All language subtitles for Mysteries.from.Above.S03E05.1080p.WEB.h264-BAWD_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: A strange circular island
that seems to be spinning.

- That cannot be real. What?

NARRATOR: A giant triangle in
the middle of the Arizona desert.

- This is so strange
and out of place.

NARRATOR:
A seemingly alien landscape

of lurid coloured pools
and strange terrain.

- I mean, this is totally bananas.

NARRATOR: And a vast carving

in the middle
of the Australian outback.

Everywhere we look on our planet,
there's evidence of the past.

In nature.

In buildings.

In relics.

Each holds a mystery that technology
now allows us to see from above.

What new secrets are revealed?

Looking down from the skies,

our technology can uncover both
the every day and the extraordinary.

Amid the predictable and common, we
discover seemingly alien landscapes,

freakish phenomenon and traces
of unexpected human secrets.

Flying above
the Pampas of Argentina,

its cosmopolitan capital, Buenos
Aires, stands out on the coast.

But only a few kilometres
from the outskirts of the city,

among the ordinary wetlands
of the Parana River,

satellites uncover a mystery.

- This is super weird.

- It's a perfectly round island
that appears to have been cut

or stamped, as if with the cookie
cutter, right into the earth.

- It looks like it's in a really
wet, swampy area.

- It's totally bizarre,

and I've never seen anything
like this before.

NARRATOR: But it's not
simply the perfect shape

that makes this uncanny.

Tracking satellite images
through time reveals...

..it moves.

- That is wild.

This round island looks
like it's spinning in circles.

- And this isn't small,

it's over 110 metres across.

You could fit a football field
on this thing.

- So how is this happening?

What is taking a chunk of land
this size and making it spin around?

- Is this a sign of some
kind of secret project

or the remnant of a human
made feature from the past?

- Or could this be some
kind of natural phenomenon?

Is there something hiding underneath
the surface that makes this happen?

- There are some ingenious human
creations that might be able to help

explain what's happening.

NARRATOR: There may be a clue
over 2,000 km to the northwest,

on the border of Bolivia and Peru,

where satellites spot strange shapes
floating in Lake Titicaca.

- You can see what appears to be
a village out there.

But there's no dry land whatsoever.

- These strange and unexpected
islands

are the handiwork
of the indigenous Uros people,

and it's where they
make their homes.

- There's no sidewalks or streets.

You literally take a boat
from one place to another,

or you're walking on
these floating reeds.

- And it's truly amazing.

These islands are hand-built
by stacking layers of roots

and reeds into giant floating mats.

- The main construction material
is the water-resistant totora plant,

which grows in the lake.

- Maintaining the islands is really
what I would call a labour of love.

The reeds rot after about 20 days

and need to be replaced
with fresh ones.

So it's essentially
a never-ending job.

- That's a lot of work.

Why would the Uros keep replenishing
these floating islands by hand

instead of just moving
to solid ground?

- It's a story that has roots
over 500 years ago

in the expansion of the Inca Empire.

- To escape the Inca
reaching into their territory,

the Uros built these islands

so that they could be launched
far into the lake.

- Really, this was a function
of self-preservation.

- Thanks to their ingenuity,
the Uros survived.

Today there are around
1,300 Uru people

living on approximately 120
of these constructed islands.

NARRATOR:
Could this strange spinning island

be the result of human handiwork?

- Even though it's close to the
hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires,

there isn't a sign of human
habitation on the island itself.

- And we have satellite images going
back about 20 years that don't show

any earlier signs that this
was built or used by humans.

- Is it possible
for floating islands to occur

without human intervention?

NARRATOR: A clue lies on the other
side of the world, in Germany,

where one lake, Kleiner Arbersee,
holds something extraordinary.

- There are three islands
on this ice-age lake,

but they only appeared
around the turn of the 20th century.

And it all had to do
with the logging industry.

- Wood was big business
in the late 19th century,

and the Bavarian forest around this
lake had plenty of timber available.

- The problem was transportation.

All that timber had
to be taken over land.

- So, in 1885, the lake was dammed

to make it easy to float
that timber down river.

- Once the dam was in place,
the water levels rose

and something kind of cool happened.

- Mosses and sedges around
the edge of the lake didn't sink,

but broke off in chunks
from the subsoil.

And started to float,
thanks to their high peat content.

- Under certain conditions,
when peat becomes waterlogged,

tiny microbes will start to break
down vegetation that is present.

This results in the production
of methane,

which gets trapped inside the peat,
causing it to become buoyant.

- These turned into
floating islands,

about one to three metres thick.

They could even get trees
growing on them.

- And just like the spinning island
in Argentina,

they could move.

- Because the islands were
disconnected from the bottom

of the lake, they would rise and
fall with the changing water levels

and move in the wind.

- Nowadays, two of the islands have
grown more connected to the lake

and are more stable,
but one can still move around.

As weird as this is,
it's actually a known natural event.

- The Germans have a great
word for it.

They call it, 'schwingrasen',

but in English we just call it
a floating mat or a floating bog.

- Floating mats are living
communities that grow and change.

Mats of peat moss,
which provide a lot of the buoyancy,

are colonised by other plants.

NARRATOR: And these
unusual floating islands

have been spotted in marshy areas
around the world.

- Is another floating bog

behind the spinning island mystery
in Argentina?

NARRATOR: To uncover more,

explorers on the ground in Argentina
venture into the wetlands.

- You can see it's almost like a
swamp with waist high water

and dense growth of tall grasses.

(in Spanish)

- When they get to the island,
what they find is pretty impressive.

(in Spanish)

- And when they stand on the island,
they can feel how thin it is.

It's flexible enough to bounce
when they jump on it.

They even shove a reed through the
ground into the water underneath.

(in Spanish)

- An underwater camera

helps show just how unusual it is
under the surface.

You can see roots
floating in the water

and then some sort of more
interconnected mass.

NARRATOR: Does that mean
this spinning island

is like the floating mats
in Germany?

- It definitely looks like the same
kind of floating island to me,

and that explains what it is,
and how it can move around.

- But that doesn't solve
the bigger mystery.

- None of these islands,
neither the hand-built Uros home,

nor these floating mats

have the same round shape
as the island in Argentina.

So what's going on?

- These floating islands
of vegetation

make sense in wetlands like this,

but it's still really weird to see
one that's so perfectly round.

NARRATOR: A clue could be
found in Westbrook, Maine,

where an uncanny event makes
headlines in the winter of 2019.

- This is a massive surprise
to the people of Westbrook.

A huge circle of ice appearing
on the surface of the river.

- Even weirder, you can see in the
footage that it's spinning around,

just like in Argentina,

but this looks like it's spinning
a lot faster.

- This is big.

Just over 90 metres across,

and it's so unexpected that people
nearby rush over to see it.

- How is the ice making this perfect
circle and why is it rotating?

- We call these ice disks
or ice circles,

and they've been documented
all around the planet.

This strange phenomenon is rare,
but totally natural,

and happens when the conditions
are just right.

- Ice circles form when the edges
of waterways begin to freeze.

Currents in the water cause chunks
to break off the frozen edges,

and when those chunks
get close to one another,

the water between them freezes
and they start to stick together.

NARRATOR: But what turns these
pieces of ice into precise circles?

- It's the spinning that gives them
this round shape.

As the ice grinds
against the river bank

or other sections of frozen water,
the edges get smoothed out.

It's like sandpaper on rough wood.

- And because it's spinning,
this happens on all sides

until it gets shaped
into a perfect circle.

- Why it spins is a little trickier.

There's some debate as to whether
it's simply a function of wind

and river current.

Others have suggested
the temperature differences

between the ice and the water
creates this kind of vortex.

- So if ice disks can be made
circular from spinning,

could the same thing be happening
to this floating bog in Argentina?

- It's a pretty good theory.

It makes sense to think that as the
island bumps against the shore,

the edges get eroded away

until the whole thing
has a nice circular shape.

- And that same motion probably
does the same to the shore;

creating these two perfect circles
that form the eye.

NARRATOR: But what invisible force

is making the island spin
to begin with?

- Some people think it has to do
with a hidden freshwater current,

maybe a spring,

while others think it could
be due to wind patterns.

- We can't be certain exactly
why this island moves in a circle

like the ice disks,

instead of more randomly like
the floating mats in Germany,

but the fact that it is a circle
suggests a process of rotation.

- And even though it's clearly
a kind of freaky phenomenon,

it's not the only one in Argentina.

NARRATOR: Travelling
further up the Parana River,

satellites reveal more of these
stunning circular shapes.

- So as bizarre as this seems,
it also looks like this could be

part of a mysterious
but natural pattern in this area.

We would just never have been
able to see it from the ground.

- I never expected floating,
rotating, googly-eye islands

to form by themselves
anywhere on this planet.

- And we can only ever
truly discover and trace

mysteries like these with
technology, in the skies.

NARRATOR: Above the
rugged terrain of Arizona,

just north of
the White Tank Mountains,

Satellites spot something strange

among the ordinary
sand, rock, and scrub.

- Looking down from satellite,
this desert area,

something really stands out.

A perfect triangle
out in the middle of nowhere.

- This is so strange
and out of place.

You've got this beige,
dry desert on one side

and some roads and houses
on the other.

And this obviously
isn't part of either.

- It must be human made.

It looks like it might be made out
of some kind of concrete or cement.

- And, it's clearly pretty big.

Look how tiny the houses
are next to it by comparison.

- It's huge. Each of its sides
roughly 1,220 metres long,

and 90 metres thick.

- I mean, obviously this has to be
human made, but what the heck is it?

- I'm trying to work out
why you would put a triangle

in the middle of a desert.

It's very strange indeed.

- And why does it look like
it's been abandoned?

How long has this been
left alone out here?

NARRATOR: Can another unexpected
abandoned shape provide a hint?

Over 3,000 kilometres
to the northeast,

on the south shores
of Canada's Georgian Bay,

sits the peaceful holiday
town of Wasaga Beach.

- The place is best known

as the home of the largest
freshwater beach in the world.

Some 14 kilometres of white sand
and clear blue water.

- But just on the outskirts, the
nearby forest hides something odd,

and only really clear from the sky.

- The shape looks like the same kind
of material as the Desert Triangle,

and just as abandoned.
So what happened here?

NARRATOR: To discover the meaning
of this road to nowhere,

we have to look into the past.

- Archival records reveal
that this neglected structure

used to be a racetrack.

The Wasaga Beach Speedway.

- Built for stock car racing,

this quarter mile track saw some of
the most famous racers of their day

make the rounds
in the 1950s and '60s.

- Now, what's really
interesting is that

while this paved racetrack
came to life in the 1950s,

it was actually built in an
older half-mile dirt track

used for harness racing.

- Now that's a type of horse racing
where the horse is usually pulling

a two-wheeled cart, popular
in the 19th and early 20th century.

- The site closed around 1970,
and since then,

the surrounding grandstands
and structures have disappeared.

- But although there are plenty
of cracks in the track,

the oval still stands out,
clearly seen from above.

- Is it possible that
the massive triangle in Arizona

is another outdated racetrack?

I mean, I haven't seen a corner
that tight since Mario Kart.

- There aren't any signs
of grandstands or anything,

but perhaps they were
torn down like in Wasaga.

- Is there anything nearby
that might offer a clue?

NARRATOR: Less than 120 kilometres
to the southeast,

another weird Arizona site
could be a clue.

Satellites reveal a network
of perfectly placed windmill-shapes

made out of triangles.

- There are tons
of these odd shapes,

made of a pattern of four triangles

laid out like a windmill
or a Maltese cross.

- They cover an almost 26 by 26
kilometre square of Arizona.

- But who would need a perfectly
square pattern of crosses

visible from above? And why?

- This pattern is called the Casa
Grande Photogrammetric Test Range.

Now, that was used in the 1960s
to calibrate equipment

for aerial photography.

- Originally, about 272 or 273
crosses made the pattern,

but maintenance
stopped in the early 1970s

and many have been removed
or fallen into disrepair.

- But there are still plenty
that can be seen from above.

- So could this weird triangle be
part of the same secret history?

Is it part of a pattern too?

NARRATOR: Another look
from modern satellites reveals

there are more of these unexpected
triangle shapes in the area.

- It's clearly part of
some kind of pattern.

- But, these don't
all look the same.

They point in different directions,

some have additional shapes
veering off,

and some have even been partly
buried underneath newer buildings.

So, what's going on?

- To figure this out, we need to
search for other shapes like this.

So where else can we find
giant concrete triangles?

NARRATOR: Across the Atlantic Ocean,
in the United Kingdom,

a historic view from above uncovers
more shapes that offer a clue.

- Going back in time to the 1940s,

archival aerial images reveal
unexpected shapes in the UK.

Shapes that look almost identical
to our triangles in Arizona.

- But when we compare the old
images with the modern landscape,

we see that many of them
have disappeared beneath farmland.

- So what happened?

What were these massive triangles
and why did so many disappear?

- The secret lies in World War II

and the very early days
of military aviation.

These triangles are actually
runways. They're paved roads,

allowing bombers in the Second
World War to take to the skies.

(plane whirring)

- In the past, most airfields
were just grass landing strips.

But those weren't robust enough
for the heavier aircraft

that came along in World War II.

So the British Air Ministry had to
develop stronger airfields that were

suited to their wartime needs.

- But you've got to wonder,
why are they triangular?

- The design they landed on

is formed of three converging,
paved airstrips.

- One runway would be in the
direction of the prevailing wind.

That's the safest way to face
to take off and land a plane.

And the other strips are in case
changing weather makes another

angle a safer and shorter take-off
and landing site.

- And because of their shape,
they got the name

'Class A' airfields.

- They built so many airfields all
across the country that some sources

say that by 1945, the combined
length of all these runways was

equal to a 30-foot-wide road
from London to Peking.

- So what happened to
all these wartime airfields?

- After the war,
many of the temporary fields

returned to their original purpose:
farmland.

- Now, others were integrated
into new commercial airports.

Today, Bristol Airport still boasts
a triangle visible from the sky,

which is a reminder that it was
once an RAF wartime airfield.

- So are these more relics
of World War II?

Did the Royal Air Force pattern
make it across the Atlantic?

NARRATOR:
The final clue can be found

just over 30 kilometres
from the original triangle,

Luke Air Force Base.

- Today, Luke Air Force Base

is known as the largest fighter
wing in the US Air Force.

They train hundreds of pilots
every year.

NARRATOR: And its history
begins in World War II.

- In 1940, President Roosevelt
realises the Americans need

a lot of fighter pilots.

So he starts calling for 12,000
per year,

and he eventually increases it
to a huge 93,000 every year.

- The Army Air Force springs
into action building new airfields,

including on a sizable
tract of land in Arizona.

The first trainee pilots
arrive in the middle of 1941.

- Luke became the
"home of the fighter pilot",

the largest fighter training base
in the World War II Army Air Force.

And it successfully trained
over 17,000 fighter pilots.

- How are these huge triangles
part of the World War II era base?

- Now it's archival maps
of Luke Air Force Base

that give us the final piece
of the puzzle.

- Every one of the mystery triangles
is labelled on this map,

and the map even includes one
that's no longer visible.

- That AF on the map
stands for Auxiliary Field.

And just like the Class A airfields
in the UK,

these are built in a triangle
to give pilots options

in case the wind changes.

But why do they need these spare
runways away from the main base?

- It's really just a numbers game.

You know, you've got thousands
of World War II pilots to train,

and Luke Air Force Base
therefore needs a lot of runway.

- This way, pilots could take off
from the main base

where the barracks and things are,

and then spread out
to these auxiliary fields.

- So it's there that pilots
would practise various types

of approaches, take-offs, landings.

So all these auxiliary airfields
were a really handy way to maximise

the number of manoeuvres,
and of course airtime.

- And these fields could also
serve as emergency landing sites

or refuelling stops
for other aircraft.

- But, if they were so important,
why were they abandoned?

NARRATOR: With the end of the war,
fewer pilots go through training

and fighter aircraft technology
continues to advance.

- Just like the changes
between the First World War

and the Second World War

that made the new Class A fields
necessary in the UK,

today's military aircraft
need longer runways

and they need stronger runways.

(whooshing)

- Most of the auxiliary fields
returned to civil authorities.

One became
Buckeye Municipal Airport.

- Most of the others have been
left to be reclaimed by the desert

or disappear under
more modern construction.

- But one of them

is actually still used by the pilots
of Luke Air Force Base today.

That's Auxiliary Field 1.

Even if the runways are too short or
two weak, pilots can still practise

different types of approaches that
don't require an actual touchdown.

- And the triangles are still
clear landmarks from above,

marking the long history of the
Air Force in the Arizona skies.

NARRATOR: Desert sands hold
unexpected and shocking secrets.

A view above
the northern border of Ethiopia

reveals cracked desert
for as far as they eye can see.

When suddenly, everything changes!

- Wow.

- This is utterly alien.

- Is this another planet?
What am I looking at here?

- There's pretty much every
colour of the rainbow here.

Oranges, yellows, browns,
these bright greens, almost neon.

- This is not what
you'd expect to see

in the middle
of some vast brown desert.

What is that?

- How did these get here?

Where are all these colours
coming from?

- What I want know is,
is this place dangerous?

It looks like a very kind of toxic
place to have a swim.

NARRATOR: This hypnotising landscape
is known as the Dallol Pools.

And it has an intimidating
reputation.

- It's been called
the Land of Death.

- And it's no wonder,
year round this place is stifling.

- It's one of the hottest places
on Earth with the highest average

year-round temperature of any
inhabited place on our planet.

- In the summer, it can regularly
get above 50 degrees Celsius.

NARRATOR: But there are signs
of human activity nearby,.

Within walking distance of the
pools, where a view from above

reveals a haunting site
that could hold a clue.

- Well that looks kind of creepy.

- What is this place?

And what happened?

- This place is totally abandoned.

The roofs are gone, the walls are
crumbling, you know, it's a mess.

It's a ghost town
in the middle of a desert.

- Who built this place?

And where did they go?

NARRATOR: These are the ruins
of an old mining camp.

- It all started in the early 1900's
when two brothers from Italy

came to Ethiopia in search
of adventure and treasure.

- They absolutely hit the jackpot

when they discovered that the earth
around Dallol was rich in potash,

which is used to manufacture
fertiliser and explosives.

(explosion booms)

- A few years after the brothers
discovered potash in Dallol,

the First World War broke out
and demands skyrocketed.

It was a lucrative operation.
So, what happened?

- When the war ended, buyers dried
up and the camp was abandoned,

but not for long.

NARRATOR: About 30 years later

an American mining company
came to Dallol.

- The Americans moved
into the old Italian camp

and did a little renovating.

- You can see the more
modern white structures.

Now, those were built
by the Americans

versus the original earthen
bricks used by the Italians.

- But there was this
really deadly flood

in one of the mineshafts in 1967,

and it killed several workers.

Of course, work stopped but also
there was a lot of political tension

in the region, and that
kept other companies away.

- The mining camp become
a ghost town once again.

NARRATOR: Today, it's a decrepit,
rusting scar in the desert...

..but could this 20th century mining
operation explain this mystery?

- Can mining operations cause
anything that looks like this

weird landscape in Dallol?

NARRATOR: The view from above
around the world

uncovers a range of lurid rainbow
hued waters near known mining sites.

- Colours can range from bright
teal, to orange, to green.

- But what's making this
weird rainbow of colours?

NARRATOR:
In some cases, it's deliberate.

- In Utah, blue dye is added
to salty brine pools.

- The dye speeds up the evaporation
process, eliminating the water

and leaving behind
the salt for extraction.

NARRATOR: But in other cases,

these bold colours appear after
a mine has been abandoned.

- And the secret behind this process
is hidden underground.

- In open pit mines digging often
goes well below the water table,

which means it's really
susceptible to water coming in.

- As natural groundwater seeps in,
it's pumped back out.

But, when the mine ceases
to operate, the pumps are removed

or turned off.

That means that the pit can flood

and minerals will leach into the
water through the exposed rock cuts.

- This now polluted and contaminated
water can turn all sorts of colours.

- Water can change colour
drastically

depending on what's
been dissolved in it.

- Teal shades can
come from chlorides

or you can get shades of blue
from dissolved limestone.

Iron oxides turn things bright
orange or red.

And while it looks like
a happy rainbow of fun,

you do not want to swim here.

It's actually very dangerous.

- When minerals and metals
leach into water,

it can become highly acidic
and toxic.

NARRATOR: Are the brightly coloured
pools at Dallol

abandoned mining pits,
filled with toxic water?

- Dallol's pools are
less than 300 metres

from the abandoned mining camp.

- But according to
historical records,

neither the Italians nor
the Americans mined near the pools.

- So if these pools aren't the
result of human mining operations,

how on earth did they form?

- Where is the water coming from?
And why is it so brightly coloured?

NARRATOR:
A view from above the pools

may offer some smoking gun evidence.

- The pools of Dallol are surrounded
by steaming earth,

and the water inside them
is bubbling.

- So what's causing this landscape
to spew and smoulder?

NARRATOR: There may be a clue
just 80 kilometres away.

This is Erta Ale,
Ethiopia's most active volcano.

- Erta Ale is pretty special.

It's one of the few volcanoes in
the world with an active lava lake.

- Lava lakes are situated
inside volcanic craters

and contain a massive
amount of molten lava.

- Lava lakes are one of the rarest
natural phenomena on Earth.

At any given time,

there's maybe only half a dozen
of them that are active.

And they're kind of like a window
into the centre of the Earth.

- In most cases, lava lakes appear
and then solidify quickly.

But the one at Erta Ale
has been persistently active

ever since it was first
discovered in 1906.

That makes it the world's
longest known lava lake.

- To see one of these things
with your own eyes, it is amazing.

I travelled to this remote volcano
back in 2005.

When I finally got to the volcano,

it was 100% different
from what I was expecting.

Typically, Erta Ale boils
and churns away

with this lake of liquid rock,
this lava lake.

And if you're to stand at the edge,

the heat would be absolutely
unbearable.

But unexpectedly,
the level of the lava had risen up,

overflowed a ledge that
I had planned to descend down to,

and then a crust formed on top.

There were a few features
on the surface of the lava lake,

these hornitos,
these small cones that come up,

and we could see lava sputtering
and spurting out of these cones.

So we knew the volcano
was still really active,

but it was extremely unpredictable.

Once we determined that it was
strong enough for me to walk on,

I was able to repel down

and step where no human
had ever set foot before.

And as I was walking across,

the ground actually gave out
beneath me and I dropped,

not knowing if I was going
to plunge into this lava,

and the team was gonna pull up a
rope with just a scorched end on it.

Luckily, I only dropped
down about a foot or so,

but let me tell you,
my heart was pounding.

So I knew I should probably
limit my time down there.

I scrambled over to the side
of the hornito,

broke off a few lava samples,
and then got out of there.

Let me tell you, it was an
exhilarating experience that

I don't think I'm in any rush
to recreate anytime soon.

12 people have been
on the surface of the moon,

only one person has walked
on the crust of that lava lake.

- Could there be some kind
of connection between the lava lake

and the eerie waters
of the Dallol Pools?

NARRATOR: The final clue is hiding
beneath the ordinary desert sands.

Erta Ale, and the Dallol Pools, are
part of something much much bigger.

- Both Erta Ale and the Dallol Pools
sit in a place

known as the Afar Triangle,
aka, the Afar Depression.

- The Afar Triangle is a spot where
three tectonic plates meet,

and are currently pulling apart.

Scientists are pretty sure that
eventually, Africa will split in two

and water from the Red Sea will rush
in burying parts of the landscape

and creating a new ocean.

- But this isn't exactly
a fast process.

NARRATOR: Scientists predict
that this will happen in millions,

or even hundreds of millions
of years from now.

- But in the meantime?

This activity puts a lot of stress
on a lot of rock.

That results in all kinds of
geologic and geothermal activity

including volcanoes.

NARRATOR: But what does
that mean for the Dallol Pools?

What are these planet shaking forces
hiding below the surface?

- It seems unbelievable
but Dallol is a volcano too!

- It definitely doesn't look like
your classic science-fair volcano.

(eruption booms)

- When most people think of a
volcano,

they picture a tall cone
looming over the landscape.

NARRATOR:
Dallol rises just 60 metres

above the surrounding salt plain,

but a view from above reveals the
tell-tale shape of a volcanic mound.

- In the last 100 years,

Dallol has experienced
at least two sizable events.

But even when it's not exploding,

there's enough geological activity
to fuel this wild landscape.

NARRATOR: The interaction of water
and magma below the surface creates

the steaming earth
and bubbling pools.

- These pockets of water
are hot springs,

super heated by magma
below the surface.

- They can hit temperatures
of 112 degrees Celsius,

and they are super acidic.

- This is totally the kind of place
that a James Bond villain would use.

If a human were to fall in,
they would die. No question.

- These pools are rich in minerals,
chemicals and gases,

and that's what gives them
their intense colouration.

- The crust around the pools is
made up of salts and sulphur.

As those elements get exposed
to extreme heat and air,

they can change
from white and yellow

to deep shades of red and brown.

- A volcano on its own,
is pretty damn awesome.

A volcano with its own
hyper colour hot springs?

That's next level.

NARRATOR: The Australian Outback

is known for its incredible
natural rock formations

and its endless red sands.

- The Australian Outback is famous

for being this vast expanse
of desolate nothingness.

There's very little out there other
than sand dunes, kangaroos, spiders,

and snakes.

(snake hisses)

NARRATOR: But among the rugged
and extreme terrain,

near the small town of Marree,

the view from above reveals
something totally unexpected.

- We see what looks like an open
desert mountainous area,

but in the middle there's a shape.

- It looks like an anthropomorphic
image has been cut into the earth

and it's holding something
in its hand.

- It's a massive nude man.

- This geoglyph is really big

spanning around 3.5 kilometres

- And that's all the more dramatic,

because there's simply
nothing else around it.

- This is wild.

What is this huge carving
doing in the middle of nowhere?

- Locals call this the Marree Man,
but who is this mystery figure?

- Is this a relic of an ancient
civilisation

leaving their mark on the landscape?

- I'm trying to work out
what he's meant to be.

I mean is this a warrior or a hunter
or maybe he's some kind of god?

- There is something
familiar about the shape

and pose of this huge figure.

NARRATOR:
Perhaps a clue could lie

on the other side of the world,
in Greece,

with an ancient treasure
discovered in the Aegean Sea.

- This is what's known
as the Artemision Bronze.

It's a two-meter-tall statue,

likely dating back to around
450 or 460 BCE.

What's special about a lot of Greek
art is the choice of the pose.

The Artemision Bronze is in a pose
that is very common for depictions

of Zeus, king of the Greek gods.

- Usually Zeus is depicted in the
act of throwing a lightning bolt,

but whatever the Artemision Bronze
was holding

has been lost through time.

- What's really weird is that this
ancient statue is a mirror image

of that human shape
in the Australian desert.

So, is it possible that these two
images are connected in some way?

- But what would a Greek god

be doing in the middle
of the Australian Outback?

NARRATOR: Why would these two forms,

separated by thousands of
kilometres look so similar?

- Ancient Greeks did explore
a lot of their world by sea,

but its pretty unlikely they
made it all the way to Australia,

let alone the Outback.

- And there's a big difference
between a two-metre statue

and a geoglyph over
two kilometres long.

- Can other ancient earth
markings offer a clue?

NARRATOR: On the other side
of the Pacific, in California,

more human figures have
been etched into the sands.

- This is part of what's known
as the Blythe Intaglios,

a group of six geoglyphs
that include human shapes.

Their age is uncertain

but estimated to be somewhere
between 450 to 2,000 years old.

- These aren't quite as big
as the carving in Australia.

The largest is about 52 metres high.

- But you've still got to
wonder who could be

so important that they inspired
these massive depictions?

- Local Mojave people say
these are representations

of their people's creator, Mastamho,

and other figures from
their traditional stories.

- Some sources suggest

these geoglyphs served
a religious purpose,

invoking the gods for protection,

and perhaps as sites
for sacred dances.

NARRATOR: Is the lonely human form
in the Australian Outback

another ancient geoglyph?

- Could this have been created
for spiritual purposes

by the indigenous peoples
of Australia?

- Australia does have
some famed ancient art

at one of the most important
rock art sites in the world.

NARRATOR: Far to the northeast
of the Marree Man,

in the remote wilderness
of Queensland,

on the Cape York Peninsula.

- Spread across a huge area,

sandstone caves
and rock outcroppings

form the canvas for images
from the long distant past.

- Now, these stunning drawings
are thought to be incredibly old,

from around 15,000 to 30
or even 40,000 years ago.

- The art in this region is famed

for its impressive breadth
of images,

encompassing a range of eras,
types of images,

and maintaining an impressive
quality despite their age.

- The Aboriginal people who
lived here and made this art,

really this record of their life,

represents the longest continuous
art and culture that we know of.

- So is it possible
that the Marree Man

is part of this long history
of Aboriginal rock art?

- It makes sense.

I mean, if you look closely
at the Marree Man,

it could be holding a traditional
Aboriginal boomerang

or throwing stick.

- But there's another really crucial
clue found in the view from above,

and it completely upends
all our expectations.

NARRATOR: A look back in time from
above reveals something staggering.

- The Marree Man was
first spotted from the air

by a pilot in June of 1998.

They probably thought
they had uncovered

some major ancient geoglyph.

- When we look at those
past satellite images,

we can only start to
spot the Marree Man

from June of 1998.

NARRATOR: In that image,
the figure is clearly visible,

but only a month earlier,
there's nothing but desert rock.

- So the pilot who discovered it
from above must have spotted it

just after its creation.

- As unbelievable as it seems,
this is modern.

But who made this, and why?

- And how is it possible that
something this huge could be

created in the desert
without anybody knowing?

NARRATOR: With the vast history
of Aboriginal art,

some might wonder
if this is part of their tradition.

But news reports at the time reveal
the local Aboriginal peoples

were not impressed by
this incursion on their land.

- They're outraged
and they're disgusted by it,

and I think every time
the issue comes up again,

similar feelings echo
throughout our community.

NARRATOR: So who is behind
this vast and extraordinary figure?

A trail of strange clues emerges.

- At the time of its discovery
in 1998,

anonymous faxes were
sent to local news outlets

offering tantalising hints and clues
to the provenance of the geoglyph.

- These clues suggest the Marree Man
could be a clandestine project

by members of the American military
stationed in Australia.

- That kind of makes sense.

An organised team with military
equipment available

seems like enough to complete
such a large project.

But why would they do it?

- It's possible that all these clues
were red herrings

and the real person,
or people, behind it,

were just trying to cover the trail.

- Some think that
the most likely culprit

was a local artist
in the nearby town of Marree

determined to make a sizable mark
and have a little bit of fun.

- Could this person simply have used
early GPS technology

and heavy machinery alone to draw
such a massive figure undetected?

NARRATOR: Can a recent project
at the Marree Man

offer a hint to its creation?

Since its appearance in 1998,

the winds and weather of the desert
began to wear away the geoglyph.

- Eager to keep the tourist-friendly
landmark in place,

in 2016, a team equipped
with major machinery

freshened up the geoglyph to ensure
it remains visible from above.

- And it was no easy task.

The difficulty of the refresh, 18
years after its original appearance,

hammers home how tricky its creation
must have been in the first place.

- GPS wasn't as ubiquitous
as it is today,

and the US was scrambling
satellite signals

to deliberately reduce GPS accuracy
until the year 2000.

- Now, that restoration used some
seriously heavy equipment, you know,

a big grader to redraw those lines.

So how can someone be doing that
completely in secret?

How did they even get
whatever they used right out there?

I mean, it's mad
when you think about it.

NARRATOR: The mystery
behind its creation remains.

- As of yet, no one has come forward

to claim the creation
of the Marree Man.

- It seems totally bananas to me,

that someone would create something
this impressive, this huge,

something designed to be seen,
you know,

by planes and satellites,
and not want to take the credit.

I mean, I would tell everybody
if I made it...

- Perhaps one day the view
from above will uncover the truth.

NARRATOR: Major human projects
or eerie natural phenomena,

eyes in the sky searching
above ordinary landscapes

uncover the uncanny and unexpected
in the most unlikely places.

Subtitles by Sky Access Services