All language subtitles for The UnXplained s05e09 Extraordinary Structures.eng

A sprawling, ancient city

located entirely underground.

A giant, stone tomb
built to be a gateway

to the afterlife.

And 11 enormous
churches that were carved

out of solid rock.

Throughout the world,
there are ancient structures

that seem to defy explanation.

Monuments so massive

and so intricately constructed

that even with
today's technology,

they would be nearly
impossible to duplicate.

How were ancient
civilizations able

to build such
extraordinary structures?

And perhaps more importantly,

what purpose did they serve?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

High in the mountains
of northern Ethiopia,

a mile and a half
above sea level,

lies the city of Lalibela.

Each year, tens of
thousands of worshippers

make the arduous journey here,

despite its remote location,

to visit 11 of the strangest

holy places on Earth.

Lalibela is one of Africa's

most mysterious sites.

It's a complex of 11
monolithic churches that are

hewn right out of the bedrock.

Most churches are
built on the surface,

and they're built
from the bottom up.

Whereas in Lalibela, they're
built from the top down.

It's the only place on the Earth
that has cathedrals that are

built underground as opposed
to being built on the surface.

What makes
the Lalibela churches so unique

is not just their
building construction,

which is unlike anything
else in the world,

but also the otherworldly
feel of the complexes

where these different
monuments can be found.

Entering into the
complex of churches

was almost like
entering another realm.

Almost as if those who
constructed Lalibela

had a ritual function,

and that was to bring
themselves closer to God.

It's an
incredible piece of engineering,

this idea that you build
11 churches below ground,

but it creates its
own unique problems.

How do people get down there?

How did they move all of the
rock out and where did it go?

Those are the things that
start running through my mind.

Dating back
to the 12th century A.D.,

each of Lalibela's 11 churches

was painstakingly
carved by hand,

and from the outside,
like enormous sculptures.

The complex also includes
an extensive system of tunnels

and catacombs, all
carved out of solid bedrock.

But why?

Why build a magnificent
series of structures

in the toughest way possible?

The builder
of Lalibela was a king

by this very name, Lalibela.

And it is said that,
in the 12th century,

he was living in Jerusalem,
and decided to come back

into Ethiopia and create

these monolithic churches.

And it's very
clear that Lalibela,

in the design of these
different churches,

was trying to
replicate Jerusalem.

Indeed, he was trying to
create a new Jerusalem.

So, by entering into this
complex, it's almost like

you were entering
into Jerusalem itself,

which was considered
to be the most

holy shrine in the world.

It is
described that Lalibela had a dream.

And in the dream he was
instructed by God to go back and

make a copy of
Jerusalem at the site.

And, in order to
fulfill God's request,

King Lalibela and
others who were involved

worked night and
day for 20 years.

So, in their minds,
right at the beginning,

they had a three-dimensional
structure in mind.

Because, when they started,
it was just a big piece of rock.

And how did they know
that, if they were going to go

150 feet down into the ground,

that everything was okay?

Because the worst possible thing

would be that you'd
almost finished, and then

you found that there was a
massive problem at the bottom.

11 underground churches,

some over 100 feet deep,

each carved from a single block

of stone in only 20 years' time?

Archaeologists date the churches
back nearly a thousand years.

But even with today's
modern technology,

such an incredible
architectural feat

would be considered impossible.

So, how was it accomplished?

If we go and build
a big structure today, a skyscraper,

we have blueprints,
we have engineering,

design pathways, and we
have a construction plan.

It tells us how we will
do every step of the way,

where every screw, nut, bolt,
weld, poured concrete goes.

None of that exists for these
large, ancient structures.

So, we really got to
think outside the box

and try to find how
they were done,

why they were done,
and who built them.

A very curious thing
at Lalibela is that there are some

very unique carvings there,
some very interesting symbols

that are carved
into these churches.

Do they mean something
if you put them together?

In the church
of St. Mary at Lalibela,

there is the Star of David,

and this, along with a
number of other mementos

and designs, are
extremely indicative

of the presence of
the Knights Templar.

This has suggested to many

that they may well
have been present

during the construction

of the churches at Lalibela.

Now, the
Knights Templar were a very interesting

religious order that
became very powerful

during the Middle Ages,

but what people
don't often realize is

they were very
interested in building,

in, geometry,

in, numerology,

and so, they're
at once very practical

and pragmatic, and
on the other hand,

also very spiritual and mystic.

The Knights Templar had

a great amount of
knowledge in masonry

and architecture and
building structures.

Now, it's debated as to whether
or not the Knights Templar

would have been in
Ethiopia at this time.

But there's some
interesting evidence that

an Armenian
geographer at the time

documented seeing men
with red and white regalia,

blonde or reddish
hair, long hair,

which could indicate that
he's talking about Templars.

So, it could be that the
Templars themselves

were the ones
that built Lalibela

or that they helped King
Lalibela build the site.

Could Templar
stone masons have influenced

the construction of the
churches at Lalibela?

And if so, for what purpose?

If you look around
Lalibela, there are altars there

that have spaces
in them that would

precisely fit the
Ark of the Covenant,

which was approximately
four feet in length,

two feet wide, and
around two feet in height.

It has been suggested
that the rock-cut churches

at Lalibela were built to
house the Ark of the Covenant.

The lost Ark of the Covenant...

The gold box which contained
the original Ten Commandments...

Could it have been hidden
at Lalibela centuries ago?

During the Crusades,
we know that the Templars

occupied the Temple of Solomon.

And so, it could
be that they were

the keepers of the
Ark of the Covenant.

And the more you look at
Lalibela and given the fact

that we see that it's
built underground,

you start to think, here
we have these churches

that are hewn out of
these megalithic rocks.

They're built like
defensive structures.

They have all
kinds of interesting

symbolism there that
indicate Templars.

And you start getting
the impression that this is

actually some kind of defensive
fortress to protect something.

Was Lalibela originally
built to house and hide

the Ark of the Covenant?

Well, if that's true,
then it would certainly

explain why the churches
resemble fortresses.

There's another ancient
structure, located in Turkey,

that may also have a
connection to the divine.

It's an ancient temple that
some believe was built on the site

of the Garden of Eden.

While plowing his
field, shepherd Safak Yildiz spots

a strangely-shaped stone
emerging from the parched earth.

When he brushes away
the dirt, he realizes the stone

may be part of a
much larger object.

After reporting his find,

he is visited by
archaeologist Klaus Schmidt

and a team from the German
Archaeological Institute.

Further excavation reveals
the stone is actually part

of a massive, elaborately carved

stone pillar, one

in what turns out to be dozens

that form an ancient
underground complex.

G�bekli Tepe is arguably
the most important

archaeological
discovery in recent years.

We're talking
about a whole series

of stone circles

built on the top of a mountain.

If you can imagine
Stonehenge in England,

but multiply it by 20 times

and have these stones in circles

facing towards two
massive, great monoliths,

as much as 18
and a half feet tall,

weighing between 15 and 20 tons,

this is what we see
at G�bekli Tepe.

G�bekli Tepe could very
well be the first lost civilization.

We've only uncovered
a small percentage

of it, like ten or 15%.

We have no idea, really,
how much bigger this is

and what else we're
gonna find there.

We have to ask ourselves,
"Could G�bekli Tepe

been a place of
commerce and trade?"

And I think the answer
is an undoubted yes

because its construction
would have necessitated

the presence of
not just hundreds,

but many thousands of people

coming from across
the region who,

at the beginning,
were hunter-gatherers.

While there are many theories,

the true purpose of G�bekli
Tepe remains shrouded in mystery.

But no less mysterious
than the stones themselves

is the lost civilization
that fashioned them.

Because when
sediment layers of the site

were carbon dated, it
was shockingly revealed

that G�bekli Tepe is
more than 12,000 years old.

G�bekli Tepe
really did send shockwaves

through the whole
world of early pre-history

because we'd never before
known or imagined, even,

that simple hunter-gatherers

could produce such
spectacular monumental

structures as are
found at G�bekli Tepe.

Now, many of these pillars
also have remarkable carvings

on them, wonderful carvings

and bas-reliefs of animals,

birds, insects,
all kinds of things.

So, to fashion those and carve
them and set them up in these

structures was just
absolutely amazing.

More than one-third
of G�bekli Tepe's stone pillars

contain elaborate bas-relief
carvings of various animals.

But what has many archaeologists
and historians puzzled

is that many of the species
depicted... like geese

and armadillos and wild boar...

Are not indigenous to the area.

That location just
happens to be near where

Noah and the animals and the ark

ended the long journey
through the flood.

And these giant
pillars in G�bekli Tepe

have carvings of animals,
many different kinds of animals.

Are these the
animals from the ark?

Did the stories
about those animals

end up being depicted in stone?

Could there
really be a connection

between G�bekli Tepe
and the great flood?

Perhaps.

But according to
another audacious theory,

the animal carvings at
G�bekli Tepe may have been

inspired by another,
even older, Biblical story.

G�bekli Tepe
is located in the very area

that the Bible tells us the
Garden of Eden was located.

It is said that Eden
was where the four rivers

of paradise took their rise.

Two of those rivers
were the Euphrates

and the Tigris that flowed
through Mesopotamia.

And these both rose in the
same area as G�bekli Tepe.

Professor Klaus Schmidt,
the German archeologist,

even suggested himself

that this could be
the area of Eden

and the point of
foundation of civilization.

The Garden of Eden?

It's a fascinating theory,

but one that is not
without its problems.

Because archeological
evidence shows that G�bekli Tepe

was not only later abandoned,

but also backfilled
and deliberately buried.

Why would anyone
want to leave and bury

paradise?

Around 8,000 B.C.,

the people of G�bekli
Tepe just vanish.

They just disappear.

So, we have to ask
ourself, where did they go?

Did they just
vanish into oblivion?

What we know is that, recently,
archeologists discovered

a number of human skulls
that had been modified.

And what this means is
that they had been sculpted

or that they had been pierced,

so that they could be hung up,

perhaps on some kind
of frame or platform.

They found
skulls that are smashed in,

they've found remains
that look as if there's been

some kind of mass ritual or
murder or sacrifice going on.

There may have actually
been a skull cult there.

Do we know what these
people were doing? Of course not

because they were
doing this thousands

of years before
writing took place.

We can try and guess.

We-we know important
rituals took place there.

Klaus Schmidt would
talk about this as Eden.

I think what he meant was this
is an Edenic society because

if you look at the story of the
Garden of Eden in the Bible,

that's a
hunter-gatherer society,

that's before we
discover agriculture.

And so, the fact that here's
this place, G�bekli Tepe,

it's really challenging
our understandings

of our own origins, our
own religious origins.

And you start thinking about
what else we're gonna find.

It remains to be
seen what will be found

in the rest of the site.

But certainly, I'm
sure G�bekli Tepe

has plenty more
surprises for us.

Every new enclosure excavated,
every new piece of evidence

puts another
piece in the jigsaw,

but also at the same
time raises new questions

that we find very
difficult to answer.

Whether or not G�bekli Tepe
has a connection to stories

from the Bible, one thing
appears to be certain:

it was built for a
profound purpose.

Which is also the case with
another massive stone structure.

One that can be found
in the Irish countryside,

and may have served as
a bridge between the living

and the dead.

Rising above
this region's lush fields,

not far from the banks
of the River Boyne,

is one of the most mysterious
ancient tombs in the world.

Newgrange.

This massive stone structure

has a diameter of 87 yards,

or nearly the size
of a football field.

Newgrange is the envy of
monuments all around the planet.

The thing that people say
when they come here is

they're surprised how big it is.

It is huge. It takes
up over an acre

of ground, and
there is an estimated

200,000 tons of
stone in the monument.

According
to archaeological findings,

Newgrange was built
around the year 3200 BC,

making it centuries older
than both Stonehenge

and the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

Because Newgrange is so ancient,

there's still much that we
don't know about the people

who built this
extraordinary tomb.

Probably one
of the most fascinating

things about Newgrange
is the fact that it was built

in pre-metal days,

just as the Stone Age was
kind of sort of coming to a close.

And it's difficult to imagine
how ancient people were able to

assemble this massive monument,
but they managed to do so.

A lot of work went into
the building of this monument,

and it was all done
with extreme precision.

Inside, there are carved stones.

And then you come into a
chamber, which is quite roomy.

So, you have this cathedral-like
feeling when you walk inside.

Newgrange is what
archaeologists refer to as a passage tomb.

It has a passage
leading into the interior.

And in that interior, human
bones have generally

been found, in
different quantities.

There are
human remains in these places,

but the most common,
um, burial practice

around this time was cremation.

So, we find most people would
be cremated and then interred.

In the traditional
Irish folklore

that dates way, way back,

the other world of the dead...

It sort of overlapped
with our own.

So, the idea is that these
sites would sort of allow

for this passage between
the realm of the dead

and the realm of the living.

On the back recess of
the inner chamber there is a tri-spiral.

The most common
interpretation that people

come up with is
that it represents

this constant cycle of
renewal and regeneration.

On a spiritual level,
it may promise rebirth

for the spirits of the dead.

The tri-spiral is
unique to Newgrange.

And it's also found
on the entrance stone

and throughout the tomb.

Archeologists
who have studied Newgrange

have theorized that
this ancient tomb

was intended to serve a
profound and mystical purpose.

And as evidence, they point to
a curious element of its design

that is visible only
one day a year.

Newgrange is
unusual in that it has

a very special aperture,

or opening, above the entrance.

On the day of winter solstice,

this glimmering golden
beam of sunlight enters there

and pierces the darkness.

When the sun
rises at winter solstice,

the light hits the chamber

for precisely 17 minutes.

And some even
speculate that the spirits

would have used the light
to leave the burial chamber

and go and join the deities.

Did the builders
of Newgrange specifically

design it to be a
gateway into the afterlife?

Some archaeologists
believe that the answer is yes.

And they also claim
that Newgrange was built

to allow those who stood
within its inner chamber

to communicate
directly with the dead.

In the case of Newgrange,

the notion of the
sunbeam drawing out

the souls of the deceased
and-and leading them

to that other world, is
not just a one-way ticket.

It was a portal between worlds.

Were the people inside
there... The priests,

for instance, the druids...
Were they in contact

with the ancestors
who'd gone before?

The builders of the monument

have created a space
which is separate,

which is a world for the dead.

There is always a feeling that
this is a house for the spirits.

Where consulting
with the ancestors,

asking advice
from the ancestors,

would have happened
5,000 years ago,

which is extraordinary.

Was Newgrange
constructed to be not only a tomb

but also a place
where the living

communicated with the dead?

It's an intriguing theory,

which is why archaeologists
continue to study Newgrange

in the hope of one day
unraveling all of its mysteries.

How people
choose to handle their remains

always tells you a
lot about what people

think about the afterlife.

Where are they going?

What is the relationship
between the soul and the body?

And in Newgrange,
this had a lot to do

with this notion that
the dead are still around

and perhaps can see you
even if you can't see them.

So, in a sense, with Newgrange,

we might even say that the
dead did achieve immortality.

The theory that Newgrange
was built to be not just a tomb

but also a gateway

between our world
and the afterlife

suggests that some ancient
structures may have served

a higher purpose than we
might have once believed.

In fact, there's a
vast underground city

that was constructed
more than 2,000 years ago

that some believe
was designed to ensure

the survival of the human race.

Bordered by
the Black Sea to the north

and by the Taurus
Mountains to the south

lies the craggy
regions of Cappadocia.

Here, wind, water, and time

have sculpted the
volcanic rocks into bizarre

and almost surreal shapes.

But, believe it or not,
the most unusual thing

that was ever discovered in
this otherworldly landscape

was found not above
ground but far below.

In 1963, during a
simple home renovation

in the town of Derinkuyu,

a cave wall was punctured,
revealing a passageway

to what appeared to be
an intricate underground city

thousands of years old
and more than 280 feet deep.

Derinkuyu is a pretty
amazing story 'cause,

just imagine that you're working
in your basement one day,

you knock a hole in the wall,

and what you find is a-a
city that is sort of the size

of a-a really large castle,
but it's actually underground,

and it was done in
a time before there was

really any mechanical
means to provide

water or ventilation
or any of those things.

The only thing on
the surface that you can see

are what appear to be wells.

As you approach Derinkuyu,

you would certainly not be aware

that you were walking over

the position of an
underground city.

It would have been the home
for thousands of people at a time

at some point in
the distant past.

Experts believe that
Derinkuyu housed an estimated

20,000 men, women,
and children, and included

religious centers,
storerooms, and living rooms.

Many archaeologists and
scholars propose that Derinkuyu

was most likely built around
800 B.C. by the Phrygians,

a Bronze Age people
related to the Trojans,

and was intended to serve as a
temporary shelter from invasion.

But others believe it
was built by the Hittites,

a warrior people
mentioned in the Bible

who flourished a few
hundred years before that.

It's in a place
that's had multiple wars.

There's conflict taking
place all the time.

And when you're above ground,
people can see you for miles.

You know, each night,
you're lighting fires

to get some light
inside the space.

And so that can be seen
from 20 miles or more.

Once they go below
ground, they're invisible.

It has massive
stones that can be lowered to block

passageways that human
beings can only go through

in single file, making
it very easy to defend.

There are also rumors
that it is connected by a vast

tunnel system going many,
many kilometers to other

underground cities
in the neighborhood.

So, it had emergency
escape routes.

So, the whole thing
was a quite remarkable

subterranean fortress.

While there
is evidence to suggest

that several different
cultures have used Derinkuyu

as a fortified sanctuary,

in the centuries that
have passed since its initial

construction, some researchers

have theorized that
it is much, much older

than mainstream
archaeologists think.

And that its original architects
had an even bigger threat

in mind when they built it.

The curator of
Derinkuyu in Cappadocia,

�mer Demir, had
found the evidence

suggesting that each
of the different stories

or levels would seem
to have been constructed

by different cultures
at different times.

And what he found
was incredible.

For he discovered
that there were tools,

stone tools, here, that dated
back to paleolithic times.

The implications
of this are enormous

because what this
suggests is that

Derinkuyu goes back
at least 12,000 years

and was present at the
end of the last ice age

and may well have been

a place where our
ancestors sought refuge

at the time of a cataclysm,

a cataclysm that may
well have devastated

large parts of the Earth

at the very end of
the paleolithic era.

A cataclysm?

Could it be that the original
inhabitants of Derinkuyu

built it as a shelter
to protect them

during the Earth's
last great ice age?

A time when the Earth's climate
was estimated to be more than

ten degrees colder
than it is now?

So cold that hardly
anything could

grow or even
survive above ground.

When
you build your city underground,

you get two major
off-the-top advantages,

one sort of environmental.

You're gonna have
great thermal properties.

It's gonna be cool when
you need it to be cool,

but it won't get too cold, so
it'll be kind of warm enough

when you need it to be warm.

Thinking about when
this was built and inhabited

really remains this exciting,
mysterious, open question.

Even this idea of other
cities underground,

like, how common was that
for humans to build their homes

underground versus on
the surface of the ground?

It does feel like
we've just really

scratched the surface of
what could be below us.

There could be much more.
There could be many more

of these cave systems in Turkey.

So, there's mystery
still to be found

deep within the Earth.

The truth is we
may never know for sure why

or even how these ancient
underground cities were built.

And that's especially true
in the case of Derinkuyu,

because the secrets of
its construction techniques

seem to have disappeared

along with whoever built it.

Even today, with
all of the modern technology

that we have, it would be
incredibly complicated and

a massive undertaking
to do something like that.

And sometimes we look
at these ancient marvels

and we try and figure out
could we build that today

to that level of accuracy,
that sort of quality

of construction in
that amount of time?

And the answer's no,
which is pretty amazing that,

several thousand years later,

they're better than us.

It's humbling to think that
more than 2,000 years ago

the builders of
Derinkuyu possessed

engineering knowledge
that exceeds our own.

And it's also a reminder
that our ancestors

were far more ingenious
than we often realize.

For instance, the ancient
Greeks constructed

a temple that is so
brilliantly designed

that it's actually able

to deceive your eyes.

High atop the
Acropolis in Athens, Greece

stands one of the
most magnificent

and most aesthetically
pleasing structures in the world:

the Parthenon.

This 23,000 square
foot temple was

constructed using 100,000
tons of radiant white marble.

The exterior of the
Parthenon is lined

with 46 colossal columns,

which strikingly
appear to be laid out

in the shape of
an exact rectangle.

And what's more
astonishing is that

the more than
13,000 stone blocks

used to assemble the Parthenon

were precisely fitted together

without the use of mortar.

How were the ancient Greeks

able to build something
that looks so perfect?

The Parthenon is
an amazingly beautiful structure.

The design, the
spacing of each stone

is so perfect that it
inspires just to look at.

The proportions are so
exact for a large building

it is an amazing thing,
and it lifts the spirit upward.

Built beginning in
447 B.C. on the orders of the famed

statesman and general Pericles,

the Parthenon celebrates
the Athenians' victory

over Persian invaders

who had tried to conquer
the city for 50 years.

Athens during the time
of the building of the Parthenon is

an incredible
cosmopolitan, vibrant city.

It's producing art, literature,

sculpture, architecture.

It's the Manhattan of
the fifth century B.C.

And I think if you're an
Athenian citizen walking,

doing your everyday work,
and then you see the Acropolis

in the center of the city,
this incredible shining hill,

and then you see the
Parthenon, the gleaming marble,

the biggest and most
beautiful Greek temple

that existed, at least in
mainland Greece at this point,

you'd be filled with
a sense of wonder.

Although most of the
interior of the Parthenon has decayed

due to the ravages of time,

the rectangular
symmetry of its exterior

looks flawless to this day.

But strangely, for a
temple that was clearly built

with perfection in mind,

what makes the
Parthenon so fascinating

is actually its imperfections.

Not only were the Greeks
masters of geometry,

they were also masters
of optical illusions.

They knew the fact that
your eye plays tricks on you.

Therefore they
built the Parthenon

"slightly incorrectly"
to compensate for this,

so that the net
result is perfection.

The Parthenon is a rectangle,

but there are no right
angles in the entire building.

Everything is slightly off.

The columns look
straight from below,

but they are slightly
tilted toward each other.

So, if you were standing
at the base of the Parthenon

and if the columns didn't stop
after a certain number of feet,

but they kept on going
all the way up into the sky,

you would see the
columns meeting

if they were long
enough to actually meet.

This is a very curious
thing that the builders did.

It turns out that
the Parthenon does not

have straight
parallel lines at all.

The columns are not
vertically cylindrical at all.

They bulge by about an inch
at the center of the cylinder.

So, for example, the human
brain looking at a column

will actually think that
the waist is pinched.

Your eye thinks that the
center of the cylinder is shrunk.

To compensate for that,

the columns at the
Parthenon bulge.

There is no way this could
have been an accident.

But is that all the
Greeks were trying to achieve...

An optical illusion?

Or could they have had
another purpose in mind

when they built the Parthenon?

Why do we create
monuments like the Parthenon?

And the answer is

we want to try and
imitate the divine.

The divine was
seen as perfection.

The gods are seen as perfection.

And so, sacred geometry

has been incorporated
into the Parthenon

in the belief that it
was now endowed

with some kind of divine power.

And this was done
very specifically

to connect the
mundane with the divine,

to create the connection
between this world and the next.

It's hard to look
at the Parthenon

and other marvelous structures

from the ancient world
and not feel a sense of awe

at what our ancestors
accomplished.

But in the early 20th
century, one man attempted

to unravel the
engineering secrets

of the ancients by creating
his own monuments

built entirely out
of giant stones.

In this small
town, tucked away between

Miami and Everglades
National Park,

stands an elaborate
stone edifice.

The locals call it Coral Castle.

Sculpted from
massive blocks of coral,

this incredible structure
features a five-ton,

heart-shaped table,

a 28-ton obelisk,

and a perfectly
balanced nine-ton door

that opens with
the touch of a finger.

And even more incredible
than this marvel of design and

engineering is the fact that
it was built by just one man,

and nobody knows how he did it.

Ed Leedskalnin
was an immigrant from Latvia

who immigrated to
the United States, and

he built the only modern
megalithic structure ever known.

The Coral Castle is
1,100 tons of coral bedrock

that he dug out of the
property on which it rests.

He was only
about five feet tall,

but he managed to move
hundreds of tons of coral rock

into this megalithic
modern temple.

He had no technology
there that could have

lifted these stones
or cut the stones

and yet it's there to this day.

And the story goes that
Ed Leedskalnin built this

incredible megalithic site
using only a few pulleys,

a tripod, he did
it all by himself,

and he worked at night,
and he was very secretive.

From 1923 until 1951,

Leedskalnin perfectly
shaped, lifted, fitted,

and stacked over two
million pounds of limestone.

For decades,
hundreds of the world's

top architects and engineers
have come to this place

to solve the mystery
of its construction.

The tripods, for instance, were
three pieces of Florida pine,

about the same size
as a telephone pole.

He used five-ton chains,
he used a ten-ton chain hoist,

yet, somehow, was
able to impossibly

lift stones that were wider
than the tripods' diameter,

that were taller than
the tripods stood,

that weighed more than
the chains were rated for.

There has to be some other

technology being used here,

or this is one of
the best magic tricks

ever pulled over on mankind.

So, what could it have been?

Did he learn some
unique mechanical trick?

Or did he learn
some new physics?

He was found
often at the public library

studying the Egyptians,

studying ancient
megalithic structures.

Ed said he knew the
secrets of the pyramids.

I believe this to be accurate.

He was able to replicate
their accomplishments,

which enabled him to be
able to create something

which, by any other
standard, you cannot do.

Ed claims in his notes

that he used reverse
energy or antigravity.

The question is what
did he mean by this?

The device that Ed
used, or allegedly used,

to move these rocks
were an old-school tripod

that had a large
black box on top of it.

We don't know
what was in that box,

and Ed never says
what was in that box.

We could speculate
that it's some device

that he's created that
enables him to lift more weight

than he should be
able to lift with this

rudimentary tripod
fulcrum and lever system,

but we have no idea
what it was he did.

What makes the Coral Castle
so unique and mysterious

is that no one
has ever been able

to replicate his results
using his methods.

What this means is that he knew
something that we do not know.

Did Edward Leedskalnin
rediscover building techniques

used by our ancestors?

Well, if he did, he took
their secrets to the grave.

So, for now, we'll
continue to try

to understand just how
ancient temples, churches

and tombs were constructed
thousands of years ago.

And perhaps one day
we too will unlock

the secrets of these
extraordinary structures

that, for now, remain...

unexplained.

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