All language subtitles for Ancient Aliens S21E01 The Top Ten Extraordinary Discoveries 1080p AMZN WEBRip x265 An0mal1_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR:
A lost city hidden
in the Andes.

Mysterious metal spheres
of extraterrestrial origin.

And a sunken city that was said
to be the home of the gods.

Over the years,
Ancient Alienshas investigated

some of the most
astonishing breakthroughs

in archaeology, astronomy,
and physics

that challenge traditional
beliefs about human history.

Now, we're counting down

the ten most extraordinary
discoveries we've examined--

discoveries that just might
present undeniable proof

of our extraterrestrial past.

♪

For ancient astronaut
theorists like me,

there is nothing more exciting

than when a new discovery
is made

that points to evidence
of extraterrestrial visitations

in the distant past.

And while it's not easy
to narrow it down to just ten,

our list covers discoveries
in everything from science

to archaeology to astronomy--

like the first entry
in our countdown.

It is a mysterious object that
flew through our solar system.

And what makes it
truly extraordinary

is that some scientists believe

it might have been
an extraterrestrial craft.

At number ten on our countdown

of the Top Ten
Extraordinary Discoveries:

Oumuamua.

NARRATOR:
The Hawaiian Island of Maui.

October 19, 2017.

Astronomers at
the Haleakala Observatory

detect a mysterious object
traveling at high speed

through our solar system.

The object has
a strange, oblong shape

and is on a trajectory

that is unlike anything
that has ever been seen before.

I was in charge of coordinating

the observing
to characterize the object.

There were four images taken...

...that showed
an object moving rapidly

with respect to the stars.

At that point,
they started to compute an orbit

to try and understand
what this object was.

Once more data came in,

it was very clear
that this object was from

outside the solar system.

This was really exciting.

NARRATOR:
By calculating the object's
speed and trajectory,

astronomers determined
that it originated

in another star system,

making it the first interstellar
object ever discovered.

They named the object
"Oumuamua," meaning

"voyager from the distant past
reaching out to us."

And, incredibly,

some astronomers
suggested it might be

some type of
extraterrestrial technology.

TRAVIS TAYLOR:
Oumuamua doesn't look like
a typical asteroid.

It's elongated.
It's not round or chunky

like you would think
an asteroid is.

And there were a lot of
astronomers and scientists

who studied Oumuamua

and it looks like
it could possibly have been

a probe
from some other civilization

outside our solar system.

What I think is interesting is
that Oumuamua is cigar-shaped.

Because there are stories

and eyewitness reports
of cigar-shaped UFOs.

So, is it possible

that there is
some type of a connection?

Is it possible
that some asteroids

are actually
extraterrestrial spacecraft?

While it might sound like
science fiction,

in 2023, a team of scientists
launched an expedition

to find fragments of
a meteorite on the ocean floor--

one that they believed contains
evidence of alien technology.

At number nine on our countdown:

The BeLaU Spheres.

NARRATOR:
The Bismark Sea.

June 2023.

100 miles north
of Papua New Guinea.

Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Avi
Loeb and a team of scientists

are attempting
to retrieve the remnants

of an exploded meteor from
the bottom of the Pacific Ocean

using a large magnetic sled.

Two weeks into the project,

the sled pulls up
something unexpected.

ROD PYLE:
Loeb did find a number of beads,

little spherules
not much bigger than a BB,

that they were
able to dredge up.

Upon first glance,
they look kind of exotic.

They have little swirls in them,

they're almost perfectly round.

NARRATOR:
For Dr. Loeb, the discovery
of these mysterious spheres

is particularly exciting
because he believes

that the exploded object
they came from

is unlike any other meteor
that's ever landed on Earth.

He first learned
about this meteor in 2019,

and based on
its speed and trajectory

he was able to surmise
that it was interstellar.

I came across a meteor catalog

that the government compiled

using its missile
warning system.

The meteor discovered in 2014

was actually from
outside the solar system.

