1 00:00:01,710 --> 00:00:03,253 [Narrator] In the 21st century, a powerful 2 00:00:03,420 --> 00:00:05,130 technology is transforming 3 00:00:05,297 --> 00:00:08,675 our understanding of the ancient world. 4 00:00:08,842 --> 00:00:10,802 [Travis Taylor] Artificial intelligence is 5 00:00:10,969 --> 00:00:12,804 one of the most fascinating technologies 6 00:00:12,971 --> 00:00:14,723 in human history. We're getting knowledge 7 00:00:14,848 --> 00:00:16,683 that we didn't have. 8 00:00:17,809 --> 00:00:20,354 [Narrator] Artificial intelligence is finding 9 00:00:20,521 --> 00:00:24,024 entire civilizations that were completely unknown. 10 00:00:24,233 --> 00:00:25,484 [Giorgio A. Tsoukalos] They identified 11 00:00:25,651 --> 00:00:28,111 60,000 ancient Mayan ruins 12 00:00:28,278 --> 00:00:30,113 that had been lost for centuries. 13 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,159 [Narrator] And it is extracting incredible new information 14 00:00:34,284 --> 00:00:36,161 from the world's earliest writings. 15 00:00:36,286 --> 00:00:37,538 [Jason Martell] It's very possible that 16 00:00:37,746 --> 00:00:39,373 AI will help unlock 17 00:00:39,540 --> 00:00:41,333 new understandings about the gods. 18 00:00:41,500 --> 00:00:45,796 [Narrator] As AI reveals new details about our past, 19 00:00:45,963 --> 00:00:49,967 will it uncover proof that Earth was visited 20 00:00:50,133 --> 00:00:52,302 by extraterrestrials? 21 00:00:52,511 --> 00:00:54,221 [David Childress] Through AI, we're able 22 00:00:54,429 --> 00:00:58,475 to analyze clues and ultimately find out 23 00:00:58,642 --> 00:01:00,559 who we are and where we came from. 24 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:02,604 ♪ ♪ 25 00:01:18,036 --> 00:01:20,038 [Narrator reads on-screen text] 26 00:01:23,792 --> 00:01:26,878 At Dartmouth College, some of the brightest minds 27 00:01:27,045 --> 00:01:29,464 in the emerging field of computer science 28 00:01:29,631 --> 00:01:31,842 hold the first ever workshop 29 00:01:31,967 --> 00:01:35,679 on a new concept called artificial intelligence. 30 00:01:36,805 --> 00:01:40,225 Their goal is to figure out how to create machines 31 00:01:40,392 --> 00:01:44,646 that can think and learn like humans. 32 00:01:44,813 --> 00:01:46,523 [Taylor] The computer scientists at Dartmouth were way ahead 33 00:01:46,690 --> 00:01:49,443 of their time, especially when it comes to 34 00:01:49,568 --> 00:01:52,529 computers replicating human-like thinking. 35 00:01:52,696 --> 00:01:56,033 And if you fast forward just 40 years later, 36 00:01:56,199 --> 00:01:59,828 you see the IBM Deep Blue system 37 00:01:59,995 --> 00:02:04,041 defeating Garry Kasparov, a world chess champion. 38 00:02:04,166 --> 00:02:08,711 After that, you have AI mimicking human behavior, 39 00:02:08,878 --> 00:02:14,217 driving cars, and pretty much in every aspect of our daily lives. 40 00:02:15,260 --> 00:02:17,387 [Michio Kaku] Artificial intelligence is the ability 41 00:02:17,554 --> 00:02:20,307 to use electronics 42 00:02:20,474 --> 00:02:24,394 to begin to simulate the workings of the brain itself. 43 00:02:24,561 --> 00:02:30,275 Some people look at movies like The Terminator and say, 44 00:02:30,442 --> 00:02:33,111 "Oh, my god, we're talking about doomsday. 45 00:02:34,571 --> 00:02:37,324 Other people say we're talking about a golden age 46 00:02:37,491 --> 00:02:41,620 where machines increase our power and our ability 47 00:02:41,828 --> 00:02:44,039 to create prosperity and peace. 48 00:02:44,164 --> 00:02:47,042 [Tsoukalos] AI certainly can be 49 00:02:47,167 --> 00:02:50,128 an incredible tool. However, 50 00:02:50,295 --> 00:02:53,799 at the same time, we need to be very, very careful, 51 00:02:53,924 --> 00:02:56,134 because I cannot tell you how many examples 52 00:02:56,301 --> 00:02:57,844 there are out there right now 53 00:02:58,011 --> 00:03:02,057 where it's been proven AI has made mistakes. 54 00:03:03,141 --> 00:03:05,977 [Narrator] While there is much debate over the benefits 55 00:03:06,186 --> 00:03:08,814 and dangers of artificial intelligence, 56 00:03:08,980 --> 00:03:13,568 the technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, 57 00:03:13,735 --> 00:03:16,071 and is quickly becoming a powerful tool 58 00:03:16,238 --> 00:03:19,199 for historians and archaeologists. 59 00:03:20,283 --> 00:03:22,035 [Tsoukalos] The potential of AI 60 00:03:22,202 --> 00:03:27,999 to help us in archaeology and in anthropology is limitless. 61 00:03:28,125 --> 00:03:31,962 One way how AI can be used, for example, is 62 00:03:32,129 --> 00:03:34,381 a lot of the ancient sites today 63 00:03:34,589 --> 00:03:37,259 are quite literally in ruins, 64 00:03:37,467 --> 00:03:42,889 but AI can help us with reassembling them on a screen. 65 00:03:43,056 --> 00:03:45,016 [Nick Pope] AI can take 66 00:03:45,183 --> 00:03:48,645 a lot of seemingly random data points, 67 00:03:48,812 --> 00:03:51,189 but it can join the dots 68 00:03:51,356 --> 00:03:53,608 in a way that human researchers can't. 69 00:03:53,775 --> 00:03:58,321 It can look at images of archaeological sites 70 00:03:58,447 --> 00:04:00,532 and essentially say, "Well, what are we missing?" 71 00:04:00,699 --> 00:04:04,244 And it may find something which is part 72 00:04:04,411 --> 00:04:06,204 of the original construction. 73 00:04:06,371 --> 00:04:09,666 AI can model unimaginable 74 00:04:09,833 --> 00:04:13,211 number of scenarios in an instant. 75 00:04:13,378 --> 00:04:15,464 AI is having a dramatic impact 76 00:04:15,630 --> 00:04:18,091 in the rediscovery of lost civilizations. 77 00:04:19,216 --> 00:04:22,763 An AI can be used to accelerate our reconstruction 78 00:04:22,929 --> 00:04:25,015 of ancient technologies. 79 00:04:25,182 --> 00:04:27,225 This is tremendously exciting. 80 00:04:29,227 --> 00:04:31,104 [Narrator] As artificial intelligence 81 00:04:31,271 --> 00:04:34,399 uncovers long-hidden secrets in the archaeological record, 82 00:04:34,524 --> 00:04:37,527 ancient astronaut theorists are confident 83 00:04:37,694 --> 00:04:39,946 it will also provide new evidence 84 00:04:40,113 --> 00:04:43,200 of extraterrestrial intervention on Earth. 85 00:04:45,368 --> 00:04:47,537 And they believe one of the best ways 86 00:04:47,746 --> 00:04:50,373 in which this technology is being applied 87 00:04:50,540 --> 00:04:54,795 is in the translation of ancient cuneiform texts. 88 00:04:54,961 --> 00:04:57,714 The oldest were written more than 5,000 years ago 89 00:04:57,881 --> 00:04:59,674 by the Sumerians, who are 90 00:04:59,841 --> 00:05:02,844 the world's first known civilization. 91 00:05:03,887 --> 00:05:06,056 [Amir Hussain] One of the great things that the Sumerians did 92 00:05:06,264 --> 00:05:10,519 was precisely writing with a stylus in clay, 93 00:05:10,644 --> 00:05:13,313 and then firing the clay so it becomes a brick. 94 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:14,898 And over the centuries 95 00:05:15,106 --> 00:05:17,108 that brick becomes, essentially, stone. 96 00:05:17,275 --> 00:05:21,029 And so, archeologists found literally thousands of these. 