing all this gold 665 00:34:27,775 --> 00:34:30,317 from floor to ceiling and realizing its value. 666 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,695 And we had an opportunity to pick it up 667 00:34:33,781 --> 00:34:37,616 and feel it and make sure it was gold, and, uh, 668 00:34:37,659 --> 00:34:38,909 it was amazing to me. 669 00:34:38,952 --> 00:34:41,495 Ganz: There's nothing 670 00:34:41,538 --> 00:34:43,330 that was as breathtaking 671 00:34:43,415 --> 00:34:45,123 as having the seal cut on that door, 672 00:34:45,167 --> 00:34:47,042 the vault door open, 673 00:34:47,127 --> 00:34:49,127 and the floodlights from the television 674 00:34:49,171 --> 00:34:52,047 and from the still cameras, flashbulbs popping, 675 00:34:52,132 --> 00:34:54,216 going off the gold. 676 00:34:54,301 --> 00:34:56,384 Simmons: Well, they opened up the bullion depository. 677 00:34:56,470 --> 00:35:00,138 But what they did was they opened pandora's box. 678 00:35:00,182 --> 00:35:04,142 Everybody saw a bunch of bars stacked up in a room, 679 00:35:04,186 --> 00:35:06,019 and then immediately started saying, 680 00:35:06,063 --> 00:35:07,979 that's probably all there was, 681 00:35:08,023 --> 00:35:11,024 and what you're looking at is probably fake. 682 00:35:11,110 --> 00:35:14,736 So, all they did was create a bigger problem. 683 00:35:16,740 --> 00:35:19,699 Shatner: Why had the visitors been shown only one cell? 684 00:35:19,785 --> 00:35:22,077 And why was access to certain corners 685 00:35:22,162 --> 00:35:25,205 of the vault complex denied? 686 00:35:25,249 --> 00:35:28,834 Over time, photos taken during the event 687 00:35:28,877 --> 00:35:32,504 began to circulate in newspapers and magazines. 688 00:35:32,548 --> 00:35:34,548 But rather than reassure skeptics, 689 00:35:34,633 --> 00:35:38,885 as the u.S. Treasury had hoped, still more questions arose. 690 00:35:38,971 --> 00:35:42,681 Some even questioned the quality of the gold based on its color. 691 00:35:42,724 --> 00:35:46,017 Others suggested that-- according to photos taken 692 00:35:46,061 --> 00:35:48,728 at the event while the gold was weighed on a scale-- 693 00:35:48,772 --> 00:35:54,192 the bars didn't weigh 27.5 pounds as reported, 694 00:35:54,236 --> 00:35:57,696 but less than 22 pounds. 695 00:35:57,739 --> 00:36:00,824 Of course treasury came out with a press release and said 696 00:36:00,868 --> 00:36:02,868 "oh, well, it was just some cheap scale, 697 00:36:02,911 --> 00:36:04,369 and so the scale was inaccurate." 698 00:36:04,413 --> 00:36:07,414 but if you magnify the photograph, 699 00:36:07,457 --> 00:36:09,291 you see that it was not a cheap scale. 700 00:36:09,376 --> 00:36:12,002 It was a standard issue u.S. Postal scale. 701 00:36:12,045 --> 00:36:15,255 Shatner: Most intriguing of all was the possibility 702 00:36:15,299 --> 00:36:19,926 of a secret vault-- one hidden not only from visitors that day 703 00:36:20,012 --> 00:36:23,930 but one whose very existence is denied, 704 00:36:24,016 --> 00:36:27,058 even now. 705 00:36:27,102 --> 00:36:29,394 There is this famous picture of mary brooks taken 706 00:36:29,438 --> 00:36:32,480 by an ap photographer saying "look, all the gold's here." 707 00:36:32,566 --> 00:36:35,901 however, the room that they showed 708 00:36:35,944 --> 00:36:38,111 was gold vault number thirteen. 709 00:36:38,155 --> 00:36:41,072 And if you just do a simple, napkin-like calculation 710 00:36:41,116 --> 00:36:43,158 of how many bars you see, and, 711 00:36:43,243 --> 00:36:46,077 uh, there are about a million ounces of gold in that room. 712 00:36:46,121 --> 00:36:48,788 And yet, the latest treasury figures 713 00:36:48,832 --> 00:36:50,790 from the treasury website show 714 00:36:50,834 --> 00:36:55,128 that there are 150 million ounces of gold in fort knox. 715 00:36:55,172 --> 00:37:00,425 So it would take 150 of those gold vault thirteens. 716 00:37:00,469 --> 00:37:02,802 So clearly, something's amiss. 717 00:37:02,846 --> 00:37:05,805 Shatner: Can americans ever know for sure 718 00:37:05,849 --> 00:37:09,059 how much gold is in fort knox? 719 00:37:09,102 --> 00:37:12,312 Or whether most of the gold has been sold off, or used 720 00:37:12,356 --> 00:37:14,898 as collateral to finance our national debt? 721 00:37:16,485 --> 00:37:19,194 Powell: Secret things are done with that gold reserve. 722 00:37:19,279 --> 00:37:22,614 That gold reserve is the... It's public property. 723 00:37:22,658 --> 00:37:25,158 It's the property of all the people of the united states. 724 00:37:25,202 --> 00:37:28,453 And the things that are done with it are meant 725 00:37:28,497 --> 00:37:30,622 to undertake secret policies 726 00:37:30,666 --> 00:37:32,290 without any accountability to congress 727 00:37:32,334 --> 00:37:34,167 and the people of the united states. 728 00:37:34,211 --> 00:37:35,877 That's objectionable. 729 00:37:35,963 --> 00:37:38,255 Ganz: I can tell you that when I was on 730 00:37:38,298 --> 00:37:39,714 the congressional inspection tour, 731 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:41,508 there was gold in fort knox. 732 00:37:41,551 --> 00:37:43,134 But knowing that the gold was there 733 00:37:43,178 --> 00:37:46,471 in September of 1974 doesn't mean 734 00:37:46,515 --> 00:37:48,014 that it's still there today. 735 00:37:48,058 --> 00:37:51,059 Shatner: One thing is certain. 736 00:37:51,144 --> 00:37:53,186 Something of value is being heavily protected 737 00:37:53,272 --> 00:37:55,855 inside fort knox. 738 00:37:55,899 --> 00:37:59,109 And either it's the vast amount of fabled gold bars 739 00:37:59,152 --> 00:38:00,860 that serve as the contents 740 00:38:00,946 --> 00:38:03,863 of the world's greatest treasure fortress, or 741 00:38:03,907 --> 00:38:07,158 it's the disturbing secret 742 00:38:07,202 --> 00:38:10,537 that the vault is really empty. 743 00:38:10,580 --> 00:38:12,831 But according to some experts, 744 00:38:12,874 --> 00:38:14,833 it hardly matters, because they claim 745 00:38:14,876 --> 00:38:17,836 that the largest collection of gold exists, 746 00:38:17,879 --> 00:38:20,088 not in a vault on earth, 747 00:38:20,173 --> 00:38:22,507 but somewhere else. 748 00:38:22,551 --> 00:38:24,092 Somewhere literally 749 00:38:24,177 --> 00:38:27,095 out of this world. 750 00:38:38,775 --> 00:38:40,525 Shatner: Nasa announces a new venture 751 00:38:40,569 --> 00:38:43,111 with the trans astronautica corporation. 752 00:38:43,155 --> 00:38:46,823 The goal? To develop technology 753 00:38:46,867 --> 00:38:50,285 for a special mining operation 754 00:38:50,329 --> 00:38:53,288 in outer space. 755 00:38:53,332 --> 00:38:57,584 We incorporated transastra in 2015 when we saw 756 00:38:57,627 --> 00:39:00,337 that spacex and elon musk 757 00:39:00,380 --> 00:39:03,340 and jeff bezos and other entrepreneurs 758 00:39:03,383 --> 00:39:06,509 were developing low-cost, really effective ways 759 00:39:06,553 --> 00:39:08,178 to get into orbit. 760 00:39:08,221 --> 00:39:10,555 Woman (over radio): Ignition. Lift off. 761 00:39:10,599 --> 00:39:13,099 Sercel: Once we have rockets that can get into orbit inexpensively, 762 00:39:13,143 --> 00:39:15,643 then it makes sense to start building 763 00:39:15,687 --> 00:39:17,479 real industries in space. 764 00:39:17,522 --> 00:39:20,357 And one of the first industries is asteroid mining. 765 00:39:21,985 --> 00:39:23,777 Shatner: In the near future, 766 00:39:23,820 --> 00:39:25,612 transastra and other companies 767 00:39:25,655 --> 00:39:28,281 intend to mine asteroids 768 00:39:28,325 --> 00:39:30,992 for valuable minerals, including gold. 769 00:39:31,036 --> 00:39:33,703 But why asteroids? 770 00:39:33,747 --> 00:39:36,498 Why not here on earth? 771 00:39:36,541 --> 00:39:41,503 According to studies compiled by the u.S. Geological survey, 772 00:39:41,546 --> 00:39:45,340 there are 57,000 tons of mineable gold on earth 773 00:39:45,384 --> 00:39:47,717 that have not yet been excavated. 774 00:39:47,761 --> 00:39:51,596 But with a global production rate of an estimated 775 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,932 3,300 tons per year, that would mean 776 00:39:53,975 --> 00:39:56,142 that in less than 20 years, 777 00:39:56,186 --> 00:39:59,521 there won't be any gold left on our planet to find. 778 00:39:59,564 --> 00:40:02,440 So, if you want to acquire more gold in the future, 779 00:40:02,484 --> 00:40:05,235 we will have to look for it 780 00:40:05,278 --> 00:40:09,364 among the stars. 781 00:40:09,408 --> 00:40:11,616 Sercel: Precious metals 782 00:40:11,660 --> 00:40:14,035 that we really value on the earth, 783 00:40:14,079 --> 00:40:16,287 things like gold and platinum-- 784 00:40:16,331 --> 00:40:17,914 they're called "precious metals" 785 00:40:17,958 --> 00:40:19,457 because they're not around much. 786 00:40:19,501 --> 00:40:21,209 Question is, where are they? 787 00:40:21,253 --> 00:40:24,462 The answer is: Asteroids. 788 00:40:24,506 --> 00:40:27,924 A lot of the asteroids are still in their pristine form 789 00:40:27,968 --> 00:40:29,801 from how they first formed 790 00:40:29,845 --> 00:40:31,761 at the beginning of the solar system. 791 00:40:33,598 --> 00:40:37,058 You get a typical asteroid, a few hundred meters in diameter, 792 00:40:37,102 --> 00:40:39,185 it will have more of those rare earth elements 793 00:40:39,229 --> 00:40:42,439 than have been mined on earth in all of human history. 794 00:40:42,482 --> 00:40:46,276 The asteroid belt could provide for the needs 795 00:40:46,319 --> 00:40:48,069 of our civilization for many centuries, 796 00:40:48,113 --> 00:40:50,738 maybe thousands of years into the future. 797 00:40:50,782 --> 00:40:55,118 Hart: Explorers are always looking for new gold sources. 798 00:40:55,162 --> 00:40:56,911 And it was a search for gold that ultimately led 799 00:40:56,955 --> 00:40:58,705 to the discovery of america. 800 00:40:58,748 --> 00:41:03,209 Gold has been there for a long time, central to our culture. 801 00:41:03,253 --> 00:41:08,256 Gold has been money since 635 bc. 802 00:41:08,300 --> 00:41:11,718 So, I guess the short answer to the question: 803 00:41:11,761 --> 00:41:13,428 "why do we like gold?" is 804 00:41:13,472 --> 00:41:15,889 because we always have. 805 00:41:20,854 --> 00:41:25,482 Are we actually running out of gold on this planet? 806 00:41:25,525 --> 00:41:27,192 Well, there are some who believe 807 00:41:27,235 --> 00:41:30,195 that one day, perhaps in the not too distant future, 808 00:41:30,238 --> 00:41:32,030 we might have to replace it with something else 809 00:41:32,073 --> 00:41:35,074 like platinum or palladium. 810 00:41:35,118 --> 00:41:37,952 Or maybe, 811 00:41:37,996 --> 00:41:41,789 as mankind continues its exploration of the universe, 812 00:41:41,833 --> 00:41:45,084 we will find vast new sources of gold 813 00:41:45,128 --> 00:41:48,254 on asteroids or neighboring planets, 814 00:41:48,298 --> 00:41:51,925 and we will have a limitless supply of the glittering metal 815 00:41:51,968 --> 00:41:57,138 whose mysterious power over us has so far remained... 816 00:41:57,182 --> 00:41:59,265 Unexplained. 817 00:42:02,604 --> 00:42:06,148 Captioning provided by a+e networks