1 00:00:00,967 --> 00:00:02,568 NARRATOR: They're watching you. 2 00:00:02,602 --> 00:00:07,072 More than 5,000 satellites circle the Earth. 3 00:00:07,140 --> 00:00:09,041 Every day, they uncover new 4 00:00:09,075 --> 00:00:13,245 mysterious phenomena that defy explanation. 5 00:00:15,081 --> 00:00:18,951 Murder and Masonic rituals in the wilds of Scotland. 6 00:00:19,018 --> 00:00:21,887 HORTON: This is really weird. 7 00:00:21,954 --> 00:00:24,556 I've never seen anything quite like it. 8 00:00:25,625 --> 00:00:28,861 NARRATOR: The ghost soldiers of World War II. 9 00:00:28,895 --> 00:00:32,264 They've become these almost mythological warriors that 10 00:00:32,298 --> 00:00:34,767 the Germans just don't know how to deal with. 11 00:00:34,834 --> 00:00:38,003 NARRATOR: And terror in the Arctic. 12 00:00:38,038 --> 00:00:42,941 Somewhere down there is an unrecovered nuclear weapon. 13 00:00:42,976 --> 00:00:46,345 NARRATOR: Baffling phenomena, mysteries from space. 14 00:00:46,379 --> 00:00:48,947 What on Earth are they? 15 00:00:48,982 --> 00:00:51,417 [theme music playing] 16 00:00:51,451 --> 00:00:59,451 ♪ 17 00:01:07,100 --> 00:01:09,368 March 10th, 2021. 18 00:01:11,071 --> 00:01:14,039 The barren borders of south Scotland. 19 00:01:15,642 --> 00:01:18,010 A wilderness of heathland, forest, 20 00:01:18,077 --> 00:01:20,479 and something hidden from human eyes. 21 00:01:24,017 --> 00:01:26,251 I'm really excited about this image, because it's 22 00:01:26,286 --> 00:01:31,523 a genuine mystery that I'm really keen to unravel. 23 00:01:35,662 --> 00:01:38,297 NARRATOR: The laser pulse of a LIDAR scanner has 24 00:01:38,331 --> 00:01:42,901 revealed a bizarre structure concealed by dense forest. 25 00:01:42,969 --> 00:01:45,871 There's something man-made here under the soil. 26 00:01:45,905 --> 00:01:48,173 It looks like a giant jigsaw puzzle. 27 00:01:50,610 --> 00:01:53,178 NARRATOR: Archaeologist Mark Horton is hiking into 28 00:01:53,246 --> 00:01:56,415 these remote lands to investigate the new discovery. 29 00:01:57,851 --> 00:02:00,953 HORTON: It's really weird -- It appears to be 30 00:02:00,987 --> 00:02:07,059 a gigantic castle or fortress in these woods. 31 00:02:12,132 --> 00:02:15,134 NARRATOR: Scotland's bloody history is reflected 32 00:02:15,168 --> 00:02:16,635 in the number of castles here, 33 00:02:19,239 --> 00:02:21,807 but they're always built on hills to dominate 34 00:02:21,874 --> 00:02:23,375 the landscape. 35 00:02:25,178 --> 00:02:28,981 There's no historical record of these structures at all, 36 00:02:29,015 --> 00:02:31,183 and then there's a wood placed 37 00:02:31,217 --> 00:02:34,920 on top of them, almost as if these ancient remains 38 00:02:34,954 --> 00:02:36,588 are meant to be hidden. 39 00:02:39,759 --> 00:02:42,828 NARRATOR: Much of the 1,800 square miles Scottish 40 00:02:42,895 --> 00:02:46,031 borders are devoid of life or buildings. 41 00:02:48,034 --> 00:02:51,003 But not far from the LIDAR structure, 42 00:02:51,037 --> 00:02:55,107 Horton spots an outline that matches its scale and shape. 43 00:02:56,209 --> 00:03:00,012 Wow, what an amazing castle. 44 00:03:00,046 --> 00:03:02,080 It's all so complete. 45 00:03:03,216 --> 00:03:05,884 NARRATOR: The hilltop stronghold may hold clues 46 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,387 to the mystery in the woods. 47 00:03:08,421 --> 00:03:10,889 HORTON: It's got arrow slits, but also these holes 48 00:03:10,924 --> 00:03:13,559 for artillery -- Late medieval guns, 49 00:03:13,626 --> 00:03:17,996 so we're talking 14th, 15th century, something like that. 50 00:03:18,064 --> 00:03:20,632 And maybe the images I've seen in the LIDAR 51 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:24,102 might also be of that same sort of date. 52 00:03:25,872 --> 00:03:28,440 NARRATOR: The walls are up to 40 feet high 53 00:03:28,474 --> 00:03:30,342 and heavily fortified. 54 00:03:32,979 --> 00:03:34,279 Incredibly small entrance. 55 00:03:34,347 --> 00:03:38,350 You could hardly get a horse through there. 56 00:03:40,186 --> 00:03:42,221 NARRATOR: To Horton, there's something 57 00:03:42,288 --> 00:03:44,156 strange about this castle. 58 00:03:45,191 --> 00:03:47,759 Inside, it's all so small. 59 00:03:47,827 --> 00:03:51,096 You'd normally have an enormous castle courtyard, but actually, 60 00:03:51,163 --> 00:03:54,266 this is the size of most people's living rooms. 61 00:03:54,300 --> 00:03:59,004 It's kind of like a domestic house. 62 00:04:01,474 --> 00:04:03,208 NARRATOR: This hilltop fortification 63 00:04:03,243 --> 00:04:04,876 and structure in the woods 64 00:04:04,911 --> 00:04:09,081 both sit on the frontier with Scotland's once bitter enemy. 65 00:04:10,216 --> 00:04:14,119 We're right on the border between England and Scotland, 66 00:04:14,186 --> 00:04:17,289 and of course, up until the 17th century, 67 00:04:17,323 --> 00:04:20,092 there were different nations continually 68 00:04:20,126 --> 00:04:21,059 at war with one another. 69 00:04:21,127 --> 00:04:23,328 [indistinct battle noise] 70 00:04:23,396 --> 00:04:26,231 NARRATOR: War between the English and Scots begins in 71 00:04:26,265 --> 00:04:30,636 the 13th century and rages for 400 years. 72 00:04:32,972 --> 00:04:36,608 The territory around the LIDAR image is contested fiercely, 73 00:04:36,676 --> 00:04:39,344 becoming a medieval Wild West. 74 00:04:42,815 --> 00:04:47,119 This border region was an area of complete lawlessness in 75 00:04:47,153 --> 00:04:52,057 which bandits and raiding parties were killing everybody, 76 00:04:52,091 --> 00:04:55,160 raiding people's stock, destroying their houses, 77 00:04:55,227 --> 00:04:57,129 burning their farms, 78 00:04:57,163 --> 00:05:01,300 and these were known as the border reivers. 79 00:05:03,303 --> 00:05:05,871 NARRATOR: Reivers, meaning raiders, 80 00:05:05,905 --> 00:05:08,273 hailed from both sides of the border. 81 00:05:08,308 --> 00:05:11,310 They have no allegiance to the English 82 00:05:11,377 --> 00:05:15,580 or Scottish crowns, just to their own family clans. 83 00:05:15,648 --> 00:05:19,484 People here lived in very small 84 00:05:19,518 --> 00:05:23,255 communities, and family ties were paramount. 85 00:05:23,322 --> 00:05:25,624 The clan ruled all. 86 00:05:26,959 --> 00:05:30,562 NARRATOR: With crops burned and food scarce in wartime, 87 00:05:30,596 --> 00:05:34,366 cutthroat reiver clans take what they need by force. 88 00:05:35,868 --> 00:05:39,371 Skilled horsemen and masters of arson and extortion, 89 00:05:39,405 --> 00:05:44,109 they terrorized the Anglo- Scottish border for centuries. 90 00:05:45,178 --> 00:05:47,979 SZULGIT: Sometimes, the reivers will be made out 91 00:05:48,014 --> 00:05:51,183 to be these lovable rogues, but in actuality, 92 00:05:51,217 --> 00:05:54,019 these were well-organized, deadly groups, 93 00:05:54,086 --> 00:05:56,588 and it was more like a mafia. 94 00:05:58,758 --> 00:06:02,861 NARRATOR: Modest farming folk are powerless to resist, 95 00:06:02,895 --> 00:06:05,330 but the wealthy build fortified keeps 96 00:06:05,365 --> 00:06:08,633 known as peel towers. 97 00:06:08,735 --> 00:06:10,969 HORTON: They had to live in places like this, 98 00:06:11,036 --> 00:06:13,438 because they were in fear of their lives. 99 00:06:17,043 --> 00:06:19,544 There might also be castles further up 100 00:06:19,579 --> 00:06:22,614 the valley associated with these border reivers. 101 00:06:25,284 --> 00:06:28,120 NARRATOR: Bearing northeast, the archaeologist heads to 102 00:06:28,187 --> 00:06:31,223 the greenery recently scanned by laser. 103 00:06:33,192 --> 00:06:37,629 I think this must be the wood I've seen on the LIDAR image, 104 00:06:37,730 --> 00:06:42,100 but actually, it's quite impenetrable. 105 00:06:42,135 --> 00:06:44,803 NARRATOR: 15 acres of dense forest are 106 00:06:44,870 --> 00:06:47,606 cordoned off with thousands of feet of wire, 107 00:06:47,673 --> 00:06:49,474 much of it ill-maintained. 108 00:06:50,877 --> 00:06:53,378 It's a bit of tumbled down fence, 109 00:06:53,413 --> 00:06:56,915 I think, that might get me in here. 110 00:06:56,949 --> 00:06:57,783 [groans] 111 00:06:57,817 --> 00:07:03,355 ♪ 112 00:07:03,422 --> 00:07:06,925 Something here -- Kind of depression or ditch. 113 00:07:06,959 --> 00:07:09,561 It's so faint, 114 00:07:09,629 --> 00:07:11,897 very difficult to see. 115 00:07:11,964 --> 00:07:15,066 NARRATOR: The ditches match the outline of the image. 116 00:07:16,969 --> 00:07:20,038 I'm absolutely certain it's what I've seen 117 00:07:20,105 --> 00:07:22,340 on that LIDAR image. 118 00:07:22,375 --> 00:07:23,608 NARRATOR: But there are 119 00:07:23,810 --> 00:07:26,611 no medieval fortifications whatsoever. 120 00:07:26,646 --> 00:07:29,181 There's no masonry here. 121 00:07:29,248 --> 00:07:32,784 There's no collapsed walls -- Whatever it is, 122 00:07:32,852 --> 00:07:35,053 this is really weird. 123 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,390 I've never seen anything quite like it. 124 00:07:42,829 --> 00:07:44,596 NARRATOR: Coming up, 125 00:07:44,663 --> 00:07:47,032 the cult of the invisible castle. 126 00:07:47,066 --> 00:07:51,837 It's a place of secrecy and ritual. 127 00:07:51,871 --> 00:07:53,171 NARRATOR: And Nevada's lost 128 00:07:53,206 --> 00:07:56,074 multibillion-dollar treasure hoard. 129 00:07:56,141 --> 00:07:59,611 It is a geyser of cash for anyone involved. 130 00:08:07,019 --> 00:08:08,954 NARRATOR: Drawn by strange shapes revealed 131 00:08:09,021 --> 00:08:11,990 by LIDAR aerial images, 132 00:08:12,024 --> 00:08:15,961 archaeologist Mark Horton is in the wild Scottish borders. 133 00:08:16,028 --> 00:08:19,064 I've never seen anything quite like it. 134 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,769 NARRATOR: He anticipated a ruined fort, 135 00:08:24,837 --> 00:08:27,205 but these shapes are something else. 136 00:08:28,007 --> 00:08:31,543 What's really odd is that we've got all 137 00:08:31,611 --> 00:08:35,347 these tree stumps on the top of the bank. 138 00:08:36,282 --> 00:08:38,984 This woodland is all a bit higgledy piggledy, 139 00:08:39,051 --> 00:08:42,020 but actually, these stumps form a deliberate 140 00:08:42,054 --> 00:08:46,558 straight line, as if they've actually been planned. 141 00:08:49,762 --> 00:08:52,063 NARRATOR: Lines of rotting stumps match 142 00:08:52,097 --> 00:08:55,066 the contours of the shapes in the LIDAR image. 143 00:08:55,134 --> 00:08:57,736 Someone has planted hundreds 144 00:08:57,803 --> 00:09:01,806 of trees to mimic a medieval fort. 145 00:09:01,874 --> 00:09:04,376 HORTON: Those tree stumps, okay, they're old, 146 00:09:04,410 --> 00:09:06,278 but they're clearly not medieval. 147 00:09:06,345 --> 00:09:10,382 Maybe the whole structure is much more recent. 148 00:09:10,416 --> 00:09:13,051 NARRATOR: The archaeologists scours 149 00:09:13,085 --> 00:09:15,086 English military records. 150 00:09:15,154 --> 00:09:18,590 After they defeat Scotland in 1745, 151 00:09:18,624 --> 00:09:21,993 the English decide that to control this wild land, 152 00:09:22,028 --> 00:09:23,929 they need to map it properly. 153 00:09:23,963 --> 00:09:29,000 This old map from 1858 154 00:09:29,035 --> 00:09:32,137 actually shows our fort. 155 00:09:32,171 --> 00:09:37,142 It's defined by not a wall but a set of trees. 156 00:09:37,176 --> 00:09:38,710 It's not a fort at all, 157 00:09:38,777 --> 00:09:42,614 but part of a planned ornamental landscape. 158 00:09:43,783 --> 00:09:46,618 NARRATOR: This isn't some medieval ruins. 159 00:09:46,652 --> 00:09:51,656 It's a gargantuan garden, a bizarre castle plantation. 160 00:09:51,724 --> 00:09:55,226 Stranger still, this mighty undertaking appears to 161 00:09:55,261 --> 00:09:58,296 have been deliberately concealed in a forest. 162 00:09:59,231 --> 00:10:02,067 Why would anyone go to the trouble 163 00:10:02,134 --> 00:10:06,638 to create these weird features in the landscape? 164 00:10:08,341 --> 00:10:10,842 NARRATOR: Searching the surrounding valley, 165 00:10:10,876 --> 00:10:14,012 Horton finds that the weird plantation isn't 166 00:10:14,046 --> 00:10:18,083 the only relic hidden in this corner of Scotland. 167 00:10:18,117 --> 00:10:19,084 What's that over there? 168 00:10:19,151 --> 00:10:22,253 It looks like a ruined building. 169 00:10:23,322 --> 00:10:26,324 It's in awful condition. 170 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,396 NARRATOR: Father Time hasn't left much to go on. 171 00:10:34,900 --> 00:10:37,002 These are graves. 172 00:10:37,036 --> 00:10:39,638 That must be the east end. 173 00:10:39,739 --> 00:10:42,741 So they also would originally have been around here. 174 00:10:42,775 --> 00:10:45,644 Look, we've got more gravestones. 175 00:10:45,711 --> 00:10:49,080 This must be a broken-down chapel. 176 00:10:51,083 --> 00:10:54,252 NARRATOR: A chapel suggests this landscape wasn't always 177 00:10:54,319 --> 00:10:56,254 so desolate. 178 00:10:56,321 --> 00:10:59,324 HORTON: That makes me think that possibly this is 179 00:10:59,391 --> 00:11:03,662 a big estate here, with a rich landowner 180 00:11:03,829 --> 00:11:06,264 who had the money and resources to do 181 00:11:06,331 --> 00:11:08,800 these fancy plantations, 182 00:11:08,867 --> 00:11:12,303 but why would he put these weird 183 00:11:12,338 --> 00:11:16,074 sort of castle-like features up on the landscape. 184 00:11:16,141 --> 00:11:19,077 It still doesn't make sense to me. 185 00:11:23,983 --> 00:11:27,485 NARRATOR: A ruined monument may hold a clue. 186 00:11:29,188 --> 00:11:33,825 I can make out a sort of schematic skeleton 187 00:11:33,892 --> 00:11:35,960 holding a lance. 188 00:11:37,063 --> 00:11:39,931 He's holding an hourglass 189 00:11:39,999 --> 00:11:42,534 to show the passage of time. 190 00:11:44,704 --> 00:11:46,171 A skeleton with the scepter 191 00:11:46,238 --> 00:11:49,607 and an hourglass is a classic symbol of death, 192 00:11:49,675 --> 00:11:52,310 also known as the king of terrors. 193 00:11:52,344 --> 00:11:55,046 NARRATOR: The king of terrors is rumored to 194 00:11:55,114 --> 00:11:58,650 be a symbol of an infamously secretive society. 195 00:11:58,717 --> 00:12:04,322 It's seen in Masonic texts, so it could suggest that we 196 00:12:04,389 --> 00:12:09,227 are seeing a garden created by a member of the Masons. 197 00:12:11,197 --> 00:12:13,031 NARRATOR: Freemasonry is the world's 198 00:12:13,065 --> 00:12:16,935 oldest and largest fraternal organization. 199 00:12:17,002 --> 00:12:21,339 SZULGIT: No one really knows the true origin of the Freemasons, 200 00:12:21,406 --> 00:12:25,076 but several people say it began in Scotland 201 00:12:25,110 --> 00:12:27,245 right around this area. 202 00:12:28,414 --> 00:12:30,982 NARRATOR: Freemasonry in Scotland is born at 203 00:12:31,016 --> 00:12:33,251 the turn of the 16th century, 204 00:12:33,285 --> 00:12:34,619 cut from the rock that 205 00:12:34,686 --> 00:12:37,956 builds Britain's great castles and cathedrals. 206 00:12:38,691 --> 00:12:43,228 The Freemasons developed out of old stone masons, and it was 207 00:12:43,295 --> 00:12:45,997 a way of ensuring that someone was suitably qualified 208 00:12:46,031 --> 00:12:47,866 to do the job. 209 00:12:47,900 --> 00:12:50,301 There was a secret language that 210 00:12:50,369 --> 00:12:54,372 evolved in symbols, including a special handshake. 211 00:12:56,842 --> 00:12:59,811 NARRATOR: As the building of cathedrals declines, 212 00:12:59,813 --> 00:13:02,247 Masons accept honorary members. 213 00:13:02,314 --> 00:13:06,017 The rich and influential are initiated in 214 00:13:06,051 --> 00:13:10,121 strange ceremonies marked by obscure codes and rituals. 215 00:13:12,191 --> 00:13:14,225 By the late 18th century, 216 00:13:14,259 --> 00:13:17,095 the Masons are a powerful, clandestine cabal, 217 00:13:17,129 --> 00:13:21,800 who count king George IV among their ranks. 218 00:13:21,867 --> 00:13:22,934 One of the most famous of 219 00:13:23,001 --> 00:13:26,738 the later Freemasons was the novelist Sir Walter Scott. 220 00:13:26,805 --> 00:13:31,209 A lot of the pageantry of Freemasonry owes a debt 221 00:13:31,276 --> 00:13:35,046 to Sir Walter Scott, because he was obsessed with medievalism. 222 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,816 NARRATOR: Scott is a Renaissance icon who 223 00:13:37,883 --> 00:13:41,019 writes the legendary historical novel Ivanhoe. 224 00:13:42,354 --> 00:13:45,657 His swashbuckling tales paint medieval Scotland 225 00:13:45,724 --> 00:13:47,559 as a land of heroic chivalry, 226 00:13:48,828 --> 00:13:51,696 while his epic ballads romanticized the outlaws 227 00:13:51,763 --> 00:13:54,399 he calls the border reivers. 228 00:13:56,202 --> 00:14:00,638 SZULGIT: He mythologized the reivers and the early period. 229 00:14:00,706 --> 00:14:03,374 This idea of the past was adopted by 230 00:14:03,408 --> 00:14:08,613 the Masons and became part of their tradition. 231 00:14:08,714 --> 00:14:11,482 NARRATOR: Rich Masons honor Scott with extravagant 232 00:14:11,516 --> 00:14:14,185 tributes to his obsession with medievalism, 233 00:14:15,054 --> 00:14:17,989 coded messages to their most celebrated 234 00:14:18,056 --> 00:14:20,959 member and to their Masonic brethren. 235 00:14:25,297 --> 00:14:30,134 Landowners inspired by Walter Scott and his writings 236 00:14:30,202 --> 00:14:36,007 create structures in the landscape to hark back 237 00:14:36,074 --> 00:14:39,043 to a medieval past and the border reivers. 238 00:14:39,078 --> 00:14:43,014 Freemasons obsessed with secret symbols 239 00:14:43,081 --> 00:14:45,750 would have known what it meant. 240 00:14:45,817 --> 00:14:49,821 NARRATOR: LIDAR has revealed a rotting cipher 241 00:14:49,888 --> 00:14:52,657 grown from Scots pine and stout oak 242 00:14:52,858 --> 00:14:54,993 and hidden by forest in the cradle 243 00:14:55,027 --> 00:14:56,961 of Freemasonry. 244 00:14:57,029 --> 00:14:59,964 But the strangest stories of this site 245 00:15:00,032 --> 00:15:04,802 remain a mystery, safeguarded by Masonic oath. 246 00:15:04,837 --> 00:15:07,572 It's tantalizing to think what might 247 00:15:07,639 --> 00:15:11,709 have actually happened inside these forests, 248 00:15:11,777 --> 00:15:15,546 a place of secrecy and ritual. 249 00:15:20,352 --> 00:15:24,889 NARRATOR: Coming up, Nazi terror from the skies. 250 00:15:24,924 --> 00:15:28,359 The men who survived had gone through a hellish ordeal. 251 00:15:29,395 --> 00:15:32,797 NARRATOR: And a colossal code in the desert sands. 252 00:15:32,831 --> 00:15:35,099 This is an incredible piece of U.S. History, 253 00:15:35,167 --> 00:15:36,968 and you can see it from space. 254 00:15:43,909 --> 00:15:46,344 NARRATOR: December 2020. 255 00:15:47,279 --> 00:15:50,014 A satellite passing over the coastal city 256 00:15:50,082 --> 00:15:54,285 of Tobruk in Libya captures this image. 257 00:15:55,154 --> 00:15:56,654 MORGAN: Everything looks very arid, 258 00:15:56,689 --> 00:16:00,358 but running right through the middle is this line. 259 00:16:00,425 --> 00:16:05,563 Behind the line, are a series of these oval structures. 260 00:16:05,630 --> 00:16:08,232 It looks like two eyes and a nose or a mouth, 261 00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:10,101 perhaps -- it's really strange. 262 00:16:12,137 --> 00:16:15,907 NARRATOR: Further analysis reveals something even stranger. 263 00:16:15,974 --> 00:16:17,108 CAVELL: When we zoom out, 264 00:16:17,175 --> 00:16:20,578 there are dozens of these structures 265 00:16:20,645 --> 00:16:24,983 all over the landscape, and this zigzag line 266 00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:28,987 actually continues in an arc around the entire city as well. 267 00:16:29,989 --> 00:16:32,623 NARRATOR: Military records reveal the satellite has 268 00:16:32,825 --> 00:16:34,792 captured the legacy of an extraordinary 269 00:16:34,860 --> 00:16:36,995 sequence of events, 270 00:16:37,062 --> 00:16:40,865 ones that took place here over 80 years ago. 271 00:16:40,932 --> 00:16:43,134 HYMEL: It's amazing to think that these simple shapes in 272 00:16:43,201 --> 00:16:44,435 the desert 273 00:16:44,470 --> 00:16:48,206 had such an incredible importance to World War II 274 00:16:48,273 --> 00:16:49,974 and world history. 275 00:16:50,009 --> 00:16:53,378 NARRATOR: During World War II, 276 00:16:53,412 --> 00:16:56,080 Tobruk is the only port in Eastern Libya 277 00:16:56,148 --> 00:17:00,084 capable of harboring large military ships. 278 00:17:00,152 --> 00:17:02,820 Between 1940 and 1943, 279 00:17:02,888 --> 00:17:06,891 it plays a central role in the North Africa campaign, 280 00:17:06,925 --> 00:17:08,993 a battle for domination of this region's 281 00:17:09,061 --> 00:17:12,130 strategic and oil-rich sands. 282 00:17:12,197 --> 00:17:15,333 CAVELL: Anyone who has control of the port of Tobruk 283 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,236 is gonna have control of the eastern Mediterranean. 284 00:17:18,270 --> 00:17:19,971 If it's captured by an enemy, 285 00:17:20,005 --> 00:17:22,273 it's gonna be very hard to get shipping 286 00:17:22,340 --> 00:17:24,409 into the Suez Canal. 287 00:17:24,476 --> 00:17:26,244 ALBERTSON: Tobruk was an extremely 288 00:17:26,278 --> 00:17:27,912 strategically valuable city, 289 00:17:27,946 --> 00:17:29,981 and both the British and the Germans wanted it. 290 00:17:31,350 --> 00:17:33,084 NARRATOR: At the outbreak of the war, 291 00:17:33,151 --> 00:17:35,653 Libya is an Italian colony. 292 00:17:35,687 --> 00:17:39,824 To protect his prized asset from advancing Allied troops, 293 00:17:39,891 --> 00:17:44,262 Mussolini surrounds the city with a 28-mile-long anti-tank 294 00:17:44,296 --> 00:17:47,598 ditch and defensive positions. 295 00:17:47,633 --> 00:17:49,200 What you're seeing in the image is actually 296 00:17:49,234 --> 00:17:51,569 a defensive point for the Italians 297 00:17:51,636 --> 00:17:54,105 constructed prior to the Allied invasion. 298 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:56,941 CAVELL: And then the ovals that we see, 299 00:17:56,975 --> 00:17:59,811 they're actually strong points, artillery positions, 300 00:17:59,845 --> 00:18:03,514 machine gun nests, and places where you can have 301 00:18:03,548 --> 00:18:06,451 a number of infantrymen along the wall. 302 00:18:07,753 --> 00:18:11,823 NARRATOR: On January 21st, 1941, the Allies' 303 00:18:11,857 --> 00:18:15,960 36,000-strong Western Desert Force attacks Tobruk. 304 00:18:15,994 --> 00:18:20,131 The Italian defensive forces, accustomed to fighting 305 00:18:20,165 --> 00:18:24,068 smaller armies in colonized Africa, proved to be no match 306 00:18:24,103 --> 00:18:26,971 for the battle-hardened Brits and Australians. 307 00:18:28,073 --> 00:18:31,042 The Italians were really good at beating up on little kids. 308 00:18:31,109 --> 00:18:33,878 That's a very coarse way of putting it, 309 00:18:33,912 --> 00:18:37,615 but then, suddenly, they're in the war with the big boys. 310 00:18:37,783 --> 00:18:40,351 [explosion blasts] 311 00:18:40,385 --> 00:18:43,221 Despite the Italians' efforts, 312 00:18:43,255 --> 00:18:48,926 it only takes the Allies 29 hours to breach these defenses 313 00:18:48,994 --> 00:18:51,028 and occupy Tobruk. 314 00:18:52,764 --> 00:18:55,733 NARRATOR: The loss of Tobruk infuriates Hitler. 315 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,237 To recapture the port, he unleashes the might of 316 00:18:59,304 --> 00:19:02,807 the Africa Corps, led by the legendary military 317 00:19:02,841 --> 00:19:04,642 tactician, Erwin Rommel. 318 00:19:04,943 --> 00:19:08,146 ALBERTSON: Erwin Rommel was, perhaps, the greatest 319 00:19:08,180 --> 00:19:10,214 armor commander in the German military, 320 00:19:10,249 --> 00:19:14,051 and he was feared by many of the Allied commanders. 321 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:18,189 CAVELL: Rommel's siege of Tobruk is a ferocious operation. 322 00:19:18,256 --> 00:19:21,859 It's mainly the Australians who are guarding 323 00:19:21,927 --> 00:19:25,229 the city, and what they have to withstand -- 324 00:19:25,264 --> 00:19:26,464 It's pretty gruesome. 325 00:19:28,066 --> 00:19:29,634 NARRATOR: For eight months, 326 00:19:29,868 --> 00:19:32,703 Rommel's forces launch a series of brutal assaults 327 00:19:32,738 --> 00:19:34,438 on Tobruk. 328 00:19:34,473 --> 00:19:37,141 Yet using the line of defenses left by 329 00:19:37,209 --> 00:19:38,209 the retreating Italians, 330 00:19:38,276 --> 00:19:41,612 the Allies managed to repel the Nazi attacks. 331 00:19:42,714 --> 00:19:44,916 The Australians actually take on the moniker of 332 00:19:44,950 --> 00:19:47,852 the Rats of Tobruk, because they hang on, 333 00:19:47,886 --> 00:19:50,354 they burrow in, and they don't let go. 334 00:19:50,422 --> 00:19:52,089 They're under this constant threat that 335 00:19:52,157 --> 00:19:54,091 the enemy is gonna break through. 336 00:19:54,125 --> 00:19:57,061 They're air raided almost constantly. 337 00:19:57,095 --> 00:20:00,231 So the men who survived the siege 338 00:20:00,298 --> 00:20:03,467 of Tobruk had gone through a hellish ordeal. 339 00:20:04,636 --> 00:20:08,039 CAVELL: It's this holding out of the garrison that really 340 00:20:08,106 --> 00:20:12,610 turns the Rats of Tobruk into legends of World War II, 341 00:20:12,644 --> 00:20:15,780 but it's this operation that also gives rise to 342 00:20:15,847 --> 00:20:17,915 another legendary group 343 00:20:17,983 --> 00:20:20,718 of military operators, and that, of course, is 344 00:20:20,785 --> 00:20:22,453 the British SAS. 345 00:20:23,255 --> 00:20:26,891 NARRATOR: The SAS, short for Special Air Service, 346 00:20:26,925 --> 00:20:30,294 begins life three months into the siege of Tobruk 347 00:20:30,329 --> 00:20:35,766 as I Detachment, a handpicked group of 65 soldiers. 348 00:20:35,801 --> 00:20:38,970 The brainchild of Major David Stirling, 349 00:20:39,004 --> 00:20:42,006 it will revolutionize the way war is waged. 350 00:20:43,075 --> 00:20:45,243 What Stirling's doing here in the desert in Tobruk 351 00:20:45,277 --> 00:20:47,345 during World War II is really 352 00:20:47,379 --> 00:20:50,848 the birth of the special forces worldwide. 353 00:20:50,882 --> 00:20:53,684 NARRATOR: Like the U.S. Navy Seals, 354 00:20:53,752 --> 00:20:55,519 the SAS will become one of 355 00:20:55,553 --> 00:20:59,757 the most feared and admired special forces on Earth, 356 00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:02,593 elite warriors whose exploits are recorded in 357 00:21:02,628 --> 00:21:06,330 the medals they earn and the blood they spill. 358 00:21:07,633 --> 00:21:09,834 They took guys that were tired 359 00:21:09,901 --> 00:21:12,703 of being collared in a regular unit. 360 00:21:12,771 --> 00:21:16,307 They wanted action with the enemy, and you give them 361 00:21:16,374 --> 00:21:18,709 the fuel, the vehicles, and the weapons to go out 362 00:21:18,777 --> 00:21:20,111 and do it. 363 00:21:20,178 --> 00:21:23,881 NARRATOR: Stirling tasks his elite soldiers with a series of 364 00:21:23,915 --> 00:21:25,816 audacious raids to take out 365 00:21:25,851 --> 00:21:28,719 Nazi-held positions and airfields. 366 00:21:28,787 --> 00:21:32,223 These are men who are fearless, who are being dropped into very 367 00:21:32,257 --> 00:21:36,160 dangerous positions behind enemy lines, where they're going 368 00:21:36,194 --> 00:21:38,162 to commit acts of sabotage. 369 00:21:38,229 --> 00:21:41,399 MORGAN: When you take people like that and give them 370 00:21:41,433 --> 00:21:43,834 latitude to go accomplish a mission without 371 00:21:43,902 --> 00:21:45,136 micromanaging them, 372 00:21:45,170 --> 00:21:50,508 they can very often be capable of producing miracles. 373 00:21:52,377 --> 00:21:56,981 NARRATOR: Throughout 1941, I Detachment destroys hundreds 374 00:21:57,015 --> 00:21:59,517 of Rommel's aircraft, trucks, and trains, 375 00:22:00,919 --> 00:22:05,156 helping to prevent the Nazi conquests of North Africa. 376 00:22:05,190 --> 00:22:09,026 These British commandos conduct raids that are 377 00:22:09,094 --> 00:22:12,997 so audacious and so fast that they become 378 00:22:13,031 --> 00:22:15,633 these almost mythological warriors that 379 00:22:15,700 --> 00:22:18,969 the Germans just don't know how to deal with. 380 00:22:19,037 --> 00:22:23,140 CAVELL: David Stirling becomes a legend unto himself. 381 00:22:23,175 --> 00:22:26,110 The Germans begin to call him the phantom major, 382 00:22:26,177 --> 00:22:28,179 because he just appears and disappears, 383 00:22:28,246 --> 00:22:30,247 seemingly without a trace. 384 00:22:32,317 --> 00:22:35,052 NARRATOR: Eight decades after the city gave rise to 385 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:38,222 the legends of the Rats of Tobruk and the SAS, 386 00:22:38,256 --> 00:22:40,991 Libya is once again a war zone, 387 00:22:41,059 --> 00:22:44,562 the site and the image inaccessible to outsiders. 388 00:22:44,596 --> 00:22:46,731 Yet evidence of the seismic role it 389 00:22:46,798 --> 00:22:52,002 played in military history remains, revealed from space. 390 00:22:52,070 --> 00:22:54,305 We can't go and walk on the battlefield the way that 391 00:22:54,339 --> 00:22:57,041 we can Normandy, and so it's less familiar to us, 392 00:22:57,075 --> 00:23:00,745 and it's a shame for that, because that is a place where, 393 00:23:00,812 --> 00:23:04,215 in many ways, the outcome of World War II was decided. 394 00:23:10,122 --> 00:23:12,857 NARRATOR: Coming up, death and riches 395 00:23:12,891 --> 00:23:14,892 in the Nevada hills. 396 00:23:14,959 --> 00:23:17,695 They find more than $100 million 397 00:23:17,762 --> 00:23:19,196 in less than a decade. 398 00:23:19,231 --> 00:23:23,367 NARRATOR: And a nuclear face-off in the Arctic. 399 00:23:23,435 --> 00:23:26,337 You've essentially set the stage for World War III. 400 00:23:33,078 --> 00:23:36,947 NARRATOR: November 2017. 401 00:23:36,982 --> 00:23:41,152 480 miles above eastern Nevada, 402 00:23:41,219 --> 00:23:45,256 an eye in the sky scans deserted scrubland below 403 00:23:46,191 --> 00:23:48,759 and captures this image. 404 00:23:48,827 --> 00:23:52,663 We're looking at kind of a hardscrabble landscape, but 405 00:23:52,764 --> 00:23:58,169 then lined up perfectly is a series of silver circles. 406 00:23:58,236 --> 00:24:01,238 It almost looks like six gigantic buttons 407 00:24:01,306 --> 00:24:03,340 that you could push from space. 408 00:24:07,612 --> 00:24:09,613 NARRATOR: The weird line of giant buttons 409 00:24:09,714 --> 00:24:11,749 is over 200 feet long. 410 00:24:11,783 --> 00:24:15,186 Analysts turned to Maxar's SecureWatch 411 00:24:15,253 --> 00:24:17,588 technology to study them in more detail. 412 00:24:17,655 --> 00:24:21,091 JOYCE: Look at the shadows -- Because this 413 00:24:21,126 --> 00:24:23,794 image was captured with a low sun elevation, 414 00:24:23,862 --> 00:24:25,996 we can very clearly see this 415 00:24:26,064 --> 00:24:28,966 cone shape with each of these objects. 416 00:24:32,270 --> 00:24:35,406 NARRATOR: Each of the giant stone cones also has 417 00:24:35,473 --> 00:24:39,310 a hole at its summit -- George Kourounis recognizes 418 00:24:39,344 --> 00:24:40,644 the mystery structures. 419 00:24:40,679 --> 00:24:43,881 KOUROUNIS: I think that these are charcoal kilns. 420 00:24:43,948 --> 00:24:47,852 These kilns would typically be round or beehive-shaped, 421 00:24:47,886 --> 00:24:49,820 so that's a smoking gun here 422 00:24:49,888 --> 00:24:52,323 that tells me that this is exactly what we're looking at. 423 00:24:53,458 --> 00:24:55,593 NARRATOR: Land registry documents reveal 424 00:24:55,627 --> 00:24:57,228 that the kilns are a relic 425 00:24:57,295 --> 00:24:59,997 of an incredible yet often overlooked period in 426 00:25:00,031 --> 00:25:01,365 American history. 427 00:25:02,501 --> 00:25:05,169 Records show that these structures are on the land of 428 00:25:05,236 --> 00:25:06,170 Wards Mine, 429 00:25:06,237 --> 00:25:08,639 which was a silver mining boom town. 430 00:25:09,875 --> 00:25:12,309 RUBEN: Everyone's heard of the California Gold Rush, 431 00:25:12,377 --> 00:25:14,945 but we sometimes forget that there was another big one. 432 00:25:14,980 --> 00:25:17,481 There was the Nevada Silver Rush. 433 00:25:18,984 --> 00:25:20,985 NARRATOR: The Nevada Silver Rush begins 434 00:25:21,052 --> 00:25:24,455 in 1859, when vast reserves of 435 00:25:24,489 --> 00:25:26,657 the metal are discovered in a remote canyon 436 00:25:26,724 --> 00:25:28,859 in the west of the state. 437 00:25:28,927 --> 00:25:32,029 RUBEN: The silver boom is kicked off by the discovery of 438 00:25:32,063 --> 00:25:33,330 the Comstock Lode, 439 00:25:33,398 --> 00:25:36,433 which is the richest deposit of silver ever found in 440 00:25:36,468 --> 00:25:37,768 the western U.S. 441 00:25:37,802 --> 00:25:40,271 NARRATOR: In California, 442 00:25:40,338 --> 00:25:43,173 much of the gold is trapped in veins hidden deep inside 443 00:25:43,208 --> 00:25:45,075 the mountains, 444 00:25:45,143 --> 00:25:49,313 but at Comstock and elsewhere in Nevada, silver forms strictly 445 00:25:49,347 --> 00:25:51,682 on the surface, in beds hundreds 446 00:25:51,749 --> 00:25:54,585 of feet wide and over a mile long. 447 00:25:54,619 --> 00:25:58,956 HYMEL: The Comstock mine on the border of Nevada is 448 00:25:59,023 --> 00:26:00,958 the largest silver mine in 449 00:26:01,025 --> 00:26:03,294 the United States and is really gonna be 450 00:26:03,361 --> 00:26:06,230 the focal point of this silver boom. 451 00:26:07,899 --> 00:26:09,767 They find an ore vein here that's worth more 452 00:26:09,834 --> 00:26:13,637 than $100 million dollars in less than a decade. 453 00:26:13,705 --> 00:26:16,173 HYMEL: The amount of money is mind-boggling. 454 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:20,177 It is a geyser of cash for anyone involved. 455 00:26:22,213 --> 00:26:25,049 NARRATOR: Soon, more reserves are discovered across Nevada, 456 00:26:25,116 --> 00:26:27,151 and by the 1870s, 457 00:26:27,185 --> 00:26:30,821 20 percent of the world's silver originates from this state. 458 00:26:30,855 --> 00:26:35,659 600 boom towns rise out of the desert soil, 459 00:26:35,827 --> 00:26:39,063 including Ward, the site in the image. 460 00:26:39,130 --> 00:26:40,631 When the word got out, 461 00:26:40,665 --> 00:26:45,369 everyone rushed into that area, and they began prospecting. 462 00:26:45,403 --> 00:26:48,038 If you could find the source, and you could claim it 463 00:26:48,073 --> 00:26:49,573 for yourself, 464 00:26:49,608 --> 00:26:53,344 you could become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. 465 00:26:56,047 --> 00:26:59,617 NARRATOR: Yet Nevada's riches also mean that many of its towns 466 00:26:59,718 --> 00:27:01,051 descend into anarchic, 467 00:27:01,086 --> 00:27:05,122 no-go zones, where murder and rape are commonplace. 468 00:27:05,156 --> 00:27:09,560 MORGAN: The sudden appearance of vast numbers of people 469 00:27:09,628 --> 00:27:13,197 means that you suddenly have problems with crime. 470 00:27:13,231 --> 00:27:16,900 HORTON: The conditions there were lawless. 471 00:27:16,968 --> 00:27:21,305 It was a very dangerous place to be, 472 00:27:21,372 --> 00:27:25,109 and some people made their fortune, but many did not. 473 00:27:27,278 --> 00:27:29,346 [gunshots blasting] 474 00:27:29,381 --> 00:27:32,783 NARRATOR: During the 1860s, the violence unleashed 475 00:27:32,850 --> 00:27:35,252 by the Silver Rush spreads nationwide, 476 00:27:36,021 --> 00:27:38,822 when the state of Nevada sends 1,200 men 477 00:27:38,857 --> 00:27:42,259 and $400 million dollars to aid the Union Army. 478 00:27:43,228 --> 00:27:45,295 It makes a critical difference to the conflict 479 00:27:45,330 --> 00:27:48,432 at a time when the Confederates are going bankrupt. 480 00:27:49,234 --> 00:27:52,736 The discovery of silver in western Nevada doesn't 481 00:27:52,804 --> 00:27:55,039 just enrich the few people who found it. 482 00:27:55,073 --> 00:27:58,075 It finances the Union Army in the Civil War. 483 00:27:58,142 --> 00:28:00,944 It helps build the city of San Francisco. 484 00:28:01,012 --> 00:28:04,214 It leaves an imprint on financial markets for decades 485 00:28:04,248 --> 00:28:05,949 to come. 486 00:28:06,017 --> 00:28:09,219 NARRATOR: When word of the Silver Rush reaches Italy, 487 00:28:09,287 --> 00:28:12,790 specialist charcoal burners called Carbonari head 488 00:28:12,824 --> 00:28:14,224 to Nevada. 489 00:28:14,292 --> 00:28:17,594 They erect the beehive-shaped ovens in the image 490 00:28:17,629 --> 00:28:21,231 to extract yet more riches from the Nevada hills. 491 00:28:21,299 --> 00:28:24,835 In order to purify silver from silver ore, 492 00:28:24,902 --> 00:28:27,371 you need to heat it to very high temperatures. 493 00:28:27,438 --> 00:28:29,206 PEPPER: This is an incredibly efficient way of 494 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:30,374 producing charcoal, 495 00:28:30,441 --> 00:28:34,178 and it adds to the productivity of the mine. 496 00:28:34,245 --> 00:28:37,247 NARRATOR: By 1879, the Ward mine, 497 00:28:37,315 --> 00:28:41,085 like many others in Nevada, has exhausted its reserves, 498 00:28:41,119 --> 00:28:44,388 and the Carbonaris' kilns grow cold. 499 00:28:46,624 --> 00:28:50,060 Today, much of the former mining town is being reclaimed 500 00:28:50,128 --> 00:28:53,363 by the desert, but the structures 501 00:28:53,397 --> 00:28:55,899 seen from space remain as monuments to 502 00:28:55,934 --> 00:28:58,936 the state's extraordinary Silver Rush years. 503 00:28:59,003 --> 00:29:02,005 This is an incredible piece of U.S. mining history, 504 00:29:02,073 --> 00:29:03,340 and luckily in Nevada, 505 00:29:03,407 --> 00:29:08,145 the dryness has preserved it, and you can see it from space. 506 00:29:13,618 --> 00:29:15,719 NARRATOR: Coming up, something big 507 00:29:15,754 --> 00:29:18,055 and weird in Greenland. 508 00:29:18,089 --> 00:29:20,891 I can't tell what they are, but there's hundreds of them. 509 00:29:20,958 --> 00:29:23,894 NARRATOR: And the code of the cannibal warrior. 510 00:29:23,961 --> 00:29:27,397 A successful warrior might eat his flesh and present 511 00:29:27,432 --> 00:29:30,100 the head as a trophy to his chieftain. 512 00:29:38,409 --> 00:29:41,378 NARRATOR: August 17th, 2020. 513 00:29:41,412 --> 00:29:43,647 A satellite orbiting over 514 00:29:43,848 --> 00:29:46,183 the Arctic scans a series of structures in 515 00:29:46,217 --> 00:29:47,985 northwest Greenland. 516 00:29:50,188 --> 00:29:53,056 MUNOZ: The runway and surrounding facilities 517 00:29:53,091 --> 00:29:54,758 that are Thule Air Base, 518 00:29:54,826 --> 00:29:57,261 and it's the northernmost base that 519 00:29:57,295 --> 00:30:00,330 the Americans have in the entire world. 520 00:30:00,365 --> 00:30:04,001 NARRATOR: As the spy bird moves southeast from the highly 521 00:30:04,035 --> 00:30:06,036 clandestine facility, 522 00:30:06,103 --> 00:30:09,740 it captures something that continues to baffle analysts. 523 00:30:09,774 --> 00:30:11,942 It looks like a big claw or something 524 00:30:11,976 --> 00:30:14,178 just took marks out of the ground. 525 00:30:14,979 --> 00:30:17,381 It's really cut up, like 526 00:30:17,448 --> 00:30:19,950 a knife has sliced through the territory. 527 00:30:19,984 --> 00:30:22,152 It's bizarre. 528 00:30:24,322 --> 00:30:27,157 NARRATOR: Scale analysis reveals the weird scars 529 00:30:27,192 --> 00:30:31,161 cover an area of six square miles. 530 00:30:31,195 --> 00:30:36,066 These are quite regular and definitely don't look natural. 531 00:30:36,133 --> 00:30:38,602 I can't tell what they are, but there's hundreds of them. 532 00:30:41,239 --> 00:30:44,641 Analysts study Thule's history for clues, 533 00:30:46,110 --> 00:30:50,013 a history that begins in the late 1940s, 534 00:30:50,048 --> 00:30:52,850 when growing Soviet aggression prompts the U.S. 535 00:30:52,917 --> 00:30:56,053 to establish a military outpost in the Arctic. 536 00:30:56,988 --> 00:30:59,823 MORGAN: Having a base in Greenland meant that the U.S. 537 00:30:59,858 --> 00:31:00,991 had a last base of operation 538 00:31:01,058 --> 00:31:03,927 where we can launch an attack before Soviet 539 00:31:03,961 --> 00:31:06,330 intercontinental ballistic missiles reached us. 540 00:31:07,999 --> 00:31:11,235 NARRATOR: Using the code name Operation Blue Jay, 541 00:31:11,302 --> 00:31:15,606 planning for construction of the base begins in 1949. 542 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,876 MUNOZ: The construction of Thule Air Base 543 00:31:18,910 --> 00:31:20,911 was probably one of the most complex 544 00:31:20,978 --> 00:31:22,946 and difficult undertakings 545 00:31:22,981 --> 00:31:25,082 by the U.S. military at the time. 546 00:31:26,184 --> 00:31:28,085 Thule is a very, very difficult 547 00:31:28,119 --> 00:31:30,654 place to build anything -- It's uninhabited, 548 00:31:30,822 --> 00:31:34,024 so you have to bring in all the supplies -- concrete, 549 00:31:34,058 --> 00:31:37,661 food, water, everything. 550 00:31:37,729 --> 00:31:42,933 NARRATOR: In July 1951, 300,000 tons of materials arrive 551 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:47,137 in the Arctic on a flotilla of 120 ships. 552 00:31:47,204 --> 00:31:50,173 Thick sea ice forces the military to use dynamite 553 00:31:50,208 --> 00:31:52,542 to open up a safe passage to the site. 554 00:31:55,713 --> 00:31:57,814 Yet when they arrive, engineers are 555 00:31:57,882 --> 00:32:00,250 confronted with an even greater obstacle. 556 00:32:02,153 --> 00:32:06,323 Permafrost up to 1,600 feet deep. 557 00:32:06,357 --> 00:32:08,592 The first efforts to construct this 558 00:32:08,626 --> 00:32:12,229 base really were not very successful. 559 00:32:12,296 --> 00:32:14,798 They came unglued pretty quickly. 560 00:32:14,832 --> 00:32:17,968 Pentagon planners did not realize 561 00:32:18,035 --> 00:32:20,637 that the heat generated from 562 00:32:20,805 --> 00:32:24,174 the building will essentially melt the soil, and the building 563 00:32:24,241 --> 00:32:26,977 will sink into the ground. 564 00:32:27,044 --> 00:32:29,346 NARRATOR: The threat of buildings sinking into 565 00:32:29,380 --> 00:32:32,215 the thawing permafrost forces engineers to change 566 00:32:32,250 --> 00:32:34,017 their construction plans. 567 00:32:34,051 --> 00:32:36,019 I think there's a good possibility 568 00:32:36,054 --> 00:32:38,121 that these are actually the foundations 569 00:32:38,155 --> 00:32:42,225 of the original air base that was built in 1951. 570 00:32:42,259 --> 00:32:43,226 NARRATOR: In the decade following 571 00:32:43,261 --> 00:32:46,330 the base's construction, Thule becomes 572 00:32:46,364 --> 00:32:49,132 a key staging point for Operation Chrome Dome. 573 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,069 Operation Chrome Dome is the idea that you 574 00:32:52,136 --> 00:32:54,838 have nuclear armed B-52s in the sky 575 00:32:54,872 --> 00:32:57,174 24 hours a day, ready to receive 576 00:32:57,208 --> 00:32:59,609 an order to strike targets in Russia. 577 00:32:59,744 --> 00:33:02,479 NARRATOR: One incident during one of 578 00:33:02,546 --> 00:33:04,881 Operation Chrome Dome's clandestine missions 579 00:33:04,949 --> 00:33:07,250 offers another possible explanation 580 00:33:07,285 --> 00:33:10,053 for the weird marks in the image. 581 00:33:10,088 --> 00:33:12,622 On January 21st, 1968, an American B-52 582 00:33:12,724 --> 00:33:14,992 stratofortress crashed during 583 00:33:15,026 --> 00:33:17,194 an approach to land at this airfield. 584 00:33:17,228 --> 00:33:19,997 There's a cabin fire on the inside of the airplane. 585 00:33:20,031 --> 00:33:22,566 The aircraft commander realizes that they can't 586 00:33:22,633 --> 00:33:25,235 save the airplane and tells everybody to evacuate. 587 00:33:26,270 --> 00:33:28,338 MORGAN: The crew bails out -- The aircraft 588 00:33:28,373 --> 00:33:31,308 then belly flops and bursts into flames. 589 00:33:31,376 --> 00:33:33,844 [explosion blasts] 590 00:33:33,878 --> 00:33:35,412 NARRATOR: The incident claims the life 591 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,614 of one crew member, 592 00:33:37,681 --> 00:33:41,385 but the U.S. military's problems have only just begun. 593 00:33:41,419 --> 00:33:44,821 What the aircraft was carrying was four 594 00:33:44,889 --> 00:33:46,923 B-28 thermonuclear bombs. 595 00:33:46,958 --> 00:33:49,926 Once the plane actually made impact 596 00:33:49,961 --> 00:33:52,996 on the ground, these weapons went off. 597 00:33:53,031 --> 00:33:57,200 [explosion blasts] 598 00:33:57,235 --> 00:33:58,568 NARRATOR: The nukes on the plane 599 00:33:58,636 --> 00:34:01,104 have an explosive yield 400 times 600 00:34:01,172 --> 00:34:03,573 greater than the one which destroyed Nagasaki 601 00:34:03,641 --> 00:34:06,009 in World War II. 602 00:34:06,044 --> 00:34:08,245 The incident threatens to dramatically 603 00:34:08,279 --> 00:34:11,615 escalate hostilities between Washington and Moscow. 604 00:34:11,649 --> 00:34:15,185 MUNOZ: You have this crazy kind of mix 605 00:34:15,252 --> 00:34:17,954 of a catastrophic accident, 606 00:34:17,989 --> 00:34:19,656 and tensions on both sides 607 00:34:19,757 --> 00:34:21,224 during the height of the Cold War -- 608 00:34:21,259 --> 00:34:23,627 You've essentially set the stage for what could have 609 00:34:23,694 --> 00:34:25,729 been World War III. 610 00:34:25,796 --> 00:34:28,598 NARRATOR: Mercifully, a safety mechanism 611 00:34:28,666 --> 00:34:31,835 prevents a full-scale nuclear explosion, 612 00:34:31,869 --> 00:34:34,838 but the accident still releases vast amounts of 613 00:34:34,872 --> 00:34:39,276 radioactive material across permafrost near the base. 614 00:34:40,044 --> 00:34:41,912 MORGAN: An area of over three square miles 615 00:34:41,946 --> 00:34:44,648 was completely contaminated by radiation. 616 00:34:44,949 --> 00:34:47,617 The cleanup effort would go on for nine months. 617 00:34:47,685 --> 00:34:49,853 It would involve 700 people 618 00:34:49,887 --> 00:34:53,423 and would cost the American taxpayer $10 million. 619 00:34:54,158 --> 00:34:57,160 Maybe the marks on the soil were caused when 620 00:34:57,228 --> 00:34:59,930 the area had to be cleared out after this accident. 621 00:34:59,964 --> 00:35:02,566 NARRATOR: Officially, the cleanup operation 622 00:35:02,633 --> 00:35:06,103 took place to the north of the marks in the image. 623 00:35:07,305 --> 00:35:09,739 But analysts learn the scars could still 624 00:35:09,774 --> 00:35:13,143 be connected to the 1968 nuclear incident. 625 00:35:14,078 --> 00:35:16,113 They didn't actually manage to get everything 626 00:35:16,180 --> 00:35:18,615 in the cleanup operation -- Declassified 627 00:35:18,649 --> 00:35:21,418 information revealed that one of these bombs was never 628 00:35:21,452 --> 00:35:23,753 recovered -- Somewhere down there 629 00:35:23,788 --> 00:35:28,358 under the ice in the ocean is an unrecovered nuclear weapon. 630 00:35:28,392 --> 00:35:33,096 NARRATOR: A nuclear weapon lost under the Arctic ice. 631 00:35:33,131 --> 00:35:35,332 Strange gashes in the landscape. 632 00:35:35,399 --> 00:35:38,068 In this corner of Greenland, 633 00:35:38,102 --> 00:35:41,905 the Cold War is far from over. 634 00:35:41,972 --> 00:35:45,041 MORGAN: The entire area is subject to top secrecy. 635 00:35:45,109 --> 00:35:46,877 And because of that, it's very, 636 00:35:46,911 --> 00:35:49,045 very difficult to get any information about this base. 637 00:35:49,113 --> 00:35:51,648 So we may never know what we're looking at in the photo. 638 00:35:59,223 --> 00:36:03,160 NARRATOR: Coming up, the lost jungle civilization. 639 00:36:03,194 --> 00:36:04,995 HEIMLER: There are these weird symbols, 640 00:36:05,062 --> 00:36:07,197 and nobody knows what they're there for. 641 00:36:14,972 --> 00:36:18,041 NARRATOR: September 2019. 642 00:36:18,075 --> 00:36:21,244 A drone conducts an aerial survey 643 00:36:21,279 --> 00:36:24,080 over the South Pacific Islands of Samoa. 644 00:36:25,950 --> 00:36:28,151 As it scans the dense tropical forest, 645 00:36:28,219 --> 00:36:31,188 it spots something nestled among the foliage. 646 00:36:33,891 --> 00:36:37,060 HEIMLER: It almost looks like the stump of a giant tree 647 00:36:37,094 --> 00:36:39,362 that has been cut off at its base. 648 00:36:39,430 --> 00:36:43,500 However, this formation is massive. 649 00:36:43,567 --> 00:36:47,504 It's not really obvious at all what this thing is. 650 00:36:47,571 --> 00:36:49,539 Call me confused. 651 00:36:52,176 --> 00:36:54,945 NARRATOR: Further studies reveal that there are around 652 00:36:54,979 --> 00:36:57,247 80 of these giant shapes scattered across 653 00:36:57,314 --> 00:36:59,149 the archipelago, 654 00:36:59,183 --> 00:37:01,952 some thousands of years old. 655 00:37:01,986 --> 00:37:05,021 They're these weird geometric symbols rising up out of 656 00:37:05,056 --> 00:37:08,058 the dense jungle vegetation, and nobody knows 657 00:37:08,125 --> 00:37:09,325 what they're there for. 658 00:37:11,028 --> 00:37:13,863 NARRATOR: Experts delve into the island's history in search 659 00:37:13,931 --> 00:37:14,931 of clues. 660 00:37:14,999 --> 00:37:16,733 What makes this 661 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,003 an especially tricky problem is that the Samoans 662 00:37:20,070 --> 00:37:22,872 traditionally did not have a written language. 663 00:37:22,940 --> 00:37:26,843 This is what's called a memory society, because their stories 664 00:37:26,877 --> 00:37:28,511 and their legends and their histories 665 00:37:28,546 --> 00:37:31,014 were all passed down orally. 666 00:37:32,850 --> 00:37:36,253 NARRATOR: Studies suggest the first star mounds appear 667 00:37:36,287 --> 00:37:41,625 soon after Polynesians arrive in Samoa in around 1,000 B.C., 668 00:37:41,726 --> 00:37:44,194 having somehow found the island's concealed 669 00:37:44,228 --> 00:37:47,364 in millions of miles of open ocean. 670 00:37:47,431 --> 00:37:49,933 JANULIS: Not a lot is known about the earliest seafarers 671 00:37:49,967 --> 00:37:51,234 that settled Samoa, 672 00:37:51,302 --> 00:37:55,238 but these people colonize almost every island in 673 00:37:55,306 --> 00:37:58,842 the Pacific in a very short amount of time. 674 00:37:58,909 --> 00:38:02,178 One of the more interesting things is they look somewhat 675 00:38:02,246 --> 00:38:05,815 like rays of stars spanning out, 676 00:38:05,850 --> 00:38:09,653 and the Pacific Islanders certainly followed the stars at 677 00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:13,556 night when they'd go across vast expanses of water. 678 00:38:14,859 --> 00:38:18,194 NARRATOR: The seafarers believe in many gods and goddesses, 679 00:38:18,262 --> 00:38:20,297 heroes, and demons. 680 00:38:21,232 --> 00:38:24,267 Some analysts speculate the star shapes could also have 681 00:38:24,335 --> 00:38:26,836 been built to honor the celestial deities 682 00:38:26,871 --> 00:38:30,140 that guided the Polynesians to their new lands. 683 00:38:30,174 --> 00:38:31,708 There's definitely a sort of 684 00:38:31,742 --> 00:38:34,778 symbolic or ritualistic aspect to these. 685 00:38:34,812 --> 00:38:37,614 They're repeating the same shape in uninhabited 686 00:38:37,681 --> 00:38:40,150 parts of very hard to reach places. 687 00:38:41,018 --> 00:38:42,952 NARRATOR: According to Samoan beliefs, 688 00:38:43,020 --> 00:38:46,523 people, spirits, and objects are endowed with a life force 689 00:38:46,557 --> 00:38:48,091 called mana. 690 00:38:48,158 --> 00:38:50,827 As the island's population grows, 691 00:38:50,894 --> 00:38:54,464 it fuels a series of conflicts between tribes hoping to 692 00:38:54,498 --> 00:38:58,068 acquire this supernatural power from their enemies. 693 00:38:59,136 --> 00:39:00,870 JANULIS: Being a warrior was important. 694 00:39:00,905 --> 00:39:03,073 It was something expected of you, 695 00:39:03,107 --> 00:39:05,008 and if you hadn't ever gone to war, 696 00:39:05,042 --> 00:39:07,811 you probably didn't have a lot of respect from your peers. 697 00:39:07,845 --> 00:39:11,448 NARRATOR: The pursuit of mana would sometimes lead to 698 00:39:11,515 --> 00:39:13,983 victorious warriors indulging in gruesome 699 00:39:14,051 --> 00:39:15,985 post-battle rituals. 700 00:39:16,821 --> 00:39:20,857 So a successful warrior might cut the head off of his enemy, 701 00:39:20,924 --> 00:39:23,159 eat his flesh, drink his blood, 702 00:39:23,194 --> 00:39:26,196 and present the heart as a trophy to his chieftain. 703 00:39:27,298 --> 00:39:28,331 By doing so, 704 00:39:28,399 --> 00:39:31,768 they thought that some of the courage and bravery 705 00:39:31,802 --> 00:39:33,103 that was in that soldier would 706 00:39:33,137 --> 00:39:36,039 transfer into them by virtue of eating. 707 00:39:36,073 --> 00:39:39,843 Given Polynesia's tribal history, 708 00:39:39,877 --> 00:39:43,580 it's entirely feasible that these are defensible 709 00:39:43,614 --> 00:39:45,615 fortifications that individual 710 00:39:45,682 --> 00:39:47,517 clans would have retreated to. 711 00:39:49,053 --> 00:39:51,054 NARRATOR: Yet when local archaeologists 712 00:39:51,088 --> 00:39:54,023 begin excavating the shapes revealed from the skies, 713 00:39:54,091 --> 00:39:56,326 they discover something incredible. 714 00:39:57,194 --> 00:40:02,165 It turns out Samoa has a lot more structures on 715 00:40:02,232 --> 00:40:04,667 it under the dense jungle vegetation 716 00:40:04,702 --> 00:40:07,570 than we previously assumed. 717 00:40:08,706 --> 00:40:11,941 BELLINGER: These star mounds are actually just part of 718 00:40:11,976 --> 00:40:16,246 a much broader residential complex that stretches 719 00:40:16,313 --> 00:40:17,981 for acres and acres. 720 00:40:19,316 --> 00:40:22,018 NARRATOR: It appears that the island's dense jungle 721 00:40:22,052 --> 00:40:26,089 conceals a series of megastructures, lost to history. 722 00:40:26,123 --> 00:40:30,059 This shows that we have greatly underestimated how 723 00:40:30,127 --> 00:40:32,395 complex and large scale 724 00:40:32,463 --> 00:40:35,131 the Samoan society was before the Europeans 725 00:40:35,199 --> 00:40:36,633 contacted them. 726 00:40:38,068 --> 00:40:40,970 NARRATOR: European explorers arrive in Samoa 727 00:40:41,005 --> 00:40:42,872 in the early 18th century. 728 00:40:42,940 --> 00:40:46,776 Death comes with them, and over the next 200 years, 729 00:40:46,811 --> 00:40:50,280 a series of epidemics sweep the islands. 730 00:40:50,347 --> 00:40:52,615 Populations that have no contact 731 00:40:52,750 --> 00:40:56,152 with European population for thousands of 732 00:40:56,220 --> 00:40:59,989 years have no immunity to our diseases. 733 00:41:00,024 --> 00:41:02,959 When the Europeans finally got to know the Samoan culture 734 00:41:03,026 --> 00:41:04,294 and people, they were seeing 735 00:41:04,361 --> 00:41:08,398 the remnants of a plague apocalypse. 736 00:41:09,133 --> 00:41:12,068 NARRATOR: Previous studies suggest European diseases 737 00:41:12,102 --> 00:41:14,938 killed around one in five Samoans. 738 00:41:15,973 --> 00:41:18,074 But the scale of the structures hidden by 739 00:41:18,108 --> 00:41:19,609 the jungle canopy reveals 740 00:41:19,643 --> 00:41:22,846 the catastrophic effect of European contact was much 741 00:41:22,913 --> 00:41:25,014 greater than previously feared. 742 00:41:25,049 --> 00:41:28,952 This new evidence shows us that the Samoans were not 743 00:41:28,986 --> 00:41:30,653 a tiny population at the time 744 00:41:30,721 --> 00:41:33,189 the Europeans arrived, and that many, 745 00:41:33,257 --> 00:41:36,993 many more aboriginal Samoans died as a result 746 00:41:37,060 --> 00:41:38,962 of colonization. 747 00:41:39,864 --> 00:41:41,631 NARRATOR: The structures are both a tribute 748 00:41:41,699 --> 00:41:43,266 to the extraordinary civilization 749 00:41:43,333 --> 00:41:48,171 that once thrived here and a record of its sad demise. 750 00:41:48,205 --> 00:41:50,840 We're only beginning to scratch the surface 751 00:41:50,874 --> 00:41:53,610 of this mysterious and enigmatic culture, 752 00:41:53,944 --> 00:41:56,513 and these star mounds may hold part of the mystery.