97 00:05:22,405 --> 00:05:24,658 [Narrator] Attempts to decipher Sumerian cuneiform 98 00:05:24,866 --> 00:05:27,828 began in 1849, 99 00:05:27,994 --> 00:05:31,998 and it took nearly 90 years to fully crack it. 100 00:05:32,999 --> 00:05:35,418 When they did, researchers discovered 101 00:05:35,627 --> 00:05:37,295 detailed business ledgers, 102 00:05:37,462 --> 00:05:39,339 official government correspondence 103 00:05:39,548 --> 00:05:41,258 and medical texts. 104 00:05:41,466 --> 00:05:45,095 But it is the stories found in the cuneiform tablets 105 00:05:45,262 --> 00:05:48,598 of powerful beings called the Anunnaki 106 00:05:48,765 --> 00:05:52,602 that is of particular interest to ancient astronaut theorists. 107 00:05:53,895 --> 00:05:56,857 [Hugh Newman] The Anunnaki are the founder gods 108 00:05:57,023 --> 00:05:59,192 of the Sumerian civilization. 109 00:05:59,359 --> 00:06:01,194 And they were masters 110 00:06:01,361 --> 00:06:05,574 of the arts and sciences bringing civilizing qualities 111 00:06:05,740 --> 00:06:07,325 to this part of the world. 112 00:06:07,492 --> 00:06:10,954 [Childress] According to the Sumerian texts, the Anunnaki 113 00:06:11,121 --> 00:06:14,457 would come in rockets to Earth. 114 00:06:14,666 --> 00:06:18,295 And they helped create Sumerian culture. 115 00:06:18,461 --> 00:06:20,547 These texts are describing 116 00:06:20,714 --> 00:06:24,259 what would only seem to be extraterrestrials. 117 00:06:25,343 --> 00:06:27,429 [Narrator] To date, only ten percent 118 00:06:27,596 --> 00:06:30,098 of the over half a million cuneiform tablets found 119 00:06:30,307 --> 00:06:31,892 have been translated, 120 00:06:32,058 --> 00:06:35,478 leading ancient astronaut theorists to speculate 121 00:06:35,645 --> 00:06:38,106 that more information about the Anunnaki 122 00:06:38,273 --> 00:06:40,483 is yet to be discovered. 123 00:06:40,650 --> 00:06:42,193 [Collins] There are only about 124 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,571 100 people who can 125 00:06:44,738 --> 00:06:48,283 translate cuneiform anywhere in the world. 126 00:06:48,450 --> 00:06:50,660 So, who knows 127 00:06:50,869 --> 00:06:55,081 what these untranslated tablets might contain? 128 00:06:56,666 --> 00:06:59,502 [Narrator] Now, thanks to artificial intelligence, 129 00:06:59,669 --> 00:07:03,840 translation of these texts is being greatly accelerated. 130 00:07:06,426 --> 00:07:08,428 [Narrator reads on-screen text] 131 00:07:11,181 --> 00:07:14,476 At Ariel University, Professor of Assyriology 132 00:07:14,643 --> 00:07:17,687 and Digital Humanities Dr. Shai Gordin 133 00:07:17,854 --> 00:07:22,192 has created a new AI-powered translation software 134 00:07:22,359 --> 00:07:24,527 to study Sumerian cuneiform. 135 00:07:24,694 --> 00:07:26,196 [Shai Gordin] With the advent 136 00:07:26,363 --> 00:07:30,533 of the recording of cuneiform artifacts digitally, 137 00:07:30,700 --> 00:07:33,078 that brought about a revolution 138 00:07:33,244 --> 00:07:35,413 in our accessibility to these artifacts. 139 00:07:36,498 --> 00:07:39,834 An AI can be trained to identify 140 00:07:40,001 --> 00:07:43,880 the shapes of certain signs or certain letters. 141 00:07:44,047 --> 00:07:45,715 And with 142 00:07:45,882 --> 00:07:48,551 the accumulation of these digitization of tablets, 143 00:07:48,718 --> 00:07:52,180 it became relatively easy to do. 144 00:07:52,389 --> 00:07:55,642 [Narrator] The AI program has not only learned 145 00:07:55,767 --> 00:07:58,269 how to read and translate cuneiform, 146 00:07:58,436 --> 00:08:01,898 it can also reassemble texts from broken tablets. 147 00:08:02,065 --> 00:08:05,276 [Gordin] Now that everything is digitized, 148 00:08:05,443 --> 00:08:07,362 artificial intelligence completed lines 149 00:08:07,487 --> 00:08:10,281 of ancient literature that hasn't been read 150 00:08:10,448 --> 00:08:11,741 for thousands of years. 151 00:08:11,950 --> 00:08:13,660 Which is, uh, incredible. 152 00:08:14,786 --> 00:08:17,539 [Henry] Using AI to read and translate cuneiform texts 153 00:08:17,747 --> 00:08:19,624 is still in its infancy, 154 00:08:19,791 --> 00:08:22,210 but already, it has discovered 20 new lines 155 00:08:22,377 --> 00:08:23,670 in The Epic of Gilgamesh, 156 00:08:23,837 --> 00:08:25,588 which is the oldest story ever written. 157 00:08:26,631 --> 00:08:29,300 [Narrator] Researchers at the University of Chicago 158 00:08:29,509 --> 00:08:32,345 are also using artificial intelligence 159 00:08:32,511 --> 00:08:36,390 to interpret the college's collection of cuneiform tablets. 160 00:08:36,558 --> 00:08:40,477 The AI program known as DeepScribe is being trained 161 00:08:40,602 --> 00:08:43,063 to decode yet-to-be translated texts 162 00:08:43,231 --> 00:08:46,609 embedded in thousands of ancient government records. 163 00:08:46,776 --> 00:08:50,280 The technology will also have the capability 164 00:08:50,405 --> 00:08:52,741 of finding missing details in tablets 165 00:08:52,949 --> 00:08:55,160 that have already been deciphered. 166 00:08:55,326 --> 00:08:59,080 [Henry] AI is able to look at intricate markings 167 00:08:59,247 --> 00:09:01,458 on the tablets and determine 168 00:09:01,666 --> 00:09:04,002 lost words or lost phrases 169 00:09:04,169 --> 00:09:06,379 that are embedded within these tablets that were 170 00:09:06,588 --> 00:09:09,883 previously invisible to humans. 171 00:09:10,008 --> 00:09:11,968 [Collins] The idea that we now have 172 00:09:12,135 --> 00:09:15,180 an AI model-- in fact, several-- 173 00:09:15,388 --> 00:09:18,308 that can now translate cuneiform 174 00:09:18,475 --> 00:09:20,852 is gonna make full translations 175 00:09:21,019 --> 00:09:24,773 of these texts an awful lot easier. 176 00:09:24,939 --> 00:09:28,401 And who knows what these tablets might contain? 177 00:09:28,526 --> 00:09:31,738 They could contain creation myths, 178 00:09:31,946 --> 00:09:35,533 cosmological ideas, perhaps even a memory 179 00:09:35,700 --> 00:09:41,039 of the ancient sites like Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe. 180 00:09:41,164 --> 00:09:43,625 It's very possible that AI will help unlock 181 00:09:43,792 --> 00:09:45,960 a whole new lexicon of knowledge, 182 00:09:46,086 --> 00:09:47,837 possibly new data sets, 183 00:09:48,004 --> 00:09:49,881 new understandings about the gods 184 00:09:50,006 --> 00:09:51,591 that are just waiting to be discovered. 185 00:09:51,758 --> 00:09:53,676 There are literally thousands of tablets 186 00:09:53,843 --> 00:09:56,429 that we still have not translated, 187 00:09:56,596 --> 00:09:58,348 and there's probably a wealth of information 188 00:09:58,515 --> 00:10:01,476 that we can tap into utilizing this type of medium. 189 00:10:01,643 --> 00:10:04,229 [Narrator] As artificial intelligence 190 00:10:04,395 --> 00:10:08,441 becomes an essential tool for investigating the ancient world, 191 00:10:08,608 --> 00:10:10,777 could it reveal new details 192 00:10:10,985 --> 00:10:12,529 that fundamentally change 193 00:10:12,695 --> 00:10:15,365 our understanding of human history? 194 00:10:15,532 --> 00:10:18,618 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, 195 00:10:18,827 --> 00:10:21,746 and suggest further evidence can be found 196 00:10:21,913 --> 00:10:24,874 by examining how AI is helping 197 00:10:25,041 --> 00:10:27,919 to uncover civilizations that had been lost 198 00:10:28,044 --> 00:10:30,004 for centuries. 199 00:10:34,926 --> 00:10:37,428 [Narrator] Dotting the jungles of Central America 200 00:10:37,595 --> 00:10:39,556 stand the ruins of the Maya, 201 00:10:39,722 --> 00:10:43,601 considered by many to be one of the greatest civilizations 202 00:10:43,768 --> 00:10:45,812 in the history of the Americas. 203 00:10:45,979 --> 00:10:48,523 These skilled craftsmen 204 00:10:48,648 --> 00:10:51,276 created sophisticated cities and temples, 205 00:10:51,442 --> 00:10:53,820 including Tikal, 206 00:10:54,028 --> 00:10:55,905 Palenque, 207 00:10:56,072 --> 00:10:58,116 Chichen Itza, 208 00:10:58,283 --> 00:11:00,118 Uxmal, 209 00:11:00,243 --> 00:11:02,704 and Copán. 210 00:11:02,871 --> 00:11:05,165 The Maya really stand out among 211 00:11:05,331 --> 00:11:07,667 ancient civilizations, in terms of their 212 00:11:07,834 --> 00:11:09,836 achievements. They created 213 00:11:10,003 --> 00:11:13,381 the only writing system we know in all of the Americas. 214 00:11:13,590 --> 00:11:18,303 And they became masters of mathematics and astronomy. 215 00:11:19,804 --> 00:11:21,681 [Narrator] Archeologists have determined 216 00:11:21,806 --> 00:11:24,100 that the most well-known Mayan ruins 217 00:11:24,309 --> 00:11:28,354 were created between 250 and 900 AD. 218 00:11:28,521 --> 00:11:31,024 Scholars have long considered this era, 219 00:11:31,191 --> 00:11:33,109 known as the Classic Period, 220 00:11:33,276 --> 00:11:36,946 to be the height of Maya civilization. 221 00:11:37,113 --> 00:11:38,489 [Barnhart] For decades, 222 00:11:38,656 --> 00:11:41,576 there was a understanding or thinking 223 00:11:41,743 --> 00:11:43,453 that the Classic Period was really 224 00:11:43,620 --> 00:11:45,413 where they started building cities. 225 00:11:45,580 --> 00:11:47,540 And that, before that, they had 226 00:11:47,749 --> 00:11:50,126 more humble, village style living. 227 00:11:50,293 --> 00:11:52,879 But very recently, we have 228 00:11:53,004 --> 00:11:56,925 AI finding earlier than we knew structures, 229 00:11:57,091 --> 00:12:00,094 and it's given us a better understanding 230 00:12:00,261 --> 00:12:02,347 of the Maya world. 231 00:12:04,933 --> 00:12:06,935 [Narrator reads on-screen text] 232 00:12:09,062 --> 00:12:12,398 For over two decades, archaeologists have been 233 00:12:12,523 --> 00:12:15,777 performing surveys of the vast Mirador Basin, 234 00:12:15,985 --> 00:12:19,322 examining more than 1.6 million acres 235 00:12:19,489 --> 00:12:22,492 of dense jungle using lidar technology. 236 00:12:22,659 --> 00:12:23,910 [Michio Kaku] Lidar 237 00:12:24,077 --> 00:12:26,371 is the use of lasers 238 00:12:26,537 --> 00:12:29,040 in order to penetrate through the jungle 239 00:12:29,165 --> 00:12:32,335 to see what is lurking beneath all of that. 240 00:12:32,502 --> 00:12:35,171 And that has opened up a whole new gateway. 241 00:12:35,338 --> 00:12:38,216 Instead of going into the jungle, 242 00:12:38,424 --> 00:12:41,427 you can now do it with airplanes 243 00:12:41,594 --> 00:12:45,807 and use laser technology to peer beneath the jungle 244 00:12:45,974 --> 00:12:49,602 to see what happened hundreds of years ago. 245 00:12:49,769 --> 00:12:53,982 [Narrator] The lidar scans have produced thousands of images 246 00:12:54,190 --> 00:12:56,067 and more data than archeologists 247 00:12:56,234 --> 00:12:58,778 could ever hope to sift through on their own. 248 00:12:58,987 --> 00:13:00,989 So, to process the material, 249 00:13:01,155 --> 00:13:03,908 many have turned to artificial intelligence. 250 00:13:05,368 --> 00:13:09,122 AI models can take large data sets of lidar, 251 00:13:09,247 --> 00:13:13,126 and through pattern recognition and seeking 252 00:13:13,293 --> 00:13:15,169 straight lines and circles, 253 00:13:15,336 --> 00:13:17,922 it's revealed undetected structures 254 00:13:18,089 --> 00:13:20,800 that were previously invisible to humans. 255 00:13:21,801 --> 00:13:23,511 With the use of artificial intelligence 256 00:13:23,678 --> 00:13:25,346 analyzing lidar images, 257 00:13:25,513 --> 00:13:27,223 archaeologists have identified 258 00:13:27,390 --> 00:13:30,268 60,000 ancient Mayan ruins 259 00:13:30,435 --> 00:13:32,437 hidden beneath a jungle canopy 260 00:13:32,562 --> 00:13:34,564 that had been lost for centuries. 261 00:13:36,607 --> 00:13:38,568 [Barnhart] I've been a mapper in the Maya area 262 00:13:38,735 --> 00:13:41,612 for decades now, and lidar, 263 00:13:41,779 --> 00:13:45,324 combined with the processing speed of AI, 264 00:13:45,491 --> 00:13:46,909 has changed things. 265 00:13:47,952 --> 00:13:49,996 I've mapped about 4,000 buildings, 266 00:13:50,163 --> 00:13:52,248 but what I've done for a whole lifetime 267 00:13:52,415 --> 00:13:57,295 was quadrupled by AI and lidar in a single year, 268 00:13:57,462 --> 00:13:59,672 and that was just in one area. 269 00:14:02,592 --> 00:14:04,802 [Narrator] Not only were archeologists amazed 270 00:14:04,927 --> 00:14:08,389 by the number of settlements the AI program identified, 271 00:14:08,556 --> 00:14:11,893 they were astonished by their apparent age. 272 00:14:12,060 --> 00:14:15,104 It's thought that the newly discovered Mayan structures 273 00:14:15,271 --> 00:14:18,191 were created in the tenth century BC-- 274 00:14:18,357 --> 00:14:20,443 predating other Mayan structures 275 00:14:20,610 --> 00:14:23,029 by more than 1,000 years. 276 00:14:23,196 --> 00:14:24,697 [Newman] A huge population 277 00:14:24,906 --> 00:14:27,366 must have once existed there, and this was never known 278 00:14:27,533 --> 00:14:31,329 before this technology was used to uncover this information. 279 00:14:32,663 --> 00:14:35,249 [Childress] Archeologists realized that this area 280 00:14:35,416 --> 00:14:38,461 was at one time densely populated, 281 00:14:38,669 --> 00:14:42,256 and they built huge pyramid cities. 282 00:14:42,423 --> 00:14:44,342 There were hundreds of thousands, 283 00:14:44,550 --> 00:14:47,053 if not even millions of people living there. 284 00:14:48,888 --> 00:14:50,848 [Narrator] For ancient astronaut theorists, 285 00:14:51,015 --> 00:14:53,476 these 3,000-year-old ruins 286 00:14:53,643 --> 00:14:55,645 are particularly intriguing because the Maya 287 00:14:55,812 --> 00:14:57,480 wrote about an earlier age 288 00:14:57,605 --> 00:14:59,899 that predated the Classic Maya structures 289 00:15:00,108 --> 00:15:02,693 archaeologists were familiar with. 290 00:15:02,860 --> 00:15:04,904 [Collins] The Maya themselves say that 291 00:15:05,071 --> 00:15:07,615 the founders of the Mayan civilization 292 00:15:07,782 --> 00:15:10,118 were, in fact, star beings 293 00:15:10,284 --> 00:15:12,495 that had come down in the distant past 294 00:15:12,703 --> 00:15:15,039 that had given the Maya 295 00:15:15,164 --> 00:15:16,415 the knowledge and wisdom 296 00:15:16,624 --> 00:15:19,043 to create the foundations 297 00:15:19,168 --> 00:15:20,753 of their civilization. 298 00:15:22,630 --> 00:15:24,549 [Narrator] Could it be that 299 00:15:24,715 --> 00:15:26,676 what artificial intelligence has uncovered 300 00:15:26,843 --> 00:15:28,886 in Guatemala's Mirador Basin 301 00:15:29,053 --> 00:15:31,722 are ruins from a time when the Maya 302 00:15:31,848 --> 00:15:34,725 were visited by otherworldly beings? 303 00:15:35,810 --> 00:15:39,313 Curiously, many of these ruins are even more sophisticated 304 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,858 than later Mayan structures, 305 00:15:42,024 --> 00:15:44,819 including roads that were on par 306 00:15:45,027 --> 00:15:47,613 with those built by the Romans. 307 00:15:47,780 --> 00:15:49,615 [Collins] The lidar surveys 308 00:15:49,782 --> 00:15:52,743 have revealed literally hundreds 309 00:15:52,910 --> 00:15:57,123 of what are being referred to by the archeologists 310 00:15:57,290 --> 00:15:59,750 as superhighways linking together 311 00:15:59,917 --> 00:16:01,335 the different Mayan cities. 312 00:16:01,502 --> 00:16:04,922 And these are raised causeways 313 00:16:05,089 --> 00:16:08,467 that come up several feet beyond 314 00:16:08,634 --> 00:16:12,180 the actual level of the jungle themself. 315 00:16:12,346 --> 00:16:14,098 [Narrator] Similar elevated causeways 316 00:16:14,307 --> 00:16:17,393 were built by the Maya throughout the Classical era, 317 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,813 some of which were as wide as a four-lane highway. 318 00:16:20,980 --> 00:16:24,442 Archeologists believe that while these roads 319 00:16:24,567 --> 00:16:26,527 were used for transportation, 320 00:16:26,694 --> 00:16:30,239 they served a more profound purpose. 321 00:16:30,406 --> 00:16:33,534 [Cheetham] You don't need an elevated highway or causeway 322 00:16:33,701 --> 00:16:36,579 to simply walk from A to B. 323 00:16:36,787 --> 00:16:40,875 Why would the Maya build these highways, 324 00:16:41,042 --> 00:16:44,212 especially in the absence of any beasts of burden 325 00:16:44,378 --> 00:16:46,839 or evidence of the use of wheels for carts 326 00:16:46,964 --> 00:16:48,257 or anything of that nature? 327 00:16:48,466 --> 00:16:51,427 And the answer to that question is that 328 00:16:51,594 --> 00:16:53,763 the thing at the end of the causeway 329 00:16:53,888 --> 00:16:57,808 would often house the rulers or very high nobles 330 00:16:57,975 --> 00:17:01,437 and/or buildings that warranted procession. 331 00:17:01,604 --> 00:17:05,733 These are ritual causeways that would be used 332 00:17:05,900 --> 00:17:07,652 in a pilgrimage sense. 333 00:17:10,780 --> 00:17:12,865 [Narrator] For ancient astronaut theorists, 334 00:17:13,031 --> 00:17:15,242 it's highly intriguing that the Maya 335 00:17:15,367 --> 00:17:18,119 built vast roadways for ritual purposes 336 00:17:18,246 --> 00:17:21,874 because their mythology prominently features a road 337 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,627 that leads to the stars. 338 00:17:24,794 --> 00:17:27,003 There are stories of the Maya that say that 339 00:17:27,171 --> 00:17:30,716 the road of the stars descended from the sky 340 00:17:30,883 --> 00:17:34,595 and 13 gods descended from the heavens to earth 341 00:17:34,762 --> 00:17:36,556 and walked with our ancestors. 342 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,851 [Narrator] If the Mayan roads have an otherworldly connection, 343 00:17:41,018 --> 00:17:43,729 as ancient astronaut theorists suggest, 344 00:17:43,896 --> 00:17:46,065 is it possible that further evidence 345 00:17:46,232 --> 00:17:50,403 is hidden in the jungle, just waiting to be discovered? 346 00:17:50,570 --> 00:17:54,615 For ancient astronaut theory, AI is an incredible 347 00:17:54,782 --> 00:17:58,327 tool, because we've been saying all along, 348 00:17:58,494 --> 00:18:01,080 there's got to be more evidence out there. 349 00:18:01,205 --> 00:18:03,416 And it seems that AI 350 00:18:03,583 --> 00:18:05,334 is confirming much of what 351 00:18:05,501 --> 00:18:08,254 ancient astronaut theory is suggesting. 352 00:18:08,421 --> 00:18:11,173 [Narrator] Might the use of AI in Guatemala 353 00:18:11,340 --> 00:18:13,509 reveal that ancient stories of humans 354 00:18:13,676 --> 00:18:17,221 living alongside gods are not fantasy 355 00:18:17,430 --> 00:18:20,516 but instead are accounts of real history? 356 00:18:20,683 --> 00:18:23,978 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, 357 00:18:24,186 --> 00:18:28,482 and they suggest further clues can be found in Turkey 358 00:18:28,608 --> 00:18:31,611 at one of the oldest archeological sites 359 00:18:31,777 --> 00:18:33,904 ever discovered. 360 00:18:37,533 --> 00:18:39,535 [Narrator reads on-screen text] 361 00:18:40,453 --> 00:18:43,122 Spread across the arid Nazca Plateau 362 00:18:43,247 --> 00:18:47,001 are the famous geoglyphs known as the Nazca Lines. 363 00:18:47,126 --> 00:18:51,172 They are a collection of more than 400 giant patterns 364 00:18:51,339 --> 00:18:53,049 carved into the earth. 365 00:18:54,717 --> 00:18:56,344 [Barnhart] Some of them are simple lines, 366 00:18:56,510 --> 00:18:58,929 as the name implies. Some of them are much more complex. 367 00:18:59,096 --> 00:19:00,765 They're animal forms, human forms. 368 00:19:01,932 --> 00:19:03,351 They were originally discovered 369 00:19:03,517 --> 00:19:06,771 by a few archaeologists in the 1920s. 370 00:19:06,937 --> 00:19:11,692 But it was really in the 1930s, when commercial flights started, 371 00:19:11,859 --> 00:19:16,113 that people noticed just how many lines there were. 372 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,574 They're of great interest to ancient astronaut theory 373 00:19:18,741 --> 00:19:21,827 because they can only be seen from the sky. 374 00:19:21,994 --> 00:19:25,915 The Nazca lines are thought of as beacons to the gods. 375 00:19:26,082 --> 00:19:28,209 It's a signaling systems that humans are using 376 00:19:28,376 --> 00:19:30,503 to communicate with the gods. 377 00:19:33,130 --> 00:19:35,675 [Narrator] While archeologists believe these geoglyphs 378 00:19:35,841 --> 00:19:39,679 were created between 200 to 700 AD, 379 00:19:39,804 --> 00:19:43,391 the dating is uncertain, and no written records 380 00:19:43,557 --> 00:19:48,270 exist to explain when or why the Nazca Lines were made. 381 00:19:48,437 --> 00:19:53,192 But in 2024, new clues emerged 382 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:55,528 when a team of Japanese archeologists 383 00:19:55,695 --> 00:19:58,656 announced the discovery of more than 300 384 00:19:58,864 --> 00:20:02,576 previously unknown Nazca lines. 385 00:20:02,743 --> 00:20:04,829 [Barnhart] A Japanese researcher 386 00:20:04,995 --> 00:20:09,083 named Masato Sakai used 387 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:12,962 lidar imagery in combination with AI 388 00:20:13,129 --> 00:20:16,549 to really accelerate the process of discovery. 