The meteor burned up
18.7 kilometers

above the ocean's surface

and it released
a few percent of the energy

of the Hiroshima bomb
when it exploded.

The government released
the light curve

of the fireball
of the explosion and

from that we inferred
that the object must have been

made of some alloy
that is much tougher

than iron meteorites.

And that raises the possibility

that it may have been
a spacecraft.

NARRATOR:
A spacecraft?

Could it be
that the object that exploded

over the ocean
north of Papua New Guinea

was an extraterrestrial craft?

Dr. Loeb believes
the small metallic spheres

his team discovered could
confirm his radical theory.

Initial testing
of the spherules showed that

they had an unusually high
concentration

of beryllium,
lanthanum and uranium,

making a never-before-seen
compound known as "BeLaU."

That BeLaU composition
does not exist

in any known mineral or rock
that we know of.

And so this does speak
to his hypothesis

that they're manufactured
extraterrestrially.

TSOUKALOS:
Dr. Avi Loeb proposes

that these spherules

may be part of
some type of ET technology.

Could that really be
a remnant of

a far, far distant
extraterrestrial civilization?

Dr. Avi Loeb's suggestion

that the objects discovered
in the Pacific Ocean

may have come from
an extraterrestrial spacecraft

is a thrilling prospect.

But there's another scientist

who made a similar
intriguing discovery--

not in the ocean, but in
Earth's upper atmosphere--

and he's convinced
that it is of alien origin.

Number eight on our countdown:

The Titanium Microsphere.

NARRATOR: The University
of Sheffield, England.

2015.

MILTON WAINWRIGHT:
Andrew, on you.

-Count down, please.
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
Astrobiologist Dr. Milton
Wainwright and his research team

release a hydrogen balloon
that travels 25 miles up

into Earth's stratosphere.

Once the balloon reaches
its target altitude,

a capture mechanism
collects samples

of whatever material
is around it.

Then, the balloon bursts

and the capture mechanism

descends by parachute
back to Earth

so that its contents
can be analyzed.

One of these balloons was hit

at an incredible rate
by something

that left behind a small crater.

And when they actually dug
into this crater

to see what it was,
it was a tiny sphere.

And when they actually examined
what the sphere was made of,

it was found to be
of titanium and vanadium.

And these are elements that
shouldn't be there naturally

out in the lower atmosphere.

NARRATOR:
The microscopic sphere is
just 200 microns in diameter,

roughly the thickness
of a human hair.

There's no Earth material
associated with them

and they're too large

to be carried from Earth
to these altitudes.

They must be incoming
from space.

Where are they coming from?
We just don't know.

COLLINS:
This tiny sphere,

when they studied it
under electron microscope,

saw that it was
actually a shell

that had now broken

and coming out of it

was this strange ooze

that they felt
was biological in nature.

NARRATOR:
A biological substance?

That originated not on Earth
but from somewhere in space?

Is it possible
that this discovery

is evidence of a living organism

from a world other than our own?

WAINWRIGHT:
The characteristics of these
organisms is very interesting.

They're made of
carbon and oxygen,

so we know they're life-forms.

They don't contain silicon, so
they're not bits of cosmic dust.

They're very unusual.

When I see the shapes
of these things, I'm amazed,

'cause I've never seen
anything like them on Earth.

There's no textbook version

of the pictures
we've been seeing.

Although it is still unknown

just where
these spheres come from,

Dr. Wainwright believes
they are being used

to introduce new life-forms
on Earth.

CHILDRESS:
With Dr. Wainwright's
small metal sphere,

you have to wonder,

is this protein ooze
that's inside it

something to jump-start life
on the planet?

Without a doubt,
one of my favorite places

to explore is Egypt.

And what I find truly exciting

is when technology
reveals new secrets

about its ancient monuments
and temples.

Like an extraordinary discovery
that was made in 2017,

when researchers
located a hidden chamber

inside the Great Pyramid

that's big enough
to fit the Statue of Liberty.

At number seven
on our countdown

of the Top Ten
Extraordinary Discoveries:

The Great Pyramid Void.

NARRATOR:
Just west of Cairo
stands the most mysterious

and sophisticated wonder
of the Ancient World:

the Great Pyramid.

Built from more than
two million limestone blocks,

this massive structure is
engineered to near-perfection.

Despite being studied
for hundreds of years,

much about the Great Pyramid
remains shrouded in mystery.

And in November 2017,

media outlets around the world

announced
an incredible discovery.

Archaeologists
detected a chamber

near the pyramid's north face

that is approximately
100 feet long

and more than six feet tall.

TSOUKALOS:
The discovery of that void
is sensational,

because it opens up
the whole discussion

to more questions
and to new answers.

NARRATOR:
In April 2018,

Giorgio Tsoukalos
entered the Great Pyramid

along with
Egyptologist Ramy Romany

and Dr. Giulio Magli,
a professor of archaeoastronomy

from the Polytechnic University
in Milan, Italy.

RAMY ROMANY:
So, this is it.

The Grand Gallery.

NARRATOR:
They are inside
the Grand Gallery,

which is directly beneath
the newly discovered void.

ROMANY:
From here to the ceiling,
it's about ten meters high

and it goes about 50 meters in,
which is 150 feet deep.

I mean,
that just gives you an idea

of how huge this place is.

-ROMANY: Yeah.
-And it's perfect.

ROMANY:
So, you think the void is
right on top of our heads here?

TSOUKALOS:
In your opinion,

what do you think
is inside that void

that was just discovered?

TSOUKALOS:
Can you elaborate

on that iron throne?

NARRATOR:
A throne, containing pieces
of metal found in a meteorite?

Could such an object
really be embedded

inside a secret chamber
located within

the Great Pyramid of Giza?

According to ancient
Egyptian writings

called the Pyramid Texts,

the god Osiris and his wife Isis

came to Earth from stars
in the constellation of Orion,

and it is from these two gods
that all human life originates.

According to the story,

Osiris had an iron throne
that possessed awesome powers.

Throughout ancient Egypt
in the temples,

we see depictions of the gods:

extraterrestrial beings
on their thrones.

These thrones are feathered

because they are
ascension vehicles.

They are vehicles that
take them to the stars and back.

ROMANY:
What could be inside that void?

There are many theories
out there.

To this day,

we don't know what's inside.

And that's the most
exciting part for Egyptologists.

Every day,
I'm looking forward to find

what's inside that new void
that has been discovered.

Just what is inside
the Great Pyramid's void

remains to be seen.

But if it's anything
like the amazing discovery

that's next on our list,

it may leave us with
more questions than answers.

I'm talking about
the giant stone boxes

that weigh nearly 100 tons,

whose purpose is still unknown.

At number six on our countdown

of the Top Ten
Extraordinary Discoveries:

The Serapeum of Saqqara.

NARRATOR:
Here, 20 miles south
of the Giza pyramids,

French archaeologist
Auguste Mariette

is surveying the area
when he notices a stone object

protruding from the ground.

Upon closer inspection,

it appears to be
the head of a sphinx.

SALIMA IKRAM:
He started to clear the area,

and so, his team dug down
and revealed

sphinx after sphinx
after sphinx.

HENRY:
He soon lines up
over 100 sphinxes,

follows the pathway and is led
to an underground tunnel,

an entrance that's blocked.

He dynamites the entrance.

He's now
in a 700-foot-long tunnel

that's been carved out
of the limestone.

NARRATOR:
Inside the ancient structure,

Mariette discovered
inscriptions that identify

the underground complex
as the Serapeum.

And within its chambers,
he found gigantic stone boxes.

TSOUKALOS:
Inside that Serapeum

are 24 niches

that contain some of
the biggest stone sarcophagi

ever discovered in Egypt.

The boxes themselves
range in weight

from 70 to 75 tons,

and the lids alone

weigh between 20 and 25 tons.

NARRATOR:
What compelled
the ancient Egyptians

to place 24 enormous

and precisely-crafted
stone boxes

deep beneath the earth?

Archaeologists suggest
they were built

to be the burial place
of sacred Apis bulls.

The Apis bull is related
to the Egyptian god Ptah,

who was the...
a major creator god.

He was the god of Memphis,
the capital city.

He was the god of all craftsmen.

TSOUKALOS:
The Apis bull

was one of the most
sacred animals

in all of ancient Egypt.

But when August Mariette

opened the sarcophagus,
they were empty.

There was nothing in there.

NARRATOR:
The absence of the Apis bulls

has led ancient astronaut
theorists to suggest

the boxes might have served
a more profound purpose

as a type of an advanced,

even extraterrestrial
technology.

One of the ideas, too,
of the sarcophagi is that

they're super high-tech
storage devices.

You know,
they're hermetically sealed,

they're, you know, in spaces

that would be difficult
to get to.

Perhaps something
dangerous and technical

was kept in these boxes.

We're coming up on the halfway
point in our countdown

of the Top Ten
Extraordinary Discoveries,

and this next one
truly blows my mind.

In 2003, archaeologists
began to excavate

an ancient lost city hidden deep
in the jungles of Guatemala.

In total, they found
over 100,000 structures

that, remarkably,
revealed a profound connection

to the stars.

At number five:
The Lost City of El Mirador.

NARRATOR:
The El Mirador Basin,

northern Guatemala, 2015.

Archaeologist Dr. Richard Hansen

begins an aerial survey
of the dense jungle

using a sophisticated remote
sensing method called lidar.

The results reveal
an extraordinary metropolis

that had been lost to history.

TAYLOR:
What's amazing is we've found

what seems to be
an entire civilization

that the Mayans had built
a long time ago

we never knew were there.

There are pyramids there

that rival
the pyramids in Egypt.

CHILDRESS:
Now archaeologists realize

that this area was,
at one time, densely populated.

There were hundreds
of thousands,

if not even millions of people
living there.

And they built
huge pyramid cities.

NARRATOR:
At the center
of the ancient metropolis

are two gigantic pyramids,

now known as El Tigre
and La Danta.

La Danta, the bigger of the two,
is larger in volume

than the Great Pyramid of Giza
in Egypt.

DAVID CHEETHAM:
La Danta,
it's not just a pyramid,

it's a pyramid with pyramids
on top of it.

I mean,
this is a massive structure

that's rivaling or even bigger

than any other known
Maya temple complex.

NARRATOR:
For ancient astronaut theorists,

perhaps the greatest discovery
is in the layout of the site.

CHILDRESS:
Some archaeologists
have suggested

that El Mirador

is aligned with the Pleiades,

and that pyramids
and other structures there

are actually recreating
the Pleiades star system

on the grounds
in the El Mirador Basin.

The Maya themselves associate

the celestial beings
that had contact

with their own ancestors

with the Pleiades constellation.

TSOUKALOS:
What we have discovered
right there

is a lost chapter
of human history

that could be
a direct connection

to the ancient astronaut theory.

Our next extraordinary discovery

was made in
a remote area of Peru,

and this one really
took archaeologists by surprise

because here
they found a massive complex

that is older than
the pyramids of Egypt.

At number four
on our countdown:

Caral.

NARRATOR:
While conducting research at
the base of the Andes Mountains,

Peruvian archaeologist
Dr. Ruth Shady Solis

notices several hills
in the landscape

that do not appear
to have been formed naturally.

People had known it was there,
but most people had assumed

that these great mounds
were natural.

But Ruth Shady
had decided to excavate,

and it turned out,
uh, she'd actually

hit the jackpot
because she'd found

one of the most important
sites in South America.

NARRATOR:
Dr. Shady and her team

discovered the ruins of
an extraordinary lost city

that has come
to be known as Caral.

When you visit Caral, you find
a huge archaeological complex.

There's a large sunken
amphitheater to the south,

there's a major pyramid
to the north,

and then there are
more minor pyramids

that surround a central area.

There are also other buildings,
residential buildings,

so it's a really huge complex.

NARRATOR:
But the most extraordinary
discovery was still to come.

Towards the bottom
of the great mound,

they found remains of
what seemed to be reed bags

or baskets
in which the earth and stones

would have been carried
to make this enormous mound.

And of course, you can date
reeds by the radiocarbon method.

And to everyone's surprise,
the answer came far earlier

than anybody had expected.

This site went back at least
to 2600 BC or earlier.

So that was putting it back
4,600 or more years,

which made it
one of the oldest sites,

as far as civilization,
in the Americas.

HUGH NEWMAN:
Caral could be
the mother culture

of the whole of South America.

The dating of Caral
has really put into question

the origins of civilization
on the planet.

NARRATOR:
At the time the greater pyramid
of Caral was created,

ziggurats were being built
in Mesopotamia

and the step pyramids
were rising in Egypt.

HENRY: This was the beginning
of a worldwide pyramid age.

You have pyramids all over
the world start to spring up.

And you have to wonder,
how did this happen?

Did they all have the same
teacher that was assisting them

or instructing them in how to
build these massive structures?

Scientific breakthroughs
and archaeological finds

are always compelling.

But for ancient
astronaut theorists like me,

what's really exciting
is when a story

once thought to be fiction

is proven to be based
on historical fact.

Like the discovery
of a sunken city that,

according to ancient
Hindu texts,

was the home of the gods.

Number three on our countdown

of the Top Ten
Extraordinary Discoveries:

Dwarka.

NARRATOR:
Northwest India.

April 1983.

Marine archaeologist
Dr. S.R. Rao

begins a seven-year
underwater exploration

just off the coast of
the modern city of Dwarka.

And what he discovers
is stunning.

Submerged 20 feet beneath
the surface of the ocean,

he finds sandstone walls,
cobblestone streets,

and further evidence
of a prosperous ancient city.

At Dwarka,
what has been found so far

under the ocean
is incredibly tantalizing.

For instance,
there's this huge wall,

estimated about 580 meters long.

Pottery has been found.

Stone anchors have been found,

so this seems
to have been a maritime city.

COLLINS:
The remains
that have been discovered

beneath the waters
have been radiocarbon-dated

to at least 9,500 years.

So this was many
thousands of years older

than that of Sumeria,

Egypt and China.

So what exactly was going on
in India at this time?

NARRATOR:
Are these ruins
evidence of a city

that is over 9,000 years old?

And if so, who built it?

Dr. S.R. Rao and other
researchers believe

that the ruins belong
to a legendary ancient city

that was also called Dwarka.

According to the sacred
Hindu text the Mahabharata,

ancient Dwarka was once
the home of the god

Lord Krishna.

DEEPAK SHIMKHADA:
In the Mahabharata,

Dwarka is described

as Krishna's kingdom.

There were magnificent palaces,

all having wonderful windows,

wonderful balconies,

you know, high-rise buildings.

So, it is beautifully described
in the Mahabharata

as being a very important city.

JONATHAN YOUNG:
The Mahabharatatells that

the land came up out of the sea,
the ocean released this land.

It was a special place
of great magic and beauty.

NARRATOR:
According to the story,

Dwarka was destroyed
after another Hindu god

Lord Salva attacked it
from a flying chariot.

SHIMKHADA:
He had a celestial chariot,

which is almost like
a plane that he could fly.

And this plane was like
a stealth, uh, fighter plane.

So he came to Dwarka

and then he started
bombarding the city.

YOUNG:
Krishna is killed,
and the city--

this magnificent city
built on land

that came out of the sea--

sank back into the ocean again.

It only existed during the time
that Krishna lived there.

NARRATOR:
For centuries,
the story of ancient Dwarka

was believed
to be merely a legend.

But is it possible that these
underwater ruins are evidence

that the ancient Hindu texts
are based in actual history?

If so, it wouldn't be
the first time

that a supposedly
mythological site

was found to be real.

In the 1870s, archaeologists
discovered the ruins of Troy,

a legendary city
from Greek mythology

that was assumed
to be completely fictitious.

For hundreds of years,
people thought that

the story of the Trojan War,
the Trojan Horse,

it's all myth.

But then archaeologists
found the ruins of Troy,

and we know there
was the Trojan War,

just like the way
the ancients called it.

SHIMKHADA:
Now we know that Troy did exist,

and similarly,
Dwarka in the Mahabharata,

it was not just a mythical city.

Once upon a time,
it really did exist.

NARRATOR:
But if the underwater ruins
of Dwarka really are

the place described
in the Mahabharata,

might the story of
its demise also be true?

Was it destroyed
in an aerial assault

waged by
an otherworldly visitor?

CHILDRESS:
This would indicate
to us that the legends

are really correct
about this place,

that this was a real event,

one that perhaps
included extraterrestrials.

Every so often,
a discovery is made

that sounds like it's been
ripped straight from the pages

of a fantasy novel.

And that's exactly what happened

when a family renovating
their home in Central Turkey

stumbled upon the entrance
to an entirely hidden world.

At number two
on our countdown

of the Top Ten
Extraordinary Discoveries:

The Underground Cities
of Turkey.

NARRATOR:
Nevsehir Province, Turkey.

Here, in 1963,
a simple home renovation

in the town of Derinkuyu led
to an extraordinary discovery.

A cave wall was opened,
revealing a passageway

to an elaborate
underground city.

TSOUKALOS:
Derinkuyu

is this massive
underground tunnel system

going down three levels,

with many streets,
with many shafts and corridors

and rooms and caverns

that can hold
massive amounts of people.

NARRATOR:
Archaeologists were astounded
by this massive underground city

that extends as much
as 280 feet beneath the earth.

And they got
an even bigger surprise

more than 50 years later,
in 2014, when another

even larger underground
city was discovered

beneath
the nearby town of Nevsehir.

SCHOCH:
It is

absolutely stupendous.

It covers about
five million square feet.

It goes down
over 370 feet into the ground.

And it's estimated
that this could have held

20,000 people or more.

COLLINS:
Archaeologists got inside
and there were churches,

there were vessels and jars,

there were wineries,

there was living quarters, uh,

there were places
where they made linseed oil.

NARRATOR:
Further exploration revealed

that the two underground cities
were actually connected.

VON DAÄNIKEN:
I was many times

in the underground cities
in Turkey.

And this is
a fantastic experience.

They are linked together.

There are seven-kilometers-long
underground tunnels

connecting the two cities.

NARRATOR:
According to many
archaeologists,

these cities were most likely
constructed around 800 BC

to provide shelter
from an invading army.

But some researchers suggest
they could be much older.

COLLINS:
One Turkish archaeologist
by the name of Omer Demir,

who was actually
a curator of Derinkuyu,

found evidence
of Stone Age tools

going back
to the Paleolithic era.

This is at the time
of the last ice age.

This tells us
that these underground cities

are perhaps 11,000,
12,000, 13,000 years old.

NARRATOR:
If the underground cities
of Turkey really are

as much as 13,000 years old,

just who could have built them?

And why?

Ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

that these sprawling
underground cities

may be shelters
that are described

in the sacred writings
of Zoroastrianism,

one of the world's
oldest religions.

In a text called the Vendidad,

a young ruler named Yima is
instructed to build

an underground sanctuary

by the god Ahura Mazda.

YOUNG:
Ahura Mazda told
the great early king Yima

that there would be
a terrible disaster.

A winter would come
such as has never been known.

It would be so cold

that at midday
it would be dark like night.

Ahura Mazda instructs Yima
to build a Vara.

This is a huge structure

two miles long, two miles wide,

an underground hall of sorts

where things can be protected
from the terrible winter.

In the Vara,Yima was to hide

a remnant of the people
and an extensive seed bank,

also a pair of each
of the animal species.

TSOUKALOS:
Ahura Mazda

was known to have descended
from the sky

in a vehicle with fixed wings.

It looks like some type
of flying device.

That would suggest that he was,

in fact, an extraterrestrial.

NARRATOR:
As far as ancient astronaut
theorists are concerned,

the story of Yima is an account
of an alien intervention

in the distant past...

...and they suggest
it is very possible

that the shelters Yima was said
to have built are, in fact,

the underground cities
that have been found in Turkey.

The Varais supposed to be
a-a huge enclosure

that not only houses
a large number of people

but it's to have big streets
that go through it,

it's divided into certain areas.

The Varacould be

the underground cities
in Turkey.

We've reached the top spot
on our countdown,

and this next
extraordinary discovery

completely upended
our understanding

of human civilization.

It's an astonishing
megalithic complex

of massive stone pillars
and mysterious carvings

that predates the world's
earliest known civilization

by more than 5,000 years.

At number one: Goöbekli Tepe.

NARRATOR:
Sanliurfa, Turkey, October 1994.

While plowing his field,
a shepherd spots

a strangely shaped stone
protruding from the ground.

After brushing away the dirt,

he realizes the stone
may be part of an ancient ruin.

He reports his find
to the local museum

and is visited by Klaus Schmidt

from the German
Archaeological Institute.

NEWMAN:
It wasn't until

German archaeologist
Klaus Schmidt visited the site

and began digging
that they realized

what was really at this site.

HENRY:
What he discovered was
mind-blowing.

After discovering
the first T-shaped pillar

buried at the site,

he soon found more of these
massive structures.

NARRATOR:
The site becomes known

as Goöbekli Tepe,
meaning "Potbelly Hill."

BAHN:
The site of Goöbekli Tepe is
a series of circular enclosures.

But then in the center
of each enclosure

you have two particularly big
T-shaped pillars of limestone

sort of facing each other.

Many of these pillars 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.

COLLINS:
Many of these were carved
into human form.

They would have arms
on the side of them.

They would have hands
that come around to the front.

They would have garments
that drop down the front.

20 different enclosures
were built.

And each one, seemingly
at the end of its useful life,

was completely covered over

with rubble and soil

before the next enclosure
was built.

NARRATOR:
Intrigued by his discovery,

Klaus Schmidt had
the sediment layers of the site

radiocarbon-dated.

The results were astonishing.

TSOUKALOS:
It is the first
archaeological site in the world

that proves its age

dating as far back
as 12,000 years,

around 10,000 BC.

The discovery
and the official acceptance

of Goöbekli Tepe's dating

has changed the history
of archaeology.

COLLINS:
All of this suggests

a understanding of technology,

of masonry, of art, of carving
at the end of the last ice age.

We realize that there is
some great culture,

possibly even
a high civilization

that existed here
as much as 11,000 years ago.

NARRATOR:
Archaeologists believe

the Sumerians were
the world's first civilization,

emerging around 5000 BC.

But the discovery
of Goöbekli Tepe put that

into serious question.

And some researchers have
noticed a curious connection

between the Sumerians
and Goöbekli Tepe.

At Goöbekli Tepe
there's a carving

of these three handbags

that appear
above this birdlike creature.

And what's fascinating
about this is

that you can find carvings
of similar handbags

about 400 miles to the south

where
the ancient Sumerians lived.

And there the handbags are held

by these winged figures
called Anunnaki.

The Anunnaki, as told
in the Sumerian stories, had

these advanced powers,

they had connection
with the heavens.

They're extraterrestrial beings.

And it makes you wonder

if Goöbekli Tepe was, in fact,

a place of connection
with these beings.

It's exciting to think that
Goöbekli Tepe might hold clues

to extraterrestrial contact

that occurred 12,000 years ago.

And as far as I'm concerned,

with every extraordinary
discovery,

from lost civilizations
hidden from sight

to ancient structures
and artwork

that suggests contact
with otherworldly beings

to objects from space

that defy explanation,

we get one step closer
to understanding the truth

about humankind's
extraterrestrial past.

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