All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.Ultimate.Evidence.S01E04.Alien.Power.Plants.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BETHELL_track3_[eng]

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
I have traveled

to mysterious ancient sites
all around the world.

I've seen solid rock
cut with laser-like precision,

monuments erected
with stone blocks

weighing hundreds of tons,

and enormous pyramids positioned

to line up perfectly
with the stars.

But while mainstream scholars
struggle to explain

how our ancestors were able
to accomplish

such an amazing feat, for me,
the answer's quite simple.

Our ancestors had access
to advanced technology,

and that technology
was not of this world.

Critics believe that it insults
the accomplishments

of ancient people
when ancient astronaut theorists

suggest that they could've
had help from alien beings,

but this is ridiculous,

because it is not we who say
that extraterrestrials

were helping us to achieve
amazing technological feats.

But it is, in fact,
our ancestors who say it.

The Inca in Peru claimed

that the ancient fortress
of Sacsayhuaman

was constructed with the aid
of the sky god Virococha.

Early descriptions
of Teotihuacán in Mexico,

a city aligned
with Orion's belt,

tell of gods descending
from the sky in ships.

And Hindu stories connect
the temple complex

of Vizianagaram in India
with gods who traveled

in flying craft called Vimana.

Was there advanced
alien technology at work here

on Earth in the ancient past?

According to our ancestors,
the answer is yes.

NARRATOR:
Stone Valley Materials Quarry,

Riverside, California.

February, 2012.

A massive,

680,000-pound granite monolith

is prepped to travel
over 100 miles

to become part of an exhibit

at the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art.

Workers from 100 utility crews,

a 1.4-million-pound crane,

and a 44-axle
tractor trailer rig

with over 2,400 horsepower
are needed to move the rock.

STEPHEN VANDER HART:
It's gonna require

hydraulically jacking
the boulder up off the ground--

which is incredibly, uh,
difficult in itself--

building steel girders
underneath it,

placing 208 tires
underneath those steel girders,

having one power unit
pulling it and one pushing it,

and still, after all that,
only achieving

about five miles an hour.

NARRATOR: The boulder,
called Levitated Mass,

is a gigantic payload by
modern construction standards,

but it is small when compared

to many of the solid blocks
moved by ancient builders.

HART: From my perspective,
it is almost impossible

to take the 340-ton rock

and move it
without modern-day technology.

It baffles my mind.

I-I have no idea.

It's crazy to think about.

NARRATOR: How did our ancestors
move monoliths,

some over five times
the size of Levitated Mass,

without the aid
of high-powered machines?

Researchers believe
the ancients

not only used power
to move solid stone,

but to cut it as well.

And the evidence can be found

on a remote cliff face
buried in the Andes Mountains.

Ollantaytambo, Peru.

The walls of this ancient
mountain stronghold

tell the story
of what some experts

believe to have been
thousands of craftsmen

shaping and cutting solid stone
with a precision

that today
could only be matched

with high-powered
machine tools.

BRIEN FOERSTER: We find huge,
cube-like sections of stone--

andesite, which is very hard--

have been removed
from the mountain

with such accuracy

that we can't find a scratch
in the surface.

The corners also are not sharp.

They're perfectly rounded,

and no one can explain how this
could have been achieved.

The ability to fit
perfectly-fitting stones

of several tons
in weight together

so that a single human hair
can't fit in between them

is not a question of sweat
or man-hours.

It's a question of technology.

It's really done to perfection.

And not just perfection
with small blocks of stone,

but with blocks of stone
weighing many, many tons.

I believe that Ollantaytambo

is evidence of really advanced
human civilization on Earth

that was also worldwide
and had power tools.

NARRATOR: But if our ancestors
really used

sophisticated tools
that ran on some sort of power,

might there have been
other applications

of this technology beyond moving
and cutting stone?

BILL BIRNES:
All over the world,

we have extraordinarily
advanced civilizations

with urban systems.

Things we have today
and delivery systems for water,

for handling waste,

pumps,
very sophisticated farming

and agricultural techniques

that they should not have had,

given the level of technology
they worked with.

TSOUKALOS: The only thing
that we have left over

is the original stone

that all these ancient
structures we're built in.

Everything else that was built
on top of it

that had to do potentially
with electrical components,

that has disappeared,
because only stone

withstands the test of time.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that

the most dominant civilizations
of antiquity

were able to achieve
such status

because of
energy-driven technologies?

And if so, what was the source
of that power?

Perhaps clues may be found

among ancient
Mesopotamian artifacts.

The National Museum of Iraq.

In 1938,
the museum director discovers

terra-cotta pots
and copper cylinders

in the archives
that may have been used

as galvanic cells.

The nearly
2,000-year-old devices,

called Baghdad batteries,

are believed to predate
the invention

of the cell battery
by more than 1,000 years.

Archeologists speculate
they may have been used

to electroplate gold onto silver
for decorative jewelry.

JASON MARTELL:
The Baghdad battery

that we've currently found
in Iraq--

about a dozen of them--
it can generate

around four volts.

Now, a current
modern-day flashlight

could be run
by a nine-volt battery.

So if we think
of a Baghdad battery

around this size
generating four volts,

what if we increased the size
to around six feet?

That might generate
20, 30, 50 volts

and have the sufficient power

to actually utilize energy
in a way that we do today.

NARRATOR:
Mainstream scientists agree

that the Baghdad battery
is evidence

ancient man had the means
to create power

and the understanding
of how to apply it.

But is there proof
of even more complex devices

that may have run
on electricity?

370 miles south
of the Giza Plateau

stands the Hathor Temple.

Approximately 4,000 years old,

the halls of this monument
are lined with curious images.

But one relief depicts what many
ancient astronaut theorists

believe to be proof
that the ancients used power.

They call it the Dendera bulb.

Here is a replica of the bulb

that's shown in
the Dendera reliefs in Egypt.

What's interesting about
this bulb is the fact that

on the wall relief
we see the bulb is actually

plugged into what appears to be
a power source.

NARRATOR: Did our ancestors
have an understanding

of how to generate power

thousands of years
before modern man?

Or is it possible that
they received the knowledge

from some otherworldly source,

as some ancient astronaut
theorists contend?

MARTELL: Electricity is
one of those things

that ancient cultures
seem to be harnessing

in ways that we still can't wrap
our brain around.

So it's very possible
that when we look at things

like electricity, where would
they get this information?

We have all sorts of stories,
mythologies and legends

that could be interpreted
as gods who, in reality,

were misinterpreted
extraterrestrials gifting man

with technology
in the form of power.

For example, when God said,
"Let there be light"

in the Old Testament,

or when Prometheus
gave fire to man.

The Burning Bush
and the Eternal Flame

at the Temple of Apollo,
all of that conceivably

could have been technology.

The question is not
if they used power,

the question is where
did they get the knowledge

with which they created
the power?

NARRATOR: Is there really
evidence among the ruins

of ancient civilizations
that man had access

to sophisticated technologies
that ran on power?

If so, where are
the mysterious power plants

that generated the energy?

Perhaps they're still here,
hiding in plain sight.

TSOUKALOS: One of the great
mysteries of the Pyramid of Giza

is how ancient people
were able to light

the interior chambers
while they were being built.

At first, it was thought
that torches were used,

but the ceilings inside the
pyramid show no traces of soot.

One time, I was actually
inside the King's Chamber

when the lights went out,
and I tried to use my lighter,

but it didn't work.

There wasn't even enough oxygen
to feed the flame.

So how was it done?

Some have proposed
that light was directed

from outside with a series
of copper mirrors.

But people have actually tried
to recreate this,

and after passing through
only a few corners,

the sunlight
fades away to nothing.

So the only remaining solution
is that it was illuminated

with an artificial light source,
possibly a type of lightbulb.

But what's really amazing
is where the power

to light the bulb
might've come from.

NARRATOR:
The Giza Necropolis, Egypt.

1993.

A team of engineers
uses a remotely operated camera

in an attempt to discover
the true function

of what is believed
to be an airshaft

leading from the supposed
Queen's Chamber

of the Great Pyramid.

First discovered in 1872,
archaeologists

long considered
these narrow tunnels

to be ventilation ducts.

MARTELL:
This robot traveled

up this small shaft,
which was too small for a human

or any type of device
to go through,

and all of a sudden,
it finds a closed door

hinged by two little
metal clamps.

NARRATOR: According
to mainstream archaeologists,

the door and metal handles
were intentionally built

as a symbolic passageway that
the queen would travel through

to the afterlife.

But some researchers
have questioned

why this passageway
would have been designed

with a deliberate blockage.

And why-- on a plateau filled
with monumental pyramids

believed to serve
as royal tombs--

is the Great Pyramid
the only one with such a door?

Egyptologists are
very much fond of saying

that pyramids are tombs
and that they have been robbed

at some point in the past.

But the fact is
that we have found,

in the 20th century,
a number of pyramids

whose central king's chamber,
so to speak, is intact.

And when they opened
the sarcophagus,

they found that sarcophagus
to be empty as well.

NARRATOR: If the Great Pyramid
was not a tomb,

what may have been
its true purpose?

In May 2011,

another team of researchers
set out to further explore

the blocked airshaft
in the Queen's Chamber.

This time, the crew used
a robot equipped

with a micro-snake camera
to slip through a hole

and reveal what was
beyond the door.

When they actually penetrated
this small door,

they found a hidden room
within the pyramid.

DUNN: What they found was copper
fittings or the metal fittings.

Another feature
of the back of these

metal fittings was
that on one side,

the loop looked like
it was corroded.

The camera also looked down
and scanned the floor,

and what we saw was
red markings.

My interpretation of those were
they were electrical symbols.

But why were they there?

NARRATOR: Could these artifacts
be actual evidence

that electricity once coursed
through the structure?

[electrical hissing]

And if so,

could the Great Pyramid of Giza
have been built

to serve as not a royal tomb
but a power plant,

as some researchers contend?

DUNN:
If we dismiss the tomb theory

and we look
at the pyramid itself,

we see something
that modern engineers

can really tune into
and understand.

What we have is a very,
very precise building

that has the precision
of a fraction of an inch.

It's something
that is very noteworthy

and not indicative
of a simple agrarian culture.

So what we have is something
that is almost like a machine.

NARRATOR: If the Great Pyramid
was a sophisticated machine,

potentially capable
of creating energy,

how could it have worked?

Some researchers believe
clues can be found

by exploring
underneath the structure.

In 2000, maritime engineer
John Cadman proposed a theory

that the Egyptians pumped water
from the nearby Nile River

into a small chamber
underneath the Great Pyramid.

The pump could then create
intense hydraulic pressure

that would cause
the entire pyramid to vibrate.

JOHN CADMAN: In the subterranean
chamber, there is some evidence

that shows that there had
been water present in it,

and that there's water erosion

on the floor,
and then up in the thin area.

And then also,

because it was
a hydraulic pulse generator.

So you have a rarefaction wave,

which is an extremely
low pressure wave,

which would have
struck the ceiling,

and the ceiling is
actually chipped.

And that would have been from
the actual compression waves

hitting the ceiling.

It's very evident.

NARRATOR: If Cadman's theory
proves true,

what would have been the purpose
of the hydraulic pulse?

Engineer Chris Dunn believes
the answer can be found

by further examination
of the shafts in what some call

the Queen's Chamber,

where traces of zinc

and hydrochloric acid
have been discovered.

DUNN: I believe
the chemical coming in through

the northern shaft was
hydrated zinc

and the other chemical coming
through the southern shaft

and into the chamber was
dilute hydrochloric acid.

These are actually seen
on the chamber walls.

NARRATOR: Dunn suggests
that the two chemicals

were poured down
through the shafts

and then mixed together
inside the Queen's Chamber,

triggering combustion.

This vessel represents
the Queen's Chamber.

Into the tubes, we're going
to pour hydrated zinc...

...and then hydrochloric acid.

When you bring
these two liquids together,

and a chemical reaction occurs,

and a product of that
chemical reaction is hydrogen.

And you can see the vapor,
the hydrogen,

escaping through the chimney.

And there you have the reaction.

NARRATOR: Dunn speculates
that the hydrogen gas

traveled from
the Queen's Chamber

into the King's Chamber.

Then, the vibrations
from the subterranean pool

energized the hydrogen atoms
into a microwave energy beam.

The evidence that indicates
the use of hydrogen

can be found
in the King's Chamber.

There's a shaft
in the King's Chamber,

has dimensions of 8.4 by 4.8,

which would be suitable
for a wave guide for a MASER,

or Microwave Amplification

through Stimulated
Emission Radiation.

And from there,
we can actually propose

many different ideas
of what they did with it.

NARRATOR:
Might the Great Pyramid of Giza

actually have created power
in the remote past?

And is it possible that energy
ran the advanced tools

of early builders and
devices like the Dendera bulb?

DUNN:
We can use our imaginations

and, uh, come up with
all kinds of devices

to power with
that kind of energy.

Uh, from simple
domestic appliances

to highly advanced spacecraft.

I mean, all things are possible.

The ancient Egyptians
demonstrated

an exceptional level of skill

in everything that they created
during the Old Kingdom.

But the question remains:
did they do it on their own?

Or did they have some access
to information

or technology
that was not of this Earth?

NARRATOR: If Giza was
in fact a power plant,

could the energy have been used
for some otherworldly purpose,

as some ancient astronaut
theorists suggest?

And if the power coming
from Giza was that strong,

could it have traveled
beyond Egypt?

Answers may be found in
a material that connects Giza

to a special kind of monolith,

one that exists on continents
all over the world.

TSOUKALOS: One of the earliest
symbols of ancient Egypt

is the djed pillar.

It is commonly understood
to represent stability,

but it also bears
a striking resemblance

to a modern-day device.

It first appears on the staff
of the creator god Ptah,

and is this pillar
with four rings at the top

that looks very much
like a Tesla coil,

a device invented to transmit
electricity wirelessly.

And I suggest that,

based on other evidence
found in Egypt,

our ancestors did just that.

NARRATOR:
The sun temple at Abu Gorab,

Memphis, Egypt.

In 1898, an excavation team
with the Berlin Museum

discovered the base
of a massive obelisk

estimated to have once stood
at over 160 feet tall.

According to
the ancient Egyptian

building texts from Edfu,
Abu Gorab was known

as the "Place of the Gods."

Egyptologists know it
as a place

where the ancients connected
with divine energies.

It is said that
this is the very place

where pharaohs and priests
experienced heightened awareness

through the use of vibrations

transmitted
through the obelisk.

MARTELL: This ancient obelisk
was used as a geodetic marker,

pinpointing the source
of some type of ancient energy.

Maybe not spiritual energy,
but actual physical energy

that they were able to harness.

NARRATOR: While scholars believe
Abu Gorab was home

to one of the largest obelisks
ever constructed,

similar-shaped monoliths
have been found

in hundreds of variations
all over the world.

Unsuitable for shelter, storage,
or a higher vantage point,

could obelisks have served
another, more powerful purpose?

CHILDRESS: There's evidence
that obelisks are

tapping into this natural energy
that's-that's part of the Earth.

The whole concept is to take

these natural energies of
the Earth and manipulate them.

It's a subtle energy, but for
those who have the devices

and technology to see
and measure this energy,

it's something that can be used.

I believe obelisks
are kind of like

acupuncture needles
for the Earth,

focusing and possibly healing
Earth energy meridians

that are not balanced,

and that the ancient cultures
knew how to do that.

NARRATOR:
A vast number of obelisks

are constructed from granite,

a stone containing
high concentrations

of energy-responsive
quartz crystal.

Because of its
crystalline structure,

quartz has the ability
to convert

the Earth's natural electrical
vibrations into usable energy

by a property known as
piezoelectricity.

The "piezo" is for
the vibrating or oscillating,

and the "electric"
is for electric.

What this means is that
you can use electricity

to make them vibrate
mechanically.

And when they vibrate
mechanically,

they can generate electricity.

DOC BARHAM: Crystals have been
used throughout all of history

for various inventions,
various technologies,

and for getting things done.

Your watch
that you wear on your wrist

could be a technology
that uses crystals.

Crystals are literally
a tool and a technology

that's essentially
for transducing energy,

and that is
taking energy in one state

and essentially converting it
to another state.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
the ancient cultures

that erected obelisks
had some understanding

of the high-tech properties
of quartz?

And, if so,
could they have used obelisks

to transmit energy
over vast distances?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer is yes

and that evidence can be found

by studying the work
of Nicola Tesla.

In July 1899,
the famed scientist

claimed to have invented
a way to transmit electricity

through the air, wirelessly,
all over the world.

By harnessing the Earth's
natural conductivity,

or what Tesla called
"standing waves,"

giant transmitters
could send and receive

limitless amounts
of electricity,

flowing like invisible water.

And one of the key components in
his system was quartz crystal.

DENNIN:
Typically, when we deal

with the energy
of electromagnetic waves,

it's in what we call
a propagating form.

It's like the flashlight--
you turn it on and it moves.

It propagates through space

and goes from one place
to another.

A standing wave is kind of
a different phenomena,

because the wave just oscillates
in one place, up and down,

and the energy goes in between
two different regions,

back and forth.

NARRATOR: Some researchers
believe that, like Tesla,

ancient builders discovered
the ability to harness

and broadcast Earth's power,

and the ancient equivalent
to Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower

may have been the Great Pyramid.

The walls
of this massive monument

contain a high concentration
of quartz crystal,

and some believe
the Great Pyramid,

in conjunction with
the obelisks,

made up what may have been

a global wireless
energy network.

DUNN: The pyramids were actually
geomechanical devices.

In other words,
they were attached to the Earth.

They were tuned to vibrate with
the frequencies of the Earth,

and they converted
the energies of the Earth

into electromagnetic energy.

CHILDRESS:
Obelisks themselves,

uh, particularly the ones
we find in Egypt, are in fact

giant crystal antennas,

and they can broadcast power

in the way that Nikola Tesla,
the great American inventor,

wanted to broadcast power.

NARRATOR: Could obelisks
have been constructed

as ancient energy conductors?

And was this expertise
really the product of man alone?

Or might it have been
the result

of an otherworldly intelligence,

as ancient astronaut
theorists contend?

COPPENS:
We do know that obelisks

symbolize this power
of the gods.

The top of the obelisk
is a small pyramid.

It is a Benben stone.

And it is the Benben stone
which is said

to have been a communication
device with the deities.

ERICH VON DANIKEN:
It's possible

that inside of some pyramids

there might be
some sort of energy.

Let's say some sort of equipment
which creates waves.

So I could imagine

that some of the real gods,
the extraterrestrials,

some thousands of years ago,

they left some little technology
inside the pyramid,

and this technology was
very super modern

and powerful.

NARRATOR:
Could the numerous obelisks

found at various sites
all around the world

actually be remnants
of a power system

far more sophisticated
than anything available today?

And is it possible
our ancestors

may have pioneered other types
of power plants

thousands of years ago,

which would be considered
cutting-edge

by 21st century standards?

Some believe the answer
can be found

in the remote mountains
of the Himalayas.

[bird screeching]

NARRATOR:
The Indus Valley,

Pakistan, 1922.

The Indian Archeological Survey
discovers the remnants

of what is
the largest ancient city

of the Indus Valley
civilizations,

Mohenjo Daro.

The artifacts and architecture

catalogued at the site
indicate a metropolis

prospered here
nearly 4,600 years ago.

But the skeletal remains
found among the ruins

tell a puzzling story.

I understand that they found

a lot of radioactive ash there,

and they found
radioactive people there.

And so the assumption is

that there must have been
some radiation event,

and so it is possible
that there was some kind of

nuclear explosion there
a long time ago.

The problem is that
in order to do that,

in order for that
to be the case,

you would have to have
some very advanced technology.

CHILDRESS: These people are just
lying dead in the street.

There's radioactive skeletons.

There are ceramics
that have been melted.

It's as if some kind of atomic,

nuclear detonation
went off in this area,

totally destroying these cities
and killing everyone.

What we may be seeing
is the residue

of one of the ancient
power plants

used by extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR: But if, as ancient
astronaut theorists believe,

Mohenjo Daro was wiped out
in a nuclear meltdown,

where is the power plant

that might have caused
such mass devastation?

Mount Kailash, Western Tibet.

At an elevation
of nearly 22,000 feet,

this mountain is one
of the most distinctive peaks

in the world.

COPPENS:
This is a very interesting shape

for a mountain.

It is cone-shaped
from one side

and pyramid-shaped
from another.

And this is precisely the shape
we see elsewhere

in ancient Sumeria,

ancient Egypt, various other
ancient civilizations,

whereby this
pyramid-shaped object

really is said to have
some form of power,

some kind of connection
with the deity.

NARRATOR: In the Eastern World,
Mount Kailash is regarded

as the spiritual center
of the universe

and the birthplace of four
of the world's religions:

Hinduism,

Buddhism,

Jainism,

and Taoism.

For thousands of years,

religious pilgrims
have trekked here

to perform the holy ritual
of walking

a 32-mile circular path carved
along the mountain's base.

COPPENS: Everybody at one point
in their lifetime

had to go to this place
to connect with the gods.

And this is really
the interesting aspect,

because what is it
about this mountain

which sets it apart
from other mountains?

There are several possibilities.

One of them is that the gods
really took residence here.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible,

as some ancient astronaut
theorists speculate,

that Mount Kailash
was once inhabited,

or perhaps operated,
by the gods?

They say the true significance
of this mountain can be found

detailed in
an ancient Chinese drawing.

One thing that's fascinating
about Mount Kailash

is that numerous religions
have stories

of gods or transcendent beings
actually living here.

Hindus believe
that Lord Shiva dwelled here,

while Jainism
associates the mountain

with Rishabha,
the first perfect man.

And followers of Bon,
a Tibetan religion,

believe it to be the home
of the sky goddess Sipaimen.

Now, you have to ask,

did our ancestors tell stories
of gods inhabiting this area

because they actually
encountered

extraterrestrial beings?

If so, then Mount Kailash

was once much more
than just a mountain.

NARRATOR:
The Magao Caves, Western China.

Between 500 B.C. and 1500 A.D.,

Buddhist monks stored thousands
of scrolls and manuscripts

inside a series
of painted temples and shrines

dug into a hillside

approximately 600 miles north
of Mount Kailash.

Here, in 1907,

Hungarian-born British explorer
Aurel Stein

discovered a sealed-off room

containing nearly
50,000 manuscripts

in various languages.

WILLIAM HENRY: Aurel Stein
finds this incredible place

called the Cave
of the Thousand Buddhas,

which is sort of like
a Buddhist hall of records.

It's a cache of thousands
upon thousands

of ancient Buddhist texts.

Included within this is
the Diamond Sutra,

which is the oldest
printed manuscript

known to human history.

NARRATOR: The collection
of ancient texts and relics

also included a second-century
A.D. Buddhist diagram

of a cosmic mountain
called Mount Meru,

a sacred site believed to be
a stairway

connecting heaven and earth.

For nearly 100 years,

the ancient illustration
drew little notice,

but recently,
the diagram caught the attention

of a scientist
from Northrup Grumman

who specializes
in the development

of advanced weapons
for the military.

HENRY: He said,
"I design particle beam weapons

"for a living
for the government.

"Do you realize
that that's a blueprint

for a particle accelerator?"

I went and compared
the diagram of Mount Meru

with an illustration of
what's called the cyclotron--

an atom smasher-- which was
used in the development

of the A-bomb
for the Manhattan Project.

They're a perfect match
for one another.

CHILDRESS: Aurel Stein's
diagram of Mount Meru

that he found seemed to show
Mount Meru as some kind

of particle beam,
uh, accelerator

or some device that was

stacked up, uh,
had different lenses.

It would've made it into some
device that focused energy.

The kind of energy needed

would have required
some tremendous

power plant,
something putting out

enormous amounts of energy.

NARRATOR: Might the nearly
2,000-year-old

Buddhist diagram of Mount Meru
actually depict a device

that today would run
on nuclear power?

Mongolian myth says
that these celestial beings

dwelled around Meru
because of the energy

that was emitted from it.

It was a transmitter
of this cosmic power

that fed these celestial beings
or kept them alive.

Whatever the purpose
of this device was,

it would have required
some extremely

powerful energy source,
some type of nuclear power.

And I think that power might
have come from Mount Kailash.

This wasn't a place
that actually put out

spiritual energy,

but what we're talking about
is a place that produced

raw energy,
technological energy.

Potentially, we're talking
about a power plant.

NARRATOR: Could the ruins at
Mohenjo-Daro really be evidence

that a nuclear power plant
existed in the Himalayas

thousands of years ago?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes, and speculate

that remnants of a worldwide
power grid may be found

among the sacred ruins
of ancient civilizations

all over the world.

NARRATOR:
Three Mile Island,

Chernobyl,

Fukushima Daiichi.

[alarm blaring]

These sites are now just shells

of what were once
thriving power plants

of the 20th century.

MARTELL: Nuclear power is widely
used in today's infrastructure,

and it serves a very high need,

but we also know
that nuclear power can possibly

become unstable
and cause a meltdown.

[Geiger counter clicking]

TSOUKALOS:
Just like the power plants

we've seen melting down
in modern times,

the ancients saw their own
power plants fail.

And did that in turn cause

some of the greatest
civilizations to fall?

If we assume that
all of these power plants

were somehow connected,

and one power plant
went offline,

is it possible that,
as a result,

the other power plants
went offline, as well?

NARRATOR:
Some researchers believe

just as modern engineers
employ strategic placement

of power plants today,
so did the ancients.

And that some sacred sites
were not revered for spiritual

or ritualistic reasons,
as mainstream scholars believe,

but actually valued for their
capacity to produce energy.

Certain monuments are placed
in certain locations,

and we might think
this is haphazard.

But we are slowly beginning to
realize that it is not the case.

And the reason why is because
whether it is the Great Pyramid,

whether it's Stonehenge,
whether it's Teotihuacan,

whether it is another important
power site of our ancestors,

we're beginning to realize
that those sites have

an energy which we don't
register at first.

NARRATOR: But if ancient
engineers pulled energy

from a power grid,
as some researchers believe,

why, after thousands if not
tens of thousands of years,

did the power stop flowing?

DUNN: The ancient Egyptians
had developed

their knowledge over many years.

And they must have had tools and
technology that do not exist

in the archaeological record
anymore.

So something happened to this
ancient culture that caused

the power plants to shut down
and probably wiped out

a large portion
of the civilization.

They possessed
incredible technology,

which means
that they were far older

than we think they are.

And then something
happened to them.

Whether they fought,
blew themselves up,

or some Earth-wide calamity came
and wiped them out.

NARRATOR: But where would
agrarian cultures--

some that didn't have
the wheel or work animals--

acquire the skills
necessary to build

a worldwide energy grid
and the power plants to run it?

TSOUKALOS: According to
the ancient astronaut theory,

extraterrestrials have always
been motivated by the idea

of advancing human civilization.

They've given us
so many gifts of knowledge

that power
is pretty much a no-brainer.

The thing all these
ancient cultures had in common

is that they included stories
and artifacts that are meant

to honor those who gave them
this knowledge:

the gods.

And the gods
were extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
that alien beings

helped ancient man create
a global network

of sophisticated power plants
in the remote past...

...one that may have powered
the devices used

to create civilization's

greatest archaeological
mysteries?

Today, we consider
our modern technology

to be the greatest
the world has ever known.

But there is increasing evidence
that there may have been

even more
incredible technologies

that once existed
in the ancient past.

Perhaps when scientists
begin rediscovering

these technologies,
we'll be close

to rediscovering
mankind's true origins.

And we'll finally have proof

that it wasn't myths
and fantasies that our ancestors

were carving on the walls
of their tombs and temples,

but they were reporting history.