389 00:20:17,633 --> 00:20:22,763 In just a year's time, he found 303 figures, 390 00:20:22,888 --> 00:20:25,641 which almost doubled what we had found 391 00:20:25,766 --> 00:20:27,727 in the first century before that. 392 00:20:27,893 --> 00:20:29,145 [Tsoukalos] With the help 393 00:20:29,311 --> 00:20:32,398 of AI, these new lines and figurines 394 00:20:32,565 --> 00:20:35,317 were discovered that, before, essentially, 395 00:20:35,484 --> 00:20:38,112 were invisible to the naked eye. 396 00:20:38,279 --> 00:20:39,989 [Henry] Some of the glyphs 397 00:20:40,156 --> 00:20:43,075 are quite intricate and very surprising, including 398 00:20:43,242 --> 00:20:44,744 a 72-foot-long orca 399 00:20:44,910 --> 00:20:46,579 that is portrayed in profile 400 00:20:46,787 --> 00:20:49,749 holding some kind of a weapon in its hand. 401 00:20:50,833 --> 00:20:52,835 [Narrator] The Japanese research team 402 00:20:53,002 --> 00:20:54,920 believes the newly discovered geoglyphs 403 00:20:55,045 --> 00:20:58,591 were created around 200 BC, 404 00:20:58,758 --> 00:21:00,468 which would push back the dating 405 00:21:00,634 --> 00:21:02,720 for when the first Nazca Lines were made 406 00:21:02,845 --> 00:21:05,139 by at least 400 years. 407 00:21:06,140 --> 00:21:10,394 Who knows what more is waiting to be discovered 408 00:21:10,561 --> 00:21:13,481 as AI is increasingly brought to bear. 409 00:21:14,523 --> 00:21:17,359 Maybe there's knowledge encoded 410 00:21:17,485 --> 00:21:20,404 in some of these new patterns and lines 411 00:21:20,571 --> 00:21:23,199 that was not apparent from 412 00:21:23,324 --> 00:21:25,910 our looking at what we previously knew. 413 00:21:29,079 --> 00:21:31,874 [Narrator] While researchers have just begun examining 414 00:21:32,041 --> 00:21:35,544 the newly-discovered geoglyphs in hopes of finding clues 415 00:21:35,711 --> 00:21:38,047 as to the purpose of the Nazca Lines, 416 00:21:38,214 --> 00:21:40,549 at another iconic site, 417 00:21:40,716 --> 00:21:45,596 AI may have already discovered a coded message. 418 00:21:47,139 --> 00:21:49,058 [Narrator reads on-screen text] 419 00:21:49,350 --> 00:21:52,436 Here stands one of the most important 420 00:21:52,603 --> 00:21:56,774 archaeological sites in the world: Göbekli Tepe. 421 00:21:56,941 --> 00:22:01,445 When excavations began in 1995, 422 00:22:01,612 --> 00:22:03,656 archaeologists were amazed to unearth 423 00:22:03,864 --> 00:22:06,200 dozens of giant stone monoliths, 424 00:22:06,325 --> 00:22:08,994 some weighing as much as 20 tons 425 00:22:09,161 --> 00:22:12,748 and many displaying intricate stone carvings. 426 00:22:12,915 --> 00:22:16,210 Intrigued by the sophistication of the carvings, 427 00:22:16,377 --> 00:22:18,963 archeologists had sediment layers of the site 428 00:22:19,129 --> 00:22:23,592 radiocarbon dated, and the results were astonishing. 429 00:22:23,759 --> 00:22:27,179 They indicated that Göbekli Tepe was created 430 00:22:27,388 --> 00:22:30,266 around 9,500 BC, 431 00:22:30,432 --> 00:22:33,394 predating the earliest known civilizations 432 00:22:33,561 --> 00:22:36,230 by more than 5,000 years. 433 00:22:36,397 --> 00:22:41,443 As the different enclosures gradually were revealed, 434 00:22:41,610 --> 00:22:47,074 some extraordinary pillars were uncovered. 435 00:22:47,241 --> 00:22:52,705 And the most enigmatic of these was Pillar 43, 436 00:22:52,872 --> 00:22:56,667 otherwise known as the Vulture Stone. 437 00:22:56,834 --> 00:22:59,295 Because one of its central features 438 00:22:59,461 --> 00:23:02,131 is this open-winged vulture. 439 00:23:02,298 --> 00:23:05,676 Beneath that is a scorpion. 440 00:23:05,843 --> 00:23:07,761 And it's quite clear 441 00:23:07,887 --> 00:23:10,806 that it's cosmological in nature. 442 00:23:10,973 --> 00:23:14,184 [Narrator] Remarkably, a recent study of the site 443 00:23:14,351 --> 00:23:18,522 has pushed its origins even deeper into antiquity. 444 00:23:18,647 --> 00:23:23,152 In 2024, Dr. Martin Sweatman, 445 00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:26,071 a professor at the University of Edinburgh, 446 00:23:26,238 --> 00:23:30,951 led an unprecedented investigation of Pillar 43. 447 00:23:31,118 --> 00:23:34,163 [Newman] Martin Sweatman and his colleagues 448 00:23:34,330 --> 00:23:38,584 used statistical analysis, AI-type technology 449 00:23:38,751 --> 00:23:41,337 to see if there were any constellations 450 00:23:41,545 --> 00:23:43,464 encoded within this particular pillar. 451 00:23:43,631 --> 00:23:46,634 And they eventually found several matches 452 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:48,469 that kind of made sense. 453 00:23:48,636 --> 00:23:50,721 They also then tried to put a date stamp on it-- 454 00:23:50,846 --> 00:23:53,432 of when these particular constellations, 455 00:23:53,599 --> 00:23:56,769 along with this circle, which would be the sun-- 456 00:23:56,936 --> 00:23:58,604 when that would have happened. 457 00:23:58,771 --> 00:24:00,147 [Henry] They discovered 458 00:24:00,314 --> 00:24:02,650 that the positioning of those symbols-- 459 00:24:02,816 --> 00:24:04,109 of the vulture, the scorpion and 460 00:24:04,276 --> 00:24:05,527 the bird-headed figure-- 461 00:24:05,694 --> 00:24:07,821 matched three constellations. 462 00:24:08,030 --> 00:24:13,035 It matched Scorpius, Sagittarius and Ophiuchus 463 00:24:13,202 --> 00:24:14,620 at a specific time-- 464 00:24:14,828 --> 00:24:18,207 10,500 BC, approximately. 465 00:24:18,374 --> 00:24:20,668 More than a thousand years 466 00:24:20,834 --> 00:24:22,670 older than previously thought. 467 00:24:23,837 --> 00:24:25,506 [Narrator] For ancient astronaut theorists, 468 00:24:25,673 --> 00:24:27,841 the possibility that Göbekli Tepe 469 00:24:27,967 --> 00:24:33,389 could date to 10,500 BC is tremendously exciting, 470 00:24:33,555 --> 00:24:36,558 because it lines up with an era 471 00:24:36,684 --> 00:24:40,562 described in Egyptian mythology as Zep Tepi. 472 00:24:40,688 --> 00:24:42,022 [Tsoukalos] Ancient Egyptian texts 473 00:24:42,231 --> 00:24:45,693 have documented there was a time called Zep Tepi, 474 00:24:45,859 --> 00:24:48,821 which was about 10,500 BC. 475 00:24:49,029 --> 00:24:52,282 And that was a time when the so-called gods-- 476 00:24:52,408 --> 00:24:57,246 lowercase G-- walked amongst human beings. 477 00:24:57,413 --> 00:24:59,498 [Henry] We're told that these star beings 478 00:24:59,707 --> 00:25:01,250 brought knowledge with them-- 479 00:25:01,417 --> 00:25:04,211 astronomy, agriculture, civilization-- 480 00:25:04,378 --> 00:25:06,046 and then they leave. 481 00:25:06,213 --> 00:25:09,967 AI potentially has the ability to reveal 482 00:25:10,134 --> 00:25:13,762 a connection among whoever created Pillar 43 483 00:25:13,887 --> 00:25:17,016 at Göbekli Tepe in ancient Egypt. 484 00:25:19,601 --> 00:25:22,396 [Narrator] Could artificial intelligence finally provide 485 00:25:22,563 --> 00:25:25,274 evidence to support what ancient astronaut theorists 486 00:25:25,441 --> 00:25:27,609 have been saying all along-- 487 00:25:27,776 --> 00:25:31,113 that ruins around the globe hold proof 488 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,659 of extraterrestrial contact thousands of years ago? 489 00:25:35,868 --> 00:25:39,163 Perhaps even more compelling clues came to light 490 00:25:39,288 --> 00:25:42,624 when AI analyzed some of the most important 491 00:25:42,791 --> 00:25:44,877 documents ever discovered: 492 00:25:45,044 --> 00:25:47,296 the Dead Sea Scrolls. 493 00:25:51,508 --> 00:25:53,510 [Narrator reads on-screen text] 494 00:25:54,762 --> 00:25:57,181 At the University of Groningen, 495 00:25:57,389 --> 00:26:01,310 Professor Mladen Popovic has developed an AI program 496 00:26:01,477 --> 00:26:04,521 for a highly specialized purpose. 497 00:26:04,688 --> 00:26:06,815 As an expert in ancient Judaism, 498 00:26:06,982 --> 00:26:09,651 he wants to incorporate artificial intelligence 499 00:26:09,818 --> 00:26:12,488 in his study of the Dead Sea Scrolls 500 00:26:12,654 --> 00:26:15,866 and the technology is already beginning to extract 501 00:26:16,033 --> 00:26:18,869 incredible new information from what many consider 502 00:26:19,036 --> 00:26:23,082 the world's most important ancient religious documents. 503 00:26:24,541 --> 00:26:26,001 [Popovic] The Dead Sea Scrolls are so famous 504 00:26:26,168 --> 00:26:27,920 because they are the most 505 00:26:28,045 --> 00:26:29,379 ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, 506 00:26:29,588 --> 00:26:30,839 of the Old Testament. 507 00:26:30,964 --> 00:26:32,716 And many manuscripts, 508 00:26:32,883 --> 00:26:34,760 we had no idea that they existed. 509 00:26:34,927 --> 00:26:38,347 [Hussain] They were found in the caves in Qumran, 510 00:26:38,514 --> 00:26:39,848 which is near the Dead Sea. That's where 511 00:26:40,015 --> 00:26:41,809 the Dead Sea Scrolls get their name. 512 00:26:41,975 --> 00:26:45,145 From 1946 to 1956, they find 513 00:26:45,312 --> 00:26:48,607 between, like, eight, 900 of these scrolls. 514 00:26:48,774 --> 00:26:50,609 Some of them are books that didn't 515 00:26:50,776 --> 00:26:53,320 make it into the Bible, like the Book of Enoch. 516 00:26:55,823 --> 00:26:58,283 [Narrator] More than 11 copies of the Book of Enoch 517 00:26:58,450 --> 00:27:01,036 were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. 518 00:27:01,203 --> 00:27:04,414 And the text inspired Dr. Popovic 519 00:27:04,581 --> 00:27:07,876 to name his new program after the biblical patriarch. 520 00:27:08,961 --> 00:27:11,171 [Popovic] Enoch is such a fascinating figure 521 00:27:11,338 --> 00:27:14,967 in the Old Testament and the Book of Enoch. 522 00:27:15,134 --> 00:27:17,636 There was this archangel, Uriel, 523 00:27:17,803 --> 00:27:20,639 and he showed Enoch how the cosmos works. 524 00:27:20,764 --> 00:27:24,560 This Enoch figure is a sort of an ancient Jewish science hero, 525 00:27:24,685 --> 00:27:27,145 and I thought it was very fitting to call it Enoch. 526 00:27:28,188 --> 00:27:30,524 [Narrator] The Book of Enoch is a text often cited 527 00:27:30,691 --> 00:27:33,652 as evidence for the ancient astronaut theory, 528 00:27:33,819 --> 00:27:37,531 because it contains incredible tales of flying chariots, 529 00:27:37,698 --> 00:27:40,367 a race of giants, 530 00:27:40,534 --> 00:27:44,538 and even otherworldly beings coming to Earth. 531 00:27:44,705 --> 00:27:46,081 [Henry] The Book of Enoch tells of 532 00:27:46,206 --> 00:27:49,209 the arrival of the Watchers, how they descend 533 00:27:49,376 --> 00:27:52,254 down Mount Hermon, how they create this hybrid 534 00:27:52,421 --> 00:27:54,214 hybrid offspring, the Nephilim, 535 00:27:54,381 --> 00:27:57,134 and how the watcher angels then begin to teach humanity 536 00:27:57,301 --> 00:28:01,638 the use of astrology, weapons, metallurgy. 537 00:28:01,763 --> 00:28:04,016 In ancient astronaut theory, we understand that 538 00:28:04,182 --> 00:28:07,394 Enoch is describing something that actually happened. 539 00:28:08,645 --> 00:28:10,772 [Collins] When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, 540 00:28:10,939 --> 00:28:13,025 the texts looked like 541 00:28:13,191 --> 00:28:17,362 they came from the time of Christ, suggesting 542 00:28:17,487 --> 00:28:20,490 that they were written down at that time. 543 00:28:21,533 --> 00:28:24,202 However, the more the scholars looked into them, 544 00:28:24,328 --> 00:28:28,248 the more they realized that they were more ancient. 545 00:28:28,415 --> 00:28:30,000 [Popovic] It's a fascinating question-- 546 00:28:30,125 --> 00:28:32,419 who wrote these manuscripts, 547 00:28:32,628 --> 00:28:34,713 these scrolls, and who put them in the caves? 548 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,507 And the traditional interpretation is that 549 00:28:37,674 --> 00:28:39,968 it was this ancient group called the Essenes. 550 00:28:40,135 --> 00:28:43,597 But their name does not appear in the Dead Sea Scrolls itself. 551 00:28:43,722 --> 00:28:46,058 It might have been the Essenes, 552 00:28:46,266 --> 00:28:47,726 but we're not sure about that. 553 00:28:47,893 --> 00:28:50,020 [Henry] Traditional scholarship says, 554 00:28:50,228 --> 00:28:52,773 "Oh, you know, these texts, these are kind of fantasy. 555 00:28:52,940 --> 00:28:55,984 "These are later interpolations or embellishments 556 00:28:56,151 --> 00:28:58,070 on what the original writer meant." 557 00:28:59,613 --> 00:29:02,240 But now AI might actually reveal 558 00:29:02,366 --> 00:29:06,370 that those texts are much older than previously thought, 559 00:29:06,536 --> 00:29:09,081 and what they're describing are not things 560 00:29:09,206 --> 00:29:11,041 that they later made up, 561 00:29:11,208 --> 00:29:12,751 but eyewitness accounts. 562 00:29:13,877 --> 00:29:15,212 [Popovic] We were lucky to receive samples 563 00:29:15,379 --> 00:29:16,713 of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 564 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,675 physical samples, that we could radiocarbon date 565 00:29:19,841 --> 00:29:23,595 and that you can then use to train an algorithm 566 00:29:23,762 --> 00:29:26,807 to associate a certain way of writing 567 00:29:26,974 --> 00:29:28,725 with a certain time period. 568 00:29:28,892 --> 00:29:32,229 And once the algorithm is trained to recognize that, 569 00:29:32,396 --> 00:29:35,315 you can feed it images of other manuscripts 570 00:29:35,482 --> 00:29:38,110 that have no date and it can compare them. 571 00:29:38,276 --> 00:29:41,113 We learned that many of these manuscripts 572 00:29:41,279 --> 00:29:44,074 are older than we previously thought, 573 00:29:44,241 --> 00:29:47,661 from the second century BC or even from the third century BC. 574 00:29:47,869 --> 00:29:52,124 We now have evidence that the Dead Sea Scrolls 575 00:29:52,290 --> 00:29:56,878 is from the time of an actual Biblical author, 576 00:29:57,004 --> 00:29:59,131 which is truly mind-blowing, because it brings us 577 00:29:59,297 --> 00:30:03,051 to the time of these ancient Biblical writers themselves. 578 00:30:04,511 --> 00:30:06,179 [Tsoulaklos] For the ancient astronaut theory, 579 00:30:06,388 --> 00:30:09,891 this is significant, because many of those items 580 00:30:10,058 --> 00:30:11,810 like the flying chariots 581 00:30:11,977 --> 00:30:14,563 were thought to have been added later 582 00:30:14,688 --> 00:30:17,607 when in fact, it happened during the time 583 00:30:17,774 --> 00:30:19,901 when these things were written down, 584 00:30:20,110 --> 00:30:23,780 which would lend to the idea that our ancestors 585 00:30:23,989 --> 00:30:26,116 actually witnessed something 586 00:30:26,283 --> 00:30:29,536 and commemorated this when it was happening. 587 00:30:30,579 --> 00:30:32,748 [Narrator] Could it be that the Dead Sea Scrolls 588 00:30:32,914 --> 00:30:35,375 contain the original writings of Enoch 589 00:30:35,542 --> 00:30:39,921 and his first-hand accounts of extraterrestrial contact? 590 00:30:40,047 --> 00:30:45,093 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and they suggest 591 00:30:45,260 --> 00:30:49,139 artificial intelligence isn't only finding new evidence 592 00:30:49,347 --> 00:30:52,267 of alien intervention in the distant past 593 00:30:52,434 --> 00:30:55,896 but also revealing that these otherworldly visitors... 594 00:30:57,314 --> 00:30:58,774 ...never left. 595 00:31:03,403 --> 00:31:08,283 [Narrator reads on-screen text] 596 00:31:08,450 --> 00:31:12,245 A U.S. Customs and Border Protection airplane 597 00:31:12,412 --> 00:31:16,458 is patrolling above a U.S. airbase when its thermal camera 598 00:31:16,666 --> 00:31:22,172 captures a large metallic object flying at high speed. 599 00:31:22,339 --> 00:31:26,176 A mystery object is seen circling the airport, 600 00:31:26,343 --> 00:31:30,222 and then it moves off across the ocean. 601 00:31:30,430 --> 00:31:34,476 And at one point it descends into the ocean, 602 00:31:34,643 --> 00:31:38,188 and then a few moments later emerges. 603 00:31:39,231 --> 00:31:41,149 We don't have that kind of technology. 604 00:31:42,859 --> 00:31:45,445 [Narrator] Aerospace engineer Dr. Travis Taylor, 605 00:31:45,612 --> 00:31:49,491 a member of the U.S. government's UAP task force, 606 00:31:49,658 --> 00:31:53,078 was asked to analyze the remarkable footage. 607 00:31:53,245 --> 00:31:55,455 As part of his investigation 608 00:31:55,664 --> 00:31:57,207 into the strange object, 609 00:31:57,374 --> 00:32:00,961 Dr. Taylor turned to AI software. 610 00:32:01,086 --> 00:32:02,629 [Taylor] When I was on the UAP 611 00:32:02,796 --> 00:32:05,507 UAP Task Force, we analyzed all sorts of different, 612 00:32:05,674 --> 00:32:07,050 UAP videos 613 00:32:07,217 --> 00:32:09,010 like the one in Puerto Rico, 614 00:32:09,177 --> 00:32:12,764 and the AI analysis is really fascinating. 615 00:32:12,931 --> 00:32:15,225 The AI does say that the object 616 00:32:15,392 --> 00:32:18,061 is going about 72 to 74 miles per hour. 617 00:32:18,270 --> 00:32:21,189 When it goes into the water, there is no splash. 618 00:32:22,190 --> 00:32:24,734 And it even debunks one of the debunking videos 619 00:32:24,901 --> 00:32:27,612 out there that says "Well, it was just a artifact 620 00:32:27,779 --> 00:32:29,865 of the sensors why you didn't see the wake." 621 00:32:30,031 --> 00:32:34,536 So, AI is being very useful. 622 00:32:34,703 --> 00:32:37,289 [Narrator] As far as ufologists are concerned, 623 00:32:37,455 --> 00:32:41,626 the AI revolution is happening at the perfect time 624 00:32:41,793 --> 00:32:44,921 because more sensational UAP events 625 00:32:45,046 --> 00:32:48,258 are being caught on video than ever before... 626 00:32:49,843 --> 00:32:51,386 ...and human observers 627 00:32:51,553 --> 00:32:53,555 simply aren't equipped to analyze them 628 00:32:53,722 --> 00:32:57,767 in the same way that artificial intelligence can. 629 00:32:57,934 --> 00:33:00,270 [Henry] We have all of this footage 630 00:33:00,437 --> 00:33:04,774 from the past decades UFO or UAP sightings. 631 00:33:04,941 --> 00:33:07,110 Some of it's shaky, some of it's blurry. 632 00:33:07,277 --> 00:33:09,988 The AI can look at that and straighten up those images, 633 00:33:10,155 --> 00:33:12,407 can clean them up for us so we can 634 00:33:12,574 --> 00:33:14,409 see exactly what we're looking at. 635 00:33:14,576 --> 00:33:17,412 But more than that, it can look at whatever's 636 00:33:17,579 --> 00:33:19,915 portrayed in that video, frame by frame, 637 00:33:20,081 --> 00:33:22,751 and say, "Oh, well, here's the size of it, 638 00:33:22,918 --> 00:33:25,295 "here's what it's made of, here's its velocity 639 00:33:25,503 --> 00:33:27,505 and here's where it was going." 640 00:33:27,672 --> 00:33:31,051 [Taylor] AI gets better with the more things it sees. 641 00:33:31,218 --> 00:33:34,137 So, we need to grab every UFO video, 642 00:33:34,346 --> 00:33:36,514 every UAP video, every odd video out there 643 00:33:36,681 --> 00:33:37,974 that we could get our hands on 644 00:33:38,141 --> 00:33:41,311 and start training up a UAP base 645 00:33:41,478 --> 00:33:44,940 of data for the AI systems. 646 00:33:45,148 --> 00:33:47,442 And it'll help us start getting to the bottom 647 00:33:47,567 --> 00:33:50,278 of what really is going on with this phenomenon. 648 00:33:50,445 --> 00:33:54,032 [Narrator] Dr. Travis Taylor is among many scientists 649 00:33:54,199 --> 00:33:55,992 who are using this tool to study 650 00:33:56,159 --> 00:33:58,453 unidentified anomalous phenomena, 651 00:33:58,620 --> 00:34:02,249 and he believes that our own technological evolution 652 00:34:02,415 --> 00:34:07,045 will rely heavily on artificial intelligence. 653 00:34:07,170 --> 00:34:09,672 [Taylor] AI is a fantastic technology. 654 00:34:09,839 --> 00:34:14,177 It will give you a leg up on any topic known to man, 655 00:34:14,386 --> 00:34:16,388 and maybe some topics that we haven't discovered yet. 656 00:34:16,554 --> 00:34:19,306 I use it every day, 657 00:34:19,474 --> 00:34:21,643 and I use it to solve complex general relativity 658 00:34:21,810 --> 00:34:23,353 and quantum physics problems. 659 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,606 I have used it to solve problems and discover new concepts 660 00:34:26,773 --> 00:34:29,025 and ideas that we haven't thought of yet. 661 00:34:29,192 --> 00:34:32,152 I've used it for Defense Department concepts. 662 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,947 Used it for space science things. 663 00:34:35,114 --> 00:34:38,159 And I have used it in the ancient astronaut theory 664 00:34:38,326 --> 00:34:41,705 avenue as well. Because there are telltale signs 665 00:34:41,871 --> 00:34:43,581 that we miss, as humans. 666 00:34:43,790 --> 00:34:48,253 But the AI is very meticulous and finds them. I took 667 00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:52,047 an AI system and analyzed Teotihuacan 668 00:34:52,215 --> 00:34:54,592 and wanted to determine 669 00:34:54,759 --> 00:34:57,637 why these buildings are in the arrangements they are. 670 00:34:57,804 --> 00:35:01,683 And it turns out that the ratios of the building sizes 671 00:35:01,850 --> 00:35:03,977 and the distances between the buildings 672 00:35:04,185 --> 00:35:07,480 match the golden ratio exactly. 673 00:35:07,606 --> 00:35:10,734 So, somebody knew and understood the golden ratio 674 00:35:10,900 --> 00:35:13,278 when Teotihuacan was built. 675 00:35:13,445 --> 00:35:16,031 And why, I haven't figured out yet. 676 00:35:16,197 --> 00:35:19,409 But AI has already discovered something about Teotihuacan 677 00:35:19,576 --> 00:35:22,287 that we didn't know before. And I think that's something 678 00:35:22,454 --> 00:35:23,997 that that we can apply 679 00:35:24,164 --> 00:35:26,750 to sites around the world, 680 00:35:26,916 --> 00:35:28,627 to concepts around the world. 681 00:35:28,793 --> 00:35:32,088 So, we're going to start seeing answers 682 00:35:32,255 --> 00:35:33,757 and start getting knowledge 683 00:35:33,923 --> 00:35:37,677 that we have lost or didn't have. 684 00:35:37,844 --> 00:35:40,722 [Narrator] Scientists are also theorizing 685 00:35:40,889 --> 00:35:43,642 that our search for extraterrestrial intelligence 686 00:35:43,767 --> 00:35:47,520 out in the cosmos may involve AI envoys. 687 00:35:47,646 --> 00:35:49,814 And some researchers, 688 00:35:49,981 --> 00:35:52,859 like theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku, 689 00:35:53,068 --> 00:35:56,613 suggest that if the UAPs seen in our skies 690 00:35:56,780 --> 00:35:59,199 are of extraterrestrial origin, 691 00:35:59,366 --> 00:36:04,037 they could very well be a type of AI technology themselves. 692 00:36:04,204 --> 00:36:06,122 [Kaku] We have been brainwashed. 693 00:36:06,289 --> 00:36:08,917 Brainwashed by Hollywood into thinking 694 00:36:09,084 --> 00:36:12,379 that when the aliens land on the White House lawn 695 00:36:12,587 --> 00:36:15,048 that they look sort of like us. 696 00:36:15,215 --> 00:36:16,841 Realize that, in reality, 697 00:36:17,008 --> 00:36:18,927 that is the most inefficient way 698 00:36:19,094 --> 00:36:20,845 to explore the universe. 699 00:36:21,012 --> 00:36:23,890 There are so many worlds to visit, 700 00:36:24,057 --> 00:36:26,351 but to visit each one 701 00:36:26,518 --> 00:36:28,895 with a humanoid being 702 00:36:29,062 --> 00:36:32,357 is a waste of time, it's a waste of effort. 703 00:36:32,524 --> 00:36:35,360 It's much better to use artificial intelligence 704 00:36:35,485 --> 00:36:38,279 to explore the universe. 705 00:36:38,405 --> 00:36:42,701 Artificial intelligence can cut through the painstaking work 706 00:36:42,909 --> 00:36:46,746 of astronauts visiting one planet at a time 707 00:36:46,913 --> 00:36:49,332 and give us a readout 708 00:36:49,499 --> 00:36:52,961 of a thousand worlds all at once. 709 00:36:54,963 --> 00:36:56,715 [Narrator] Could artificial intelligence 710 00:36:56,881 --> 00:36:59,175 lead to profound new revelations 711 00:36:59,342 --> 00:37:03,596 about not only the unexplained phenomena in our skies 712 00:37:03,763 --> 00:37:07,726 but also the mysteries of our distant past? 713 00:37:07,892 --> 00:37:10,854 According to ancient astronaut theorists, 714 00:37:11,020 --> 00:37:13,398 AI may already have uncovered 715 00:37:13,565 --> 00:37:16,401 an incredible secret of the ancient world 716 00:37:16,568 --> 00:37:20,697 buried deep beneath the Pyramids of Egypt. 717 00:37:24,325 --> 00:37:26,327 [Narrator reads on-screen text] 718 00:37:28,872 --> 00:37:32,876 Engineer and geospatial analyst Dr. Filippo Biondi 719 00:37:33,042 --> 00:37:37,005 has spent months working with a team of Italian researchers 720 00:37:37,172 --> 00:37:40,133 to investigate what lies beneath the iconic structures 721 00:37:40,300 --> 00:37:43,553 that stand on the Giza Plateau. 722 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,723 A technology called synthetic aperture radar 723 00:37:46,890 --> 00:37:49,934 has allowed them to peer deep underground, 724 00:37:50,101 --> 00:37:54,105 and what they claim to have found is extraordinary. 725 00:38:31,059 --> 00:38:33,186 [Newman] Under the Giza Plateau, they found 726 00:38:33,353 --> 00:38:36,231 huge underground chambers and shafts 727 00:38:36,397 --> 00:38:38,149 and structures under the Sphinx, 728 00:38:38,316 --> 00:38:40,235 under the other pyramids, and everything else. 729 00:38:40,401 --> 00:38:43,613 So what they discovered is quite remarkable. 730 00:38:46,199 --> 00:38:48,368 [Narrator] What was detected with synthetic aperture radar 731 00:38:48,535 --> 00:38:50,537 was astonishing. 732 00:38:50,703 --> 00:38:53,289 And when artificial intelligence was employed 733 00:38:53,456 --> 00:38:55,667 to analyze the SAR scans, 734 00:38:55,834 --> 00:38:59,587 the resulting models were even more incredible. 735 00:39:01,256 --> 00:39:03,299 [Newman] Using AI, they've recreated 736 00:39:03,508 --> 00:39:05,802 what it would have looked like. It looks like 737 00:39:05,927 --> 00:39:09,138 these eight tubes going down with what looked like 738 00:39:09,347 --> 00:39:13,935 cylindrical kind of cavities going deep under the ground. 739 00:39:14,102 --> 00:39:16,020 The evidence is now emerging that there's 740 00:39:16,229 --> 00:39:18,481 something much more profound going on there. 741 00:39:43,089 --> 00:39:45,633 [Narrator] If the mysterious chambers under the Giza Plateau 742 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:47,927 do in fact exist, 743 00:39:48,094 --> 00:39:51,681 it would upend our understanding of human history. 744 00:39:51,806 --> 00:39:55,977 And as far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, 745 00:39:56,185 --> 00:39:58,396 it is only a matter of time 746 00:39:58,563 --> 00:40:00,398 before artificial intelligence 747 00:40:00,565 --> 00:40:02,692 provides incontrovertible evidence 748 00:40:02,859 --> 00:40:05,987 of ET intervention on Earth. 749 00:40:06,154 --> 00:40:10,658 If I myself had access to an AI model, 750 00:40:10,867 --> 00:40:14,245 that could essentially tell me anything, 751 00:40:14,412 --> 00:40:17,081 what I would do is I'd feed into it 752 00:40:17,206 --> 00:40:19,918 all knowledge of ancient cosmologies 753 00:40:20,084 --> 00:40:21,794 from around the world, 754 00:40:21,961 --> 00:40:26,132 and allow it to tell us where exactly 755 00:40:26,299 --> 00:40:31,721 this knowledge came from and just when it was created. 756 00:40:31,846 --> 00:40:35,350 And my own heart tells me that it's gonna go back 757 00:40:35,516 --> 00:40:39,604 at least to 40 to 50,000 years ago 758 00:40:39,771 --> 00:40:43,441 and to have come from an enlightened human population 759 00:40:43,566 --> 00:40:46,152 that existed at this time, 760 00:40:46,319 --> 00:40:51,282 who we can truly refer to as the lost civilization. 761 00:40:52,325 --> 00:40:55,411 [Childress] In ancient astronaut theory, the idea is that these 762 00:40:55,578 --> 00:40:59,207 extraterrestrials are leaving clues around the world. 763 00:40:59,374 --> 00:41:02,585 Clues of buildings and of texts, 764 00:41:02,752 --> 00:41:06,923 other things that, you know, are difficult to figure out. 765 00:41:07,090 --> 00:41:09,592 And AI is helping us find those things. 766 00:41:09,759 --> 00:41:12,053 And AI is helping us, you know, 767 00:41:12,220 --> 00:41:15,765 ultimately find out who we are and where we came from. 768 00:41:17,308 --> 00:41:19,894 [Narrator] Could it be that the rise of artificial intelligence 769 00:41:20,061 --> 00:41:22,105 will not only have profound implications 770 00:41:22,271 --> 00:41:26,109 for the future of humanity 771 00:41:26,275 --> 00:41:31,155 but also provide incredible revelations about our past? 772 00:41:31,322 --> 00:41:36,285 Will AI uncover evidence for the ancient astronaut theory 773 00:41:36,452 --> 00:41:39,789 hidden in undeciphered texts, 774 00:41:39,956 --> 00:41:42,792 encoded in megalithic structures 775 00:41:42,959 --> 00:41:46,254 and buried with long-lost civilizations? 776 00:41:47,672 --> 00:41:52,552 Perhaps, as this powerful technology continues to advance, 777 00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:56,139 it will reveal that the history of humankind 778 00:41:56,347 --> 00:42:00,685 has been written by extraterrestrials. 779 00:42:00,852 --> 00:42:02,812 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS