Original subtitles

[narrator] Abandoned, but iconic.

Deserted, yet infamous.

Ruin sites built in the pursuit

of fame and fortune.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] An island complex

that protected General MacArthur

and a hoard the treasure.

There's a $4 million fortune

stashed somewhere near this derelict place.

[narrator] A skyscraper embroiled

in a murder mystery.

This place got all the fame and attention

that its owner wanted,

but for all the wrong reasons.

[narrator] A grand palace where a dictator

hoarded his wealth.

It was built to impress and to intimidate.

[narrator] A site where legends took center stage.

It's the space that was once filled with glory.

It's the space that was once filled with glory.

[narrator] And a relic of old England

transformed into a fantastical realm.

Nowadays, Cloister Walk is world famous.

[narrator] This is Mysteries of the Abandoned,

Fame and Fortune.

Decaying relics...

ruins of lost worlds...

sites haunted by the past...

their secrets waiting to be revealed.

their secrets waiting to be revealed.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In Iraq,

between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers,

history weighs heavy on the land.

It is where Nebuchadnezzar ruