1 00:00:01,301 --> 00:00:02,768 NARRATOR: They're watching you. 2 00:00:02,836 --> 00:00:06,338 More than 5,000 satellites circle the Earth. 3 00:00:06,406 --> 00:00:10,876 Every day, they uncover new, mysterious phenomena 4 00:00:10,944 --> 00:00:13,379 that defy explanation. 5 00:00:15,815 --> 00:00:18,217 Witches, kings, and mega weapons 6 00:00:18,284 --> 00:00:21,120 in a 1,000-year-old forest. 7 00:00:21,187 --> 00:00:24,256 Strange symbols have been found here. 8 00:00:24,323 --> 00:00:26,625 What is this? 9 00:00:26,693 --> 00:00:29,695 NARRATOR: Decoding the great plagues of Egypt. 10 00:00:29,763 --> 00:00:32,264 It all happened just a few miles 11 00:00:32,331 --> 00:00:34,933 from where this image is located. 12 00:00:35,001 --> 00:00:38,337 NARRATOR: And the super warriors of Voodoo Lake. 13 00:00:38,405 --> 00:00:41,206 It was referred to as the Sparta of Africa, 14 00:00:41,274 --> 00:00:44,443 because this was a society of brutal warriors. 15 00:00:44,511 --> 00:00:49,515 NARRATOR: Baffling phenomena, mysteries from space. 16 00:00:49,582 --> 00:00:51,550 What on Earth are they? 17 00:00:51,618 --> 00:00:55,154 [theme music playing] 18 00:01:10,703 --> 00:01:13,472 NARRATOR: The New Forest, South Central England, 19 00:01:15,008 --> 00:01:18,277 a vast expanse of woodland and wild gorse, 20 00:01:19,412 --> 00:01:22,681 barely changed since the Norman conquest of England 21 00:01:22,749 --> 00:01:25,050 in 1066. 22 00:01:25,118 --> 00:01:26,885 People haven't been allowed to build here, 23 00:01:26,953 --> 00:01:29,988 by royal decree, for over 1,000 years. 24 00:01:31,291 --> 00:01:34,426 NARRATOR: Yet on June 5th, 2010, 25 00:01:34,494 --> 00:01:37,596 an aerial LIDAR scanner reveals remnants 26 00:01:37,664 --> 00:01:40,132 of a seemingly man-made structure buried 27 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,367 in a barren valley. 28 00:01:44,571 --> 00:01:46,171 The image is really bizarre. 29 00:01:46,239 --> 00:01:49,041 It's multiple concentric circles made up of 30 00:01:49,109 --> 00:01:52,211 a series of smaller circles, really reminiscent 31 00:01:52,278 --> 00:01:53,445 of a dartboard. 32 00:01:55,782 --> 00:01:58,884 How long has this pattern been there? 33 00:01:58,952 --> 00:02:01,520 How many ages has it been laying, 34 00:02:01,588 --> 00:02:03,155 waiting to be discovered? 35 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:09,695 NARRATOR: Hooked by the weird circles, 36 00:02:09,762 --> 00:02:12,131 archaeologist Rebecca Bradshaw is 37 00:02:12,198 --> 00:02:15,234 trekking into the remote forest, which is anything 38 00:02:15,301 --> 00:02:16,468 but new. 39 00:02:18,905 --> 00:02:21,140 BRADSHAW: The forest has this extraordinary history. 40 00:02:21,207 --> 00:02:24,610 It's a really ancient, spiritual space. 41 00:02:28,915 --> 00:02:32,518 NARRATOR: In 1079, King William The Conqueror claims 42 00:02:32,585 --> 00:02:34,786 this region as a royal hunting ground. 43 00:02:36,523 --> 00:02:39,725 Peasants are driven out, threatened with death if 44 00:02:39,792 --> 00:02:41,860 they disobey. 45 00:02:41,928 --> 00:02:45,564 But death finds William. 46 00:02:45,632 --> 00:02:48,734 Two of the king's sons meet their end here, 47 00:02:48,801 --> 00:02:53,605 one slain by a hunter's arrow, the other in a riding accident. 48 00:02:56,009 --> 00:02:58,644 The locals said that this was God's will 49 00:02:58,711 --> 00:03:00,879 punishing him, because he removed 50 00:03:00,947 --> 00:03:04,750 13 churches and scattered all the inhabitants, 51 00:03:04,817 --> 00:03:10,522 making New Forest almost barren of people. 52 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:18,397 NARRATOR: But some return and make their mark on the woods, 53 00:03:18,464 --> 00:03:21,133 leaving clues Bradshaw thinks could shed 54 00:03:21,201 --> 00:03:23,135 light on the LIDAR image. 55 00:03:25,338 --> 00:03:28,207 Strange symbols carved into trees and things 56 00:03:28,274 --> 00:03:29,708 have been found here 57 00:03:29,776 --> 00:03:32,744 and have confused a number of historians looking to document 58 00:03:32,812 --> 00:03:34,313 the history of the New Forest. 59 00:03:37,083 --> 00:03:39,184 NARRATOR: In the 18th and 19th centuries, 60 00:03:39,252 --> 00:03:41,720 trees suitable for shipbuilding are 61 00:03:41,788 --> 00:03:43,488 carved with the king's mark, 62 00:03:43,556 --> 00:03:46,558 a broad arrow. 63 00:03:46,626 --> 00:03:49,761 But there are also older carvings, 64 00:03:49,829 --> 00:03:54,433 strange shapes, some of them reminiscent of the LIDAR image, 65 00:03:54,500 --> 00:03:57,336 the work of medieval misfits, 66 00:03:57,370 --> 00:04:02,107 spiritual outcasts who come to convene with the ancient forest. 67 00:04:03,543 --> 00:04:04,409 On some of these trees, 68 00:04:04,477 --> 00:04:06,812 they found concentric circles that 69 00:04:06,879 --> 00:04:09,715 historians identify as witches' marks. 70 00:04:12,752 --> 00:04:16,989 A square has corners and edges, whereas a circle doesn't, 71 00:04:17,056 --> 00:04:20,125 and so it's a way of capturing evil, 72 00:04:20,193 --> 00:04:24,196 circumscribing evil into one particular place. 73 00:04:27,433 --> 00:04:29,468 NARRATOR: Evidence of witches' marks 74 00:04:29,535 --> 00:04:31,937 can be traced to the early 1300s. 75 00:04:32,905 --> 00:04:35,574 They are found in caves and medieval buildings 76 00:04:35,642 --> 00:04:37,342 across Britain, 77 00:04:37,410 --> 00:04:41,647 scored in the wooden beams of churches and domestic dwellings. 78 00:04:44,317 --> 00:04:46,952 HYMEL: Witches would also carve them into the ground, 79 00:04:47,020 --> 00:04:50,856 from where they would then conduct their spells. 80 00:04:50,923 --> 00:04:54,359 HORTON: It is possible that these concentric circles 81 00:04:54,427 --> 00:04:56,461 we see in the LIDAR image 82 00:04:56,529 --> 00:05:00,632 is an example of these protection marks that you find 83 00:05:00,700 --> 00:05:02,334 on trees and on buildings. 84 00:05:06,039 --> 00:05:08,874 NARRATOR: But if these have been left by witches, 85 00:05:08,941 --> 00:05:10,208 they are massive. 86 00:05:12,345 --> 00:05:16,114 The largest is almost a mile wide. 87 00:05:18,151 --> 00:05:21,720 They are of a size, scale, and precision 88 00:05:21,788 --> 00:05:24,589 that really suggests a much more modern effort. 89 00:05:28,161 --> 00:05:31,463 NARRATOR: Closing in on the site scanned from the skies... 90 00:05:31,530 --> 00:05:33,098 What is this? 91 00:05:34,834 --> 00:05:37,502 Bradshaw finds further evidence that the strange 92 00:05:37,570 --> 00:05:40,372 circles may be much more recent in origin. 93 00:05:43,710 --> 00:05:46,545 On first glance, this, to me, 94 00:05:46,612 --> 00:05:49,081 looks like extremely heavy duty concrete, 95 00:05:50,516 --> 00:05:52,751 and the shape, of course, suggests... 96 00:05:52,819 --> 00:05:54,653 [sniffles] 97 00:05:54,721 --> 00:05:56,388 A bunker. 98 00:05:58,825 --> 00:06:01,927 This is a bit odd, because it hasn't got 99 00:06:01,994 --> 00:06:04,296 any visible 100 00:06:04,363 --> 00:06:06,398 signs of where guns could go. 101 00:06:08,468 --> 00:06:12,871 What is a non-defensive bunker doing here 102 00:06:12,939 --> 00:06:17,809 in the middle of a pretty dense wooded area? 103 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:22,581 NARRATOR: Climbing out of the trees, 104 00:06:22,648 --> 00:06:25,751 Bradshaw reaches a vantage point high above the valley 105 00:06:25,818 --> 00:06:27,018 in the LIDAR image... 106 00:06:29,155 --> 00:06:31,890 Well, well, well. 107 00:06:31,958 --> 00:06:34,259 where she finds a bizarre clue 108 00:06:34,327 --> 00:06:36,795 that literally points the way. 109 00:06:38,364 --> 00:06:40,165 This 110 00:06:40,233 --> 00:06:42,367 looks to me 111 00:06:42,435 --> 00:06:45,370 like 100 feet in length by sort of 30 112 00:06:45,405 --> 00:06:48,974 to 40 feet wide, and it is pointing directly 113 00:06:50,009 --> 00:06:51,376 into this valley here. 114 00:06:52,979 --> 00:06:54,179 This is crazy. 115 00:06:58,017 --> 00:07:00,185 NARRATOR: Up close, the giant arrow 116 00:07:00,253 --> 00:07:01,987 serves no apparent purpose. 117 00:07:03,890 --> 00:07:06,725 But Bradshaw considers a fresh perspective. 118 00:07:08,494 --> 00:07:11,062 If you're a pilot coming through the skies, 119 00:07:11,130 --> 00:07:14,699 you have indicators on the ground like this arrow to 120 00:07:14,767 --> 00:07:16,868 direct you where you're going, 121 00:07:16,936 --> 00:07:19,438 then it would make sense that those concentric circles 122 00:07:19,505 --> 00:07:21,907 are actually a massive target. 123 00:07:26,145 --> 00:07:28,480 NARRATOR: A mild descent into the valley... 124 00:07:28,548 --> 00:07:29,848 Wow! 125 00:07:29,916 --> 00:07:33,785 and Bradshaw's theory hits the bull's eye. 126 00:07:33,853 --> 00:07:35,754 This is a bomb crater. 127 00:07:39,258 --> 00:07:42,394 I get the feeling that this is a Second World War 128 00:07:42,461 --> 00:07:44,095 bombing range. 129 00:07:46,365 --> 00:07:49,568 NARRATOR: But this is no ordinary bombing range. 130 00:07:49,635 --> 00:07:51,603 The archaeologist estimates the width 131 00:07:51,671 --> 00:07:54,940 of the crater at 100 feet plus. 132 00:07:55,007 --> 00:07:58,243 It could easily be over 50 feet deep. 133 00:07:58,311 --> 00:08:00,178 Something really quite extraordinary 134 00:08:00,246 --> 00:08:03,148 was dropped here to make this size crater. 135 00:08:04,283 --> 00:08:06,384 NARRATOR: Bradshaw has found evidence of 136 00:08:06,452 --> 00:08:10,822 a cataclysmic experiment that rocked rural England. 137 00:08:10,890 --> 00:08:13,058 What the British army did in the New Forest 138 00:08:13,125 --> 00:08:15,760 was secret then, and had remained secret 139 00:08:15,828 --> 00:08:17,529 for decades afterward. 140 00:08:20,366 --> 00:08:24,569 Coming up, the mega blast that changed history. 141 00:08:24,637 --> 00:08:27,606 The Germans didn't know what hit them. 142 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:29,875 NARRATOR: And blood of the mummies. 143 00:08:29,942 --> 00:08:34,179 KOUROUNIS: It looks like some gigantic footprint 144 00:08:34,247 --> 00:08:36,314 has just smashed into the desert. 145 00:08:45,491 --> 00:08:47,692 NARRATOR: Archaeologist Rebecca Bradshaw 146 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,829 is in England's ancient New Forest... 147 00:08:50,897 --> 00:08:53,865 This is a Second World War bombing range. 148 00:08:53,900 --> 00:08:58,537 investigating strange circles revealed by LIDAR. 149 00:08:58,604 --> 00:09:00,472 BRADSHAW: Something really quite extraordinary 150 00:09:00,540 --> 00:09:03,675 was dropped here to make this size crater. 151 00:09:07,547 --> 00:09:09,147 NARRATOR: During World War II, 152 00:09:09,215 --> 00:09:13,418 U.S. and British forces drop around 1.5 million tons of 153 00:09:13,486 --> 00:09:14,452 bombs on Germany. 154 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,322 A single raid 155 00:09:17,390 --> 00:09:19,457 could see up to 1,000 planes 156 00:09:19,525 --> 00:09:22,060 unleash their fury on German cities. 157 00:09:24,497 --> 00:09:27,132 So Hitler moves underground, 158 00:09:27,199 --> 00:09:29,734 building impregnable mega structures across 159 00:09:29,802 --> 00:09:32,203 occupied Europe. 160 00:09:32,271 --> 00:09:36,474 The Germans built a whole series of structures that were 161 00:09:36,542 --> 00:09:39,544 immune to all the bombs that the British had then developed. 162 00:09:41,113 --> 00:09:43,982 The most famous of these were the submarine pens on 163 00:09:44,050 --> 00:09:46,017 the French coast at Saint-Nazaire, 164 00:09:46,085 --> 00:09:49,321 with concrete ceilings 10 feet thick. 165 00:09:55,695 --> 00:09:57,662 NARRATOR: To break through, Britain needs 166 00:09:57,730 --> 00:10:01,299 somewhere to test experimental bombs in secret. 167 00:10:03,436 --> 00:10:06,104 Empty by order of William the Conqueror, 168 00:10:06,172 --> 00:10:08,607 the remote New Forest is ideal. 169 00:10:09,842 --> 00:10:13,712 This LIDAR image shows an essential 170 00:10:13,779 --> 00:10:18,016 part of the Ashley Walk Bombing Range. 171 00:10:20,252 --> 00:10:22,887 NARRATOR: According to declassified military records, 172 00:10:22,955 --> 00:10:26,558 Ashley Walk becomes operational in 1940. 173 00:10:29,161 --> 00:10:32,797 Hell is soon raining down onto vast chalk circles. 174 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:36,868 MORGAN: The concentric circles in the image 175 00:10:36,936 --> 00:10:41,573 were a method of evaluating the effectiveness of extremely 176 00:10:41,641 --> 00:10:42,741 powerful bombs. 177 00:10:42,808 --> 00:10:45,076 You can measure the distance from the epicenter of 178 00:10:45,144 --> 00:10:47,312 the explosion, and it allows you to determine 179 00:10:47,380 --> 00:10:49,581 just how effective the weapon is going to be. 180 00:10:49,649 --> 00:10:53,451 The most important person involved in this 181 00:10:53,519 --> 00:10:57,389 testing was the legendary scientist Barnes Wallis. 182 00:10:59,392 --> 00:11:03,294 Dr. Wallis masterminds the revolutionary bouncing bomb, 183 00:11:03,362 --> 00:11:05,230 tested at Ashley Walk, 184 00:11:05,297 --> 00:11:09,834 which wipes out two German power stations beyond the reach 185 00:11:09,902 --> 00:11:11,603 of conventional ordnance. 186 00:11:13,939 --> 00:11:17,008 HYMEL: Thanks to Barnes Wallis, these so-called 187 00:11:17,076 --> 00:11:20,111 impregnable defenses are no longer impregnable. 188 00:11:21,881 --> 00:11:24,683 And Dr. Boom is just warming up. 189 00:11:26,452 --> 00:11:29,688 There's only one bomb that I can think of that had enough 190 00:11:29,755 --> 00:11:32,290 power to generate a crater like this, 191 00:11:32,358 --> 00:11:34,392 and that is a Tallboy. 192 00:11:38,297 --> 00:11:41,399 NARRATOR: Wallis's six-ton Tallboy is a game changer. 193 00:11:41,467 --> 00:11:44,769 WALTERS: It really was a big bomb. 194 00:11:44,837 --> 00:11:47,372 In fact, it was what was known as an earthquake bomb. 195 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,941 The earthquake bomb didn't need precision. 196 00:11:50,009 --> 00:11:52,510 It set off such giant shockwaves that it would 197 00:11:52,578 --> 00:11:54,813 destroy targets for hundreds, 198 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,215 if not thousands, of yards around. 199 00:12:00,453 --> 00:12:02,754 NARRATOR: The Tallboy, tested at the LIDAR site, 200 00:12:02,822 --> 00:12:06,091 is first deployed in June 1944. 201 00:12:07,893 --> 00:12:10,295 854 will fall by 202 00:12:10,362 --> 00:12:11,796 the end of the war, 203 00:12:11,831 --> 00:12:16,267 wiping out bridges, dams, and V-1 launch sites. 204 00:12:17,536 --> 00:12:18,636 ANNOUNCER: We see the Tirpitz firing 205 00:12:18,704 --> 00:12:20,305 back at them with 15-inch guns. 206 00:12:20,372 --> 00:12:22,107 NARRATOR: Tallboys also sink 207 00:12:22,174 --> 00:12:25,110 Hitler's prime battleship, the Tirpitz. 208 00:12:25,177 --> 00:12:27,045 ANNOUNCER: Watch for the 12,000-pounder 209 00:12:27,113 --> 00:12:29,380 that stopped those guns once and for all. 210 00:12:33,152 --> 00:12:34,819 NARRATOR: While at the New Forest, 211 00:12:34,887 --> 00:12:39,557 Wallis is preparing to test something even bigger. 212 00:12:39,625 --> 00:12:41,259 I mean, look at this extremely 213 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,796 heavy duty concrete and this rebar here. 214 00:12:44,830 --> 00:12:46,831 Really designed to take a hit. 215 00:12:48,901 --> 00:12:52,203 I'm willing to bet that another type of earthquake bomb 216 00:12:52,271 --> 00:12:55,440 was also being tested here, and that's called the Grand Slam. 217 00:12:58,477 --> 00:13:00,712 NARRATOR: Weighing more than some tanks, 218 00:13:00,780 --> 00:13:04,849 the Grand Slam is nicknamed Ten Ton Tess, 219 00:13:04,917 --> 00:13:06,317 and she's devastating. 220 00:13:08,687 --> 00:13:10,955 The Grand Slam was only tested once before 221 00:13:11,023 --> 00:13:14,859 it was used over Nazi Germany, and it was tested here in 222 00:13:14,927 --> 00:13:16,127 the New Forest, 223 00:13:16,195 --> 00:13:18,997 and that was one of the biggest explosions that's ever 224 00:13:19,064 --> 00:13:20,565 happened in the British Isles. 225 00:13:20,599 --> 00:13:25,170 NARRATOR: On March 13th, 1945, 226 00:13:25,237 --> 00:13:28,773 an experimental Grand Slam smashes into the targets on 227 00:13:28,841 --> 00:13:32,076 the LIDAR image at 700 miles an hour. 228 00:13:32,144 --> 00:13:37,549 Nine seconds later, it explodes, triggering a massive 229 00:13:37,616 --> 00:13:40,385 artificial earthquake. 230 00:13:40,452 --> 00:13:42,520 SILBEY: The test of the Grand Slam bomb 231 00:13:42,555 --> 00:13:45,657 was so successful, the Allied High Command decided to send 232 00:13:45,724 --> 00:13:48,660 the bomb into action the very next day. 233 00:13:48,727 --> 00:13:52,797 They took out viaducts, coastal defenses, 234 00:13:52,865 --> 00:13:54,465 even submarine pens. 235 00:13:55,768 --> 00:13:57,335 The Germans didn't know what hit them. 236 00:13:57,403 --> 00:13:58,736 They thought their sub pens 237 00:13:58,771 --> 00:14:01,539 and their batteries were completely impregnable. 238 00:14:05,778 --> 00:14:08,146 The Grand Slam bomb was incredibly effective at 239 00:14:08,214 --> 00:14:10,081 destroying Nazi architecture 240 00:14:10,149 --> 00:14:13,017 and infrastructure and really helped turn the tide of 241 00:14:13,085 --> 00:14:15,520 the war. 242 00:14:15,588 --> 00:14:18,623 SILBEY: As soon as the Americans saw the success of 243 00:14:18,657 --> 00:14:20,158 this new kind of British weapon, 244 00:14:20,226 --> 00:14:24,229 they created their own version, the T-12 Cloudmaker. 245 00:14:25,564 --> 00:14:27,966 NARRATOR: Twice the size of the Grand Slam, 246 00:14:28,033 --> 00:14:31,135 the 20-ton Cloudmaker never sees action, 247 00:14:31,203 --> 00:14:34,873 as it is quickly superseded by nuclear weapons, 248 00:14:34,940 --> 00:14:38,776 but earthquake bombs make an earth-shattering 249 00:14:38,844 --> 00:14:42,780 comeback in the run up to the 1991 Gulf War. 250 00:14:44,550 --> 00:14:48,152 Iraqi despot, Saddam Hussein, has read Hitler's playbook 251 00:14:48,220 --> 00:14:51,589 and built a fortified mega bunker underground. 252 00:14:53,692 --> 00:14:58,296 The United States deploys this new weapon called the GBU-28, 253 00:14:58,364 --> 00:15:01,232 which is gonna become known as the bunker buster. 254 00:15:02,968 --> 00:15:06,504 SILBEY: The GBU-28 destroyed the Iraqi bunker. 255 00:15:06,572 --> 00:15:07,972 At its basic level, 256 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,342 it was identical in effect to what Barnes Wallis 257 00:15:11,410 --> 00:15:14,379 had started back in the Second World War. 258 00:15:17,283 --> 00:15:20,885 I don't want to imagine a World War II 259 00:15:20,953 --> 00:15:24,122 that didn't have a Barnes Wallis on our side. 260 00:15:24,189 --> 00:15:27,091 I put him up there with, like, Alan Turing, for example. 261 00:15:27,159 --> 00:15:29,861 These people who, through genius, 262 00:15:29,929 --> 00:15:31,729 helped to win the war. 263 00:15:34,366 --> 00:15:36,567 NARRATOR: Barnes Wallis's genius and the secrets of 264 00:15:36,635 --> 00:15:39,837 the New Forest have been exposed from the skies. 265 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:43,574 But what else lurks beneath these 266 00:15:43,642 --> 00:15:46,444 ancient woodlands remains to be discovered. 267 00:15:47,846 --> 00:15:50,815 Given the top secret clandestine nature of 268 00:15:50,883 --> 00:15:53,284 this site, it may be that we never know. 269 00:16:00,225 --> 00:16:04,429 NARRATOR: Coming up, the wrath of the female super soldiers. 270 00:16:04,496 --> 00:16:07,565 HORTON: They were disciplined, organized, 271 00:16:07,633 --> 00:16:09,901 and highly successful. 272 00:16:09,969 --> 00:16:13,604 And mummies, Romans, and biblical plagues. 273 00:16:13,672 --> 00:16:15,273 And that's what we're seeing from satellite. 274 00:16:23,349 --> 00:16:26,684 NARRATOR: June 30, 2019. 275 00:16:26,719 --> 00:16:29,487 Eyes in the sky over Egypt 276 00:16:29,555 --> 00:16:32,657 scan a valley 50 miles northwest of Cairo. 277 00:16:33,726 --> 00:16:36,294 We're seeing a beige ground, what you'd expect to see, 278 00:16:36,362 --> 00:16:39,964 but then in the middle is this strange shape. 279 00:16:40,032 --> 00:16:44,969 KOUROUNIS: It almost looks like some gigantic footprint has 280 00:16:45,037 --> 00:16:49,107 just come down and smashed into the desert. 281 00:16:49,174 --> 00:16:51,642 NARRATOR: The mega-sized print covers around 282 00:16:51,710 --> 00:16:54,779 eight million square feet of the valley floor. 283 00:16:54,847 --> 00:16:57,682 It's as if the earth has been bleeding, 284 00:16:57,750 --> 00:17:01,352 but the wound closed up and dried. 285 00:17:01,420 --> 00:17:03,087 KOUROUNIS: Looking a little closer, 286 00:17:03,155 --> 00:17:06,791 it has all the characteristics of a dried lake bed. 287 00:17:06,859 --> 00:17:08,626 It's not just the shape that's unusual, 288 00:17:08,694 --> 00:17:09,761 it's the color. 289 00:17:09,828 --> 00:17:13,231 Maybe we're seeing some mineral that was 290 00:17:13,298 --> 00:17:14,866 left over when the lake dried up. 291 00:17:16,402 --> 00:17:18,936 NARRATOR: Historical records confirm the presence of 292 00:17:19,004 --> 00:17:21,139 a unique mineral in the lake 293 00:17:21,206 --> 00:17:24,275 that could partly explain its weird coloration, 294 00:17:25,511 --> 00:17:27,245 one that played a key role 295 00:17:27,312 --> 00:17:31,449 in the two greatest civilizations of antiquity. 296 00:17:31,516 --> 00:17:33,451 It just so happens that this lake is covered 297 00:17:33,519 --> 00:17:35,953 in a layer of sulfate deposits known as natron. 298 00:17:37,623 --> 00:17:40,324 NARRATOR: Some 5 and a half thousand years ago, 299 00:17:40,392 --> 00:17:43,461 the ancient Egyptians begin mummifying their dead. 300 00:17:45,297 --> 00:17:49,100 They encase the cadavers in natron, harvested from 301 00:17:49,168 --> 00:17:50,868 the country's desert lakes, 302 00:17:50,936 --> 00:17:54,505 to dry out the corpse, preserving it for the afterlife. 303 00:17:55,641 --> 00:17:58,242 These natron lakes are very alkaline, 304 00:17:58,310 --> 00:18:01,446 meaning these are harsh to most forms of life, and that's 305 00:18:01,513 --> 00:18:03,081 what we're seeing from satellite. 306 00:18:05,017 --> 00:18:06,384 NARRATOR: Natron from the lake 307 00:18:06,452 --> 00:18:09,954 in the image was likely used to entomb many of the great 308 00:18:10,022 --> 00:18:12,690 pharaohs and high priests of ancient Egypt. 309 00:18:14,726 --> 00:18:17,395 During the reign of Cleopatra, 310 00:18:17,463 --> 00:18:21,032 Egypt falls under the rule of Rome, and the mineral is 311 00:18:21,099 --> 00:18:26,170 put to a very different use, one that transforms the world. 312 00:18:27,206 --> 00:18:30,608 The sailors were using natron blocks to support 313 00:18:30,676 --> 00:18:33,744 their cooking pots on the beach, and the heat 314 00:18:33,846 --> 00:18:37,048 of the flames caused the blocks to melt, 315 00:18:37,116 --> 00:18:39,350 producing glass. 316 00:18:39,418 --> 00:18:41,352 And as these little streams of glass 317 00:18:41,419 --> 00:18:44,222 are coming out from under the fire, boom, 318 00:18:44,289 --> 00:18:45,756 the glass industry is born. 319 00:18:48,694 --> 00:18:50,094 NARRATOR: For much of antiquity, 320 00:18:50,162 --> 00:18:54,866 glass was as expensive as gold and precious gems, 321 00:18:54,933 --> 00:18:57,401 an indulgence reserved for chieftains, 322 00:18:57,469 --> 00:18:59,804 royalty, and religious buildings. 323 00:18:59,872 --> 00:19:02,840 The very first glass is believed to 324 00:19:02,908 --> 00:19:06,410 have been made in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago. 325 00:19:07,546 --> 00:19:10,982 That early period is almost done with a small scale. 326 00:19:12,451 --> 00:19:14,886 NARRATOR: In around 30 BC, 327 00:19:14,953 --> 00:19:17,188 the natron deposits in the lake attract 328 00:19:17,256 --> 00:19:18,456 Roman scientists, 329 00:19:18,523 --> 00:19:20,791 alchemists in glass making, 330 00:19:20,859 --> 00:19:23,995 who set up vast furnaces around its shores. 331 00:19:25,631 --> 00:19:27,431 Glass is mainly sand, and there's 332 00:19:27,466 --> 00:19:29,066 plenty of that out in the desert. 333 00:19:29,134 --> 00:19:32,270 Finding that resource, no problem, but you need 334 00:19:32,337 --> 00:19:34,138 a flux catalyst. 335 00:19:34,206 --> 00:19:37,441 That's exactly what we find here at this lake. 336 00:19:37,509 --> 00:19:42,046 It was the Romans that industrialized glass production 337 00:19:42,114 --> 00:19:43,481 on a much bigger scale, 338 00:19:43,548 --> 00:19:48,152 as glass then became a consumer object that was 339 00:19:48,220 --> 00:19:50,154 employed throughout the empire. 340 00:19:52,424 --> 00:19:54,792 NARRATOR: Such is the value of Roman glass 341 00:19:54,826 --> 00:19:57,628 that it is traded across the known world, 342 00:19:57,696 --> 00:20:01,432 reaching as far as Afghanistan and China. 343 00:20:01,499 --> 00:20:04,769 We're not talking about, like, some artisan making a couple 344 00:20:04,836 --> 00:20:08,039 of glasses, we're talking about glass slabs 345 00:20:08,106 --> 00:20:11,742 weighing 20 tons that could be shipped anywhere. 346 00:20:14,079 --> 00:20:17,215 NARRATOR: The advent of glass blowing enables the Romans to 347 00:20:17,282 --> 00:20:21,619 form these giant blocks into any shape or size, 348 00:20:21,687 --> 00:20:23,521 revolutionizing the industry. 349 00:20:25,691 --> 00:20:28,826 A single glass slab manufactured from this site in 350 00:20:28,894 --> 00:20:30,795 Egypt could have been broken down 351 00:20:30,862 --> 00:20:34,565 into thousands of pieces and turned into tens of thousands 352 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,468 of individual bottles and glasses. 353 00:20:37,536 --> 00:20:40,404 HYMEL: It makes it cheaper and more accessible 354 00:20:40,472 --> 00:20:44,375 to a much larger population -- It just explodes. 355 00:20:46,645 --> 00:20:48,512 NARRATOR: For around 400 years, 356 00:20:48,580 --> 00:20:50,181 the site spotted from space 357 00:20:50,315 --> 00:20:52,950 is the focal point of Roman glass production, 358 00:20:54,620 --> 00:20:57,955 creating the windows that adorn Rome's greatest buildings. 359 00:20:59,124 --> 00:21:01,926 And putting bottles on the tables of the empire's 360 00:21:01,994 --> 00:21:03,995 65 million citizens. 361 00:21:06,398 --> 00:21:08,833 Yet the presence of natron only explains 362 00:21:08,900 --> 00:21:11,469 part of the lake's strange appearance. 363 00:21:11,536 --> 00:21:14,739 HORTON: Natron is a mineral salt that's naturally 364 00:21:14,806 --> 00:21:17,008 white or pale yellow. 365 00:21:17,075 --> 00:21:18,376 So that raises the question, 366 00:21:18,443 --> 00:21:22,747 what is this red deposit that's also found on the lake? 367 00:21:24,182 --> 00:21:26,984 NARRATOR: Mark Horton learns that the caustic waters 368 00:21:27,052 --> 00:21:29,620 that enticed the morticians and glass makers 369 00:21:29,655 --> 00:21:33,224 of Egypt and Rome also attract aquatic 370 00:21:33,258 --> 00:21:35,626 organisms in their countless billions. 371 00:21:36,962 --> 00:21:42,066 On the surface of this lake is an algae that can live in 372 00:21:42,134 --> 00:21:45,736 these extremely hostile environments 373 00:21:45,804 --> 00:21:49,674 and breeds and forms this skin of pinky red on 374 00:21:49,741 --> 00:21:52,043 the surface of the white salt. 375 00:21:52,110 --> 00:21:56,747 NARRATOR: When the algae blooms, it produces red pigments, 376 00:21:56,815 --> 00:22:00,017 creating giant patterns on the natron lake. 377 00:22:01,887 --> 00:22:04,922 These blooms also generate toxins, which are lethal 378 00:22:04,990 --> 00:22:07,224 to fish, birds, and humans, 379 00:22:08,794 --> 00:22:10,995 toxins which could help explain one of 380 00:22:11,063 --> 00:22:13,798 the most famous mass deaths in history. 381 00:22:15,033 --> 00:22:17,101 There are Biblical stories that speak 382 00:22:17,169 --> 00:22:18,903 of a similar phenomenon. 383 00:22:18,970 --> 00:22:22,540 God sent 10 plagues upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, 384 00:22:22,607 --> 00:22:27,244 and one of those was to cause the Nile to run blood red. 385 00:22:30,082 --> 00:22:32,383 BELLINGER: The fish died, the river stank, 386 00:22:32,451 --> 00:22:35,186 the Egyptians couldn't drink the water anymore, 387 00:22:35,253 --> 00:22:38,389 and it all happened just a few miles from where 388 00:22:38,457 --> 00:22:40,925 this image is located. 389 00:22:40,992 --> 00:22:43,894 NARRATOR: The same lake that helped mummify 390 00:22:43,962 --> 00:22:48,032 the Egyptians, carrying them to the afterlife, 391 00:22:48,100 --> 00:22:52,737 may have also been the cause of their sickness and death. 392 00:22:52,804 --> 00:22:56,340 Lots of legends are based on nuggets of truth, and it's 393 00:22:56,408 --> 00:22:58,476 entirely possible that the Biblical tale 394 00:22:58,543 --> 00:23:01,379 of the Nile running red could have been caused by one of 395 00:23:01,446 --> 00:23:05,850 these massive red algal blooms. 396 00:23:10,222 --> 00:23:13,958 NARRATOR: Coming up, attack of the man hunters. 397 00:23:14,025 --> 00:23:16,861 The Europeans are utterly terrified of 398 00:23:16,928 --> 00:23:20,798 these women warriors, whom they called Amazons. 399 00:23:20,832 --> 00:23:23,434 NARRATOR: And the Nazis' secret terror weapon. 400 00:23:23,502 --> 00:23:27,304 12,000 tons is enough to kill millions and millions 401 00:23:27,372 --> 00:23:28,439 of people. 402 00:23:35,914 --> 00:23:38,449 NARRATOR: October 12th, 2020. 403 00:23:38,517 --> 00:23:43,020 A satellite scanning the country of Benin 404 00:23:43,054 --> 00:23:44,922 in West Africa 405 00:23:44,990 --> 00:23:49,994 captures strange features in a lake far below. 406 00:23:50,061 --> 00:23:51,328 This is bizarre. 407 00:23:51,396 --> 00:23:55,199 I don't see any roads, I don't see any fields, 408 00:23:55,267 --> 00:23:59,503 just homes, buildings, and water. 409 00:24:00,539 --> 00:24:02,239 It looks like a settlement that's 410 00:24:02,307 --> 00:24:05,509 just been overwhelmed by an incoming flood. 411 00:24:05,577 --> 00:24:08,245 HORTON: But looking more carefully, I can see 412 00:24:08,313 --> 00:24:12,149 that this is not a flooded village, 413 00:24:12,217 --> 00:24:14,852 but actually a village that's been built 414 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:18,155 deliberately in a lake. 415 00:24:18,223 --> 00:24:22,593 NARRATOR: This is Ganvie, a giant floating village of some 416 00:24:22,661 --> 00:24:26,997 3,000 raised structures and the ancestral home 417 00:24:27,065 --> 00:24:28,165 of the Tofinou people. 418 00:24:29,201 --> 00:24:33,070 Yet what really intrigues analysts is why the Tofinou 419 00:24:33,138 --> 00:24:36,841 chose to build it here in the first place. 420 00:24:38,210 --> 00:24:41,345 BELLINGER: The Tofinou tribe has, for generations, 421 00:24:41,413 --> 00:24:43,414 been building over water, 422 00:24:43,482 --> 00:24:46,350 and we know from oral tradition that's for 423 00:24:46,418 --> 00:24:48,118 an extraordinary reason. 424 00:24:49,955 --> 00:24:52,423 NARRATOR: The story of the strange lake village 425 00:24:52,491 --> 00:24:55,292 begins in the 17th century. 426 00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:56,494 At the time, 427 00:24:56,528 --> 00:24:59,897 much of this region is dominated by the Tofinou's rivals, 428 00:25:00,031 --> 00:25:04,368 the Fon people, who ruled the powerful Dahomey kingdom. 429 00:25:04,436 --> 00:25:07,104 It was actually sometimes referred to as the Sparta 430 00:25:07,172 --> 00:25:11,475 of Africa, because this was a society of brutal warriors. 431 00:25:12,744 --> 00:25:16,280 Fon warriors developed a fearsome reputation that 432 00:25:16,348 --> 00:25:20,084 traveled far beyond the borders of their kingdom. 433 00:25:20,151 --> 00:25:23,721 NARRATOR: The Fon rely heavily on forced labor, 434 00:25:23,788 --> 00:25:25,556 and around 1/5 of their kingdom's 435 00:25:25,623 --> 00:25:29,360 one million strong population are slaves. 436 00:25:29,427 --> 00:25:34,265 This group of people use this military brutality and prowess 437 00:25:34,332 --> 00:25:37,801 to become very wealthy and successful in the slave trade, 438 00:25:37,869 --> 00:25:40,704 terrorizing any of the tribes around them that they did not 439 00:25:40,772 --> 00:25:43,040 have a relationship or an agreement with. 440 00:25:43,108 --> 00:25:46,844 HORTON: They were disciplined, organized, 441 00:25:46,912 --> 00:25:48,312 and highly successful. 442 00:25:49,681 --> 00:25:52,917 NARRATOR: In 1720, the Fon warriors push 443 00:25:52,984 --> 00:25:55,719 south towards the site in the image, 444 00:25:55,787 --> 00:25:59,423 putting their king in contact with European slavers. 445 00:26:02,060 --> 00:26:04,128 In exchange for goods and weapons, 446 00:26:04,195 --> 00:26:06,931 he supplies them with around 20 percent of 447 00:26:06,998 --> 00:26:09,967 all the humans trafficked across the Atlantic. 448 00:26:12,337 --> 00:26:14,638 But years of raiding neighboring states 449 00:26:14,706 --> 00:26:17,274 deplete the number of male Fon warriors, 450 00:26:18,476 --> 00:26:21,579 and the kingdom's enemies begin to close in. 451 00:26:21,646 --> 00:26:24,615 This creates a cultural shift for the Fon people 452 00:26:24,683 --> 00:26:25,816 and through that, 453 00:26:25,884 --> 00:26:27,851 their women become more and more a part 454 00:26:27,919 --> 00:26:29,386 of their combat force. 455 00:26:29,454 --> 00:26:33,424 Women played a major role in the military, 456 00:26:33,491 --> 00:26:38,629 so much so that the king had an elite group that served as 457 00:26:38,697 --> 00:26:40,764 an all female royal guard. 458 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,435 NARRATOR: Such are the skill and ferocity of 459 00:26:44,502 --> 00:26:49,707 these female warriors that between the 1760s and 1840s, 460 00:26:49,774 --> 00:26:55,212 their ranks increase from 600 to 6,000. 461 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,548 They're the only known female fighting 462 00:26:57,616 --> 00:27:00,017 force in the world at this time. 463 00:27:00,085 --> 00:27:02,286 The Europeans are utterly terrified of 464 00:27:02,354 --> 00:27:05,422 these women warriors, whom they called Amazons. 465 00:27:06,658 --> 00:27:10,427 Their specialty was pre-dawn attacks on enemy villages, 466 00:27:10,495 --> 00:27:12,396 and that was the most efficient 467 00:27:12,463 --> 00:27:14,965 and effective way for them to gather up slaves 468 00:27:15,033 --> 00:27:17,201 to sell to the Europeans. 469 00:27:19,137 --> 00:27:22,206 NARRATOR: The Fons' slaving raids puts them in conflict with 470 00:27:22,273 --> 00:27:26,276 the Tofinou people and explains the construction of their giant 471 00:27:26,344 --> 00:27:28,479 lake village in the satellite image. 472 00:27:30,148 --> 00:27:33,317 The Tofinou people didn't have quite the warrior culture that 473 00:27:33,385 --> 00:27:35,252 the Fon did, but they were clever, 474 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,521 and they were observant, and over time, 475 00:27:37,589 --> 00:27:41,358 they look for weaknesses in the Fon tactics and strategy. 476 00:27:41,426 --> 00:27:45,663 One of the weaknesses they found was a fear of the lake. 477 00:27:47,565 --> 00:27:49,533 NARRATOR: The Tofinou know that the Fon are 478 00:27:49,601 --> 00:27:53,604 devotees of Vodun, the origin of today's Voodoo. 479 00:27:54,873 --> 00:27:57,675 They believe that powerful, supernatural beings 480 00:27:57,709 --> 00:28:02,813 inhabit nature and fear vengeful water spirits. 481 00:28:02,881 --> 00:28:04,648 According to Fon tradition, 482 00:28:04,716 --> 00:28:08,419 a powerful demon walked the waters of this lake, 483 00:28:08,486 --> 00:28:12,923 and they would never do anything to raise that demon's anger. 484 00:28:14,993 --> 00:28:16,593 KOUROUNIS: The Fon refused to attack 485 00:28:16,661 --> 00:28:18,796 any structure that was on water, 486 00:28:18,863 --> 00:28:22,399 so the Tofinou built their village on the water, 487 00:28:22,467 --> 00:28:26,036 and suddenly, they were able to use their own superstition 488 00:28:26,071 --> 00:28:27,871 against them. 489 00:28:27,939 --> 00:28:29,773 NARRATOR: Over the following decades, 490 00:28:29,841 --> 00:28:31,875 more Tofinou move on to the lake 491 00:28:31,943 --> 00:28:35,446 to escape persecution at the hands of the Fon. 492 00:28:35,513 --> 00:28:39,316 They become known as the Water People. 493 00:28:39,384 --> 00:28:41,518 KOUROUNIS: As long as they lived on the water, 494 00:28:41,586 --> 00:28:44,188 these villagers were safe from attack 495 00:28:45,223 --> 00:28:48,258 and were able to avoid being sold into slavery. 496 00:28:49,594 --> 00:28:52,229 They gave the name of the village Ganvie, 497 00:28:52,297 --> 00:28:56,500 which means, in the local language, "We survived." 498 00:28:56,568 --> 00:28:59,603 BELLINGER: And so the Tofinous stayed and continued to build 499 00:28:59,671 --> 00:29:01,939 and expand this village on stilts 500 00:29:02,006 --> 00:29:04,041 for many generations to come. 501 00:29:05,877 --> 00:29:09,980 NARRATOR: 150 years after the end of the slave trade, 502 00:29:10,048 --> 00:29:13,617 the water village of Ganvie continues to flourish, 503 00:29:13,685 --> 00:29:16,887 a living monument to one people's resilience in 504 00:29:16,955 --> 00:29:19,123 the face of unspeakable terror. 505 00:29:19,190 --> 00:29:22,192 JANULIS: To this day, there are 20,000 Tofinou 506 00:29:22,260 --> 00:29:25,562 still living on the lake, just like their ancestors did, 507 00:29:25,630 --> 00:29:28,098 who avoided being captured by the Fon. 508 00:29:28,133 --> 00:29:31,101 It's a very interesting, very horrific history, 509 00:29:31,169 --> 00:29:32,269 but one that needs told. 510 00:29:37,542 --> 00:29:41,845 NARRATOR: Coming up, monster tank face off. 511 00:29:41,913 --> 00:29:44,848 It was one of the most incredible battles 512 00:29:44,916 --> 00:29:46,150 of World War II. 513 00:29:46,217 --> 00:29:48,418 NARRATOR: And the killer quarry. 514 00:29:48,486 --> 00:29:52,890 It becomes a warehouse of death. 515 00:29:59,931 --> 00:30:02,666 NARRATOR: October 9, 2018. 516 00:30:02,734 --> 00:30:08,539 A camera in orbit over Ukraine scans the city of Kharkiv. 517 00:30:10,241 --> 00:30:12,075 WALTERS: What we're looking at here 518 00:30:12,143 --> 00:30:15,813 is a pretty grim-looking industrial complex, 519 00:30:16,948 --> 00:30:18,549 bit of a wasteland, frankly -- 520 00:30:18,616 --> 00:30:21,752 It's not a very inviting place. 521 00:30:21,820 --> 00:30:24,855 NARRATOR: Yet lines of objects hidden between 522 00:30:24,923 --> 00:30:28,225 the desolate looking buildings do invite attention. 523 00:30:28,259 --> 00:30:30,961 CAVELL: Looking closer, you can start to see 524 00:30:31,029 --> 00:30:32,763 that these objects actually have 525 00:30:32,831 --> 00:30:38,135 some kind of a turret on them and some sort of gun. 526 00:30:38,203 --> 00:30:39,436 These are tanks. 527 00:30:39,504 --> 00:30:41,205 These are armored fighting vehicles, 528 00:30:41,272 --> 00:30:44,808 and there are dozens and dozens of them. 529 00:30:47,278 --> 00:30:49,847 NARRATOR: Leaked photographs confirm that the image 530 00:30:49,914 --> 00:30:52,216 has captured a monstrous metal graveyard, 531 00:30:52,283 --> 00:30:56,353 containing the rusting remains of hundreds of tanks. 532 00:30:56,420 --> 00:30:59,289 WALTERS: You've got to ask yourself why are there 533 00:30:59,357 --> 00:31:02,259 so many tanks just sitting there doing nothing. 534 00:31:02,327 --> 00:31:03,694 Tanks should be out fighting. 535 00:31:03,761 --> 00:31:06,330 This is just a huge tank park. 536 00:31:07,665 --> 00:31:12,569 NARRATOR: Martin Morgan studies the city's history for clues. 537 00:31:12,637 --> 00:31:14,938 When I look into original records, 538 00:31:15,006 --> 00:31:17,608 I find that this is the old Kharkiv tank factory. 539 00:31:17,675 --> 00:31:21,144 This was the largest factory for the production of armored 540 00:31:21,212 --> 00:31:24,014 fighting vehicles during the old Soviet Union 541 00:31:24,082 --> 00:31:27,184 and the birthplace of what was one of the greatest 542 00:31:27,252 --> 00:31:29,686 fighting machines of the 20th century. 543 00:31:31,623 --> 00:31:35,726 NARRATOR: That fighting machine is the T-34 tank. 544 00:31:35,793 --> 00:31:38,662 The T-34 tank is one of the most powerful weapons that 545 00:31:38,730 --> 00:31:40,364 the Soviets wielded on 546 00:31:40,431 --> 00:31:42,532 the battlefields of the Second World War. 547 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,135 It's a part of every battle. 548 00:31:45,203 --> 00:31:47,971 It's a part of every Soviet victory, 549 00:31:48,039 --> 00:31:50,540 and they're all made at Kharkiv. 550 00:31:53,411 --> 00:31:56,847 NARRATOR: The T-34's engine and tracks are built to handle 551 00:31:56,915 --> 00:31:59,082 mud and snow on the battlefields 552 00:31:59,150 --> 00:32:00,817 of the Eastern Front. 553 00:32:02,153 --> 00:32:05,722 What's more, it has a more powerful cannon and better 554 00:32:05,790 --> 00:32:07,624 armor than German tanks, 555 00:32:07,692 --> 00:32:09,693 but it's light enough to outpace them 556 00:32:09,761 --> 00:32:11,194 on the battlefield. 557 00:32:11,262 --> 00:32:16,366 MORGAN: The T-34 is arguably the finest tank of 558 00:32:16,434 --> 00:32:20,304 the Second World War, because it is the best of both worlds. 559 00:32:20,371 --> 00:32:23,640 The Germans were scared as hell of this vehicle, 560 00:32:23,708 --> 00:32:25,909 and that speaks to just how effective 561 00:32:25,977 --> 00:32:27,110 the design really was. 562 00:32:29,547 --> 00:32:32,816 NARRATOR: The success of the T-34 563 00:32:32,884 --> 00:32:38,655 forces the Nazis to deploy the massive 54-ton Tiger. 564 00:32:38,723 --> 00:32:43,360 In July 1943, vast numbers of Russian and Nazi 565 00:32:43,394 --> 00:32:46,463 tanks meet head-on at the Battle of Kursk. 566 00:32:46,531 --> 00:32:50,534 About 5,000 tanks will come to this battle. 567 00:32:50,601 --> 00:32:53,503 So it's the biggest tank battle of all time, 568 00:32:53,571 --> 00:32:55,305 including up to today. 569 00:32:55,373 --> 00:32:59,543 You have tanks just rolling towards each other, firing 570 00:32:59,610 --> 00:33:01,211 massive shells back and forth. 571 00:33:01,279 --> 00:33:03,981 I mean, it was -- it was probably one of the... 572 00:33:04,048 --> 00:33:07,651 most incredible battles of World War II. 573 00:33:07,685 --> 00:33:09,219 NARRATOR: At the Battle of Kursk, 574 00:33:09,287 --> 00:33:12,222 the Russians incur devastating losses, 575 00:33:12,289 --> 00:33:15,125 but the T-34s ultimately prevail. 576 00:33:15,193 --> 00:33:19,029 The Germans never recover from this defeat, 577 00:33:19,097 --> 00:33:22,232 and two years later, the Soviets capture Berlin. 578 00:33:22,300 --> 00:33:25,068 PAVELEC: Kursk is one of the turning points that 579 00:33:25,136 --> 00:33:27,270 solidifies the final retreats 580 00:33:27,338 --> 00:33:29,506 and absolute route of the Germans 581 00:33:29,574 --> 00:33:30,874 off of the Eastern Front. 582 00:33:32,043 --> 00:33:34,444 NARRATOR: Following the end of World War II, 583 00:33:34,512 --> 00:33:38,081 the Kharkiv Tank factory continues to play a vital role 584 00:33:38,149 --> 00:33:40,350 in Soviet military strategy. 585 00:33:40,385 --> 00:33:43,787 MORGAN: There are over 60,000 workers that are producing 586 00:33:43,855 --> 00:33:46,823 about 60 tanks a month at this facility 587 00:33:46,891 --> 00:33:48,258 during the height of the Cold War. 588 00:33:48,326 --> 00:33:50,227 [indistinct shouting] 589 00:33:50,294 --> 00:33:53,697 NARRATOR: In 1991, the Soviet Union collapses, 590 00:33:53,765 --> 00:33:56,967 and countries like Ukraine gain their independence. 591 00:33:57,035 --> 00:33:59,202 Tanks stopped rolling off 592 00:33:59,270 --> 00:34:02,739 the Kharkiv factory line, and its yards begin filling with 593 00:34:02,807 --> 00:34:06,276 mothballed relics of the country's communist past. 594 00:34:07,879 --> 00:34:11,848 Yet recent analysis has revealed renewed activity 595 00:34:11,916 --> 00:34:13,183 at the site. 596 00:34:13,217 --> 00:34:14,885 MORGAN: When we look at satellite imagery, 597 00:34:14,952 --> 00:34:17,154 we can see that tanks are kind of coming and going from 598 00:34:17,221 --> 00:34:18,688 the facility. 599 00:34:18,756 --> 00:34:22,059 NARRATOR: It appears Ukraine has once again turned to 600 00:34:22,093 --> 00:34:26,463 the T-34 tank factory to help it repel a foreign threat. 601 00:34:26,531 --> 00:34:30,033 These tanks could well be part of Ukraine's 602 00:34:30,101 --> 00:34:34,404 absolutely justified efforts to defend herself against 603 00:34:34,472 --> 00:34:35,972 Putin's aggression. 604 00:34:38,709 --> 00:34:42,579 NARRATOR: In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin 605 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:44,214 [speaking Russian] 606 00:34:44,282 --> 00:34:47,818 Orders his troops to invade Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. 607 00:34:49,287 --> 00:34:51,054 This triggers an ongoing war, 608 00:34:51,122 --> 00:34:54,157 which has claimed over 13,000 lives. 609 00:34:56,427 --> 00:35:01,164 The attack that Russia mounts on the Crimea is forceful. 610 00:35:01,199 --> 00:35:02,732 They come in with aircraft. 611 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,502 They come in with tanks, they come in with ground troops. 612 00:35:08,272 --> 00:35:10,407 NARRATOR: In a twist of fate, 613 00:35:10,475 --> 00:35:13,844 Russia is now fighting tanks from the very factory 614 00:35:13,911 --> 00:35:18,415 that helped it to defeat Hitler all those years ago. 615 00:35:18,483 --> 00:35:21,251 MORGAN: This image is full of deep, contemporary ironies, 616 00:35:21,319 --> 00:35:24,588 because it makes you confront the way that the former 617 00:35:24,655 --> 00:35:26,756 Soviet Union crumbled, fell apart, 618 00:35:26,824 --> 00:35:30,827 and the awkward, intense new world that has been 619 00:35:30,895 --> 00:35:33,330 created in its aftermath. 620 00:35:40,638 --> 00:35:43,773 NARRATOR: Coming up, magic lake. 621 00:35:43,841 --> 00:35:47,577 It's as if the water had been turned to oil. 622 00:35:56,754 --> 00:35:59,122 NARRATOR: April 2017. 623 00:35:59,157 --> 00:36:02,392 Satellites orbiting over northern Europe 624 00:36:02,460 --> 00:36:05,462 scan a quarry in England's industrial heartlands 625 00:36:05,530 --> 00:36:07,564 and uncover a mystery. 626 00:36:11,469 --> 00:36:12,936 RUBEN: We're looking at what 627 00:36:13,004 --> 00:36:16,273 looks like a rather beautiful lagoon, 628 00:36:16,340 --> 00:36:18,308 very vibrant blue. 629 00:36:19,377 --> 00:36:21,678 And then you go to the next image, 630 00:36:21,746 --> 00:36:23,580 and it's black. 631 00:36:25,750 --> 00:36:28,185 NARRATOR: The lagoon is vast, 632 00:36:28,252 --> 00:36:30,687 43,000 square feet, 633 00:36:30,755 --> 00:36:35,392 but its dramatic color change has taken just a few hours. 634 00:36:35,459 --> 00:36:39,162 It's as if the water had been turned to oil. 635 00:36:39,230 --> 00:36:41,665 That's what it looks like. 636 00:36:41,732 --> 00:36:44,267 NARRATOR: This quarry is called Harper Hill, 637 00:36:44,335 --> 00:36:47,637 and it has a dark history that could explain the lagoon's 638 00:36:47,705 --> 00:36:50,941 weird transformation. - PAVELEC: Interestingly, 639 00:36:51,008 --> 00:36:55,412 this was a chemical weapons storage facility before, during, 640 00:36:55,479 --> 00:36:58,048 and after the Second World War. 641 00:36:58,115 --> 00:37:01,785 Tens of thousands of chemical weapons were stored here and in 642 00:37:01,852 --> 00:37:03,053 the area surrounding it. 643 00:37:06,190 --> 00:37:09,292 NARRATOR: In 1938, Harper Hill Quarry 644 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:11,228 is chosen as the location 645 00:37:11,295 --> 00:37:15,365 for a facility code-named Maintenance Unit 28. 646 00:37:15,433 --> 00:37:17,434 Over the following two years, 647 00:37:17,501 --> 00:37:21,438 the British military use it to conceal more than 45,000 648 00:37:21,505 --> 00:37:23,573 different chemical weapons. 649 00:37:23,641 --> 00:37:26,209 It becomes a warehouse of death. 650 00:37:27,645 --> 00:37:30,413 By 1940, it's the largest chemical 651 00:37:30,481 --> 00:37:33,383 weapons storage depot in Britain. 652 00:37:33,450 --> 00:37:36,853 NARRATOR: The warehouse of death has its origins in the mud, 653 00:37:36,921 --> 00:37:39,856 blood, and gore of the battlefields of World War I. 654 00:37:44,262 --> 00:37:46,062 JANULIS: World War I was the first example 655 00:37:46,130 --> 00:37:48,031 of truly industrial warfare, 656 00:37:48,099 --> 00:37:51,268 and in 1915, the first example of 657 00:37:51,335 --> 00:37:54,204 chemical warfare being utilized. 658 00:37:54,272 --> 00:37:57,607 During World War I, chemical weapons 659 00:37:57,675 --> 00:38:01,011 kill or injure over a million soldiers, 660 00:38:01,078 --> 00:38:03,446 including a young Adolf Hitler. 661 00:38:05,283 --> 00:38:08,051 After World War I, the Western countries decided 662 00:38:08,119 --> 00:38:10,787 that chemical warfare was so inhumane, 663 00:38:10,821 --> 00:38:12,822 it should be banned, 664 00:38:12,890 --> 00:38:15,458 but that didn't stop all of these countries 665 00:38:15,526 --> 00:38:18,528 from continuing to experiment with chemical weapons. 666 00:38:20,965 --> 00:38:24,801 NARRATOR: In 1938, German scientists discover sarin, 667 00:38:24,869 --> 00:38:29,572 a compound 20 times more lethal than cyanide. 668 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:34,277 They go on to produce 12,000 tons of the nerve agent 669 00:38:34,345 --> 00:38:35,278 during the war. 670 00:38:36,914 --> 00:38:39,182 12,000 tons of sarin gas is enough 671 00:38:39,249 --> 00:38:41,251 to kill millions and millions of people. 672 00:38:41,319 --> 00:38:44,788 So places like Harper Hill acted as 673 00:38:44,855 --> 00:38:48,124 that storage point for the captured chemical weaponry 674 00:38:48,192 --> 00:38:51,227 at the end of World War II. 675 00:38:51,262 --> 00:38:53,496 PAVELEC: Could it be that there's chemical weapons 676 00:38:53,564 --> 00:38:55,098 that were not disposed of properly 677 00:38:55,132 --> 00:38:57,200 that are now coming to the surface and turning 678 00:38:57,268 --> 00:38:58,234 the water black? 679 00:38:59,770 --> 00:39:01,838 NARRATOR: When scientists test the lagoon 680 00:39:01,906 --> 00:39:06,109 in the image, they confirm it is dangerously contaminated, 681 00:39:06,177 --> 00:39:08,311 but it's a legacy of a different era 682 00:39:08,379 --> 00:39:09,779 in the quarry's history. 683 00:39:09,847 --> 00:39:12,148 Chemical analysis has shown that it's 684 00:39:12,216 --> 00:39:15,385 actually got a really high pH level. 685 00:39:15,453 --> 00:39:18,788 KOUROUNIS: It's been measured at a pH of 11.3. 686 00:39:18,856 --> 00:39:22,792 Pure ammonia is about 11.6. 687 00:39:22,860 --> 00:39:25,028 So this is nasty stuff. 688 00:39:26,063 --> 00:39:28,131 NARRATOR: Long before World War II, 689 00:39:28,199 --> 00:39:31,468 the quarry produced vast amounts of highly alkaline 690 00:39:31,535 --> 00:39:32,635 quicklime. 691 00:39:34,638 --> 00:39:35,772 During the 19th century, 692 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:39,476 it played a vital role in creating the modern world. 693 00:39:39,543 --> 00:39:42,579 JANULIS: Quicklime reacts with certain elements 694 00:39:42,646 --> 00:39:43,980 within molten metal, 695 00:39:44,048 --> 00:39:46,516 basically getting the impurities out, 696 00:39:46,584 --> 00:39:49,419 causing them to aggregate, creating slag that can be 697 00:39:49,487 --> 00:39:51,654 easily removed to get pure steel. 698 00:39:53,958 --> 00:39:56,259 NARRATOR: Steel made using quicklime fuels 699 00:39:56,327 --> 00:40:00,063 what is known as the second Industrial Revolution, 700 00:40:00,131 --> 00:40:03,633 which transforms the industries and landscapes of 701 00:40:03,701 --> 00:40:06,536 England, the U.S., and beyond. 702 00:40:06,604 --> 00:40:09,539 MORGAN: So many of the things that we recognize as being part 703 00:40:09,607 --> 00:40:13,109 of the greatness of modernity are created during 704 00:40:13,177 --> 00:40:14,144 this critical time period, 705 00:40:14,211 --> 00:40:17,280 during the Industrial Revolution. 706 00:40:17,348 --> 00:40:20,417 NARRATOR: In 1952, the quarry closes, 707 00:40:20,484 --> 00:40:22,318 and it fills with water, 708 00:40:22,386 --> 00:40:24,754 creating the lagoon in the image. 709 00:40:26,991 --> 00:40:31,828 That begins to explain a lot about the color of this water. 710 00:40:31,896 --> 00:40:35,398 That deep blue can come from calcium carbonate 711 00:40:35,433 --> 00:40:38,268 that leaches out of limestone. 712 00:40:39,437 --> 00:40:43,173 KAYS: Now we understand why it's so beautifully blue, 713 00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:46,776 nut the question remains, why did it suddenly turn black? 714 00:40:49,747 --> 00:40:52,582 NARRATOR: As news of the azure lagoon spreads, 715 00:40:52,650 --> 00:40:56,319 it attracts thousands of visitors, and its caustic waters 716 00:40:56,387 --> 00:41:00,290 become fetid with all manner of garbage and waste. 717 00:41:01,625 --> 00:41:03,760 RUBEN: The blue color is really beautiful, 718 00:41:03,828 --> 00:41:07,797 but this lagoon has also been used as a dumping ground for 719 00:41:07,865 --> 00:41:09,933 the bodies of animals, car wrecks, 720 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,335 whatever people have decided to throw in there. 721 00:41:13,404 --> 00:41:17,140 KOUROUNIS: The authorities actively try to dissuade people 722 00:41:17,208 --> 00:41:19,809 from swimming in these waters, 723 00:41:19,877 --> 00:41:25,715 but all of the signs and warnings have little effect. 724 00:41:25,783 --> 00:41:27,917 So what do you do? 725 00:41:27,985 --> 00:41:30,119 Well, the authorities have gone to the extreme 726 00:41:30,187 --> 00:41:34,157 steps of having to dye the water black. 727 00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:37,560 KAYS: They bought some dye. 728 00:41:37,628 --> 00:41:41,564 They dumped it in, the next day, when the revelers showed up to 729 00:41:41,632 --> 00:41:43,032 hang out by their beautiful, 730 00:41:43,100 --> 00:41:46,336 toxic blue lake, they found the water had completely 731 00:41:46,403 --> 00:41:49,372 changed color and was not nearly as inviting. 732 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,207 The lesson here is 733 00:41:51,275 --> 00:41:53,643 just because something looks beautiful, 734 00:41:53,711 --> 00:41:55,311 that doesn't mean you should immediately 735 00:41:55,379 --> 00:41:57,413 expose your entire body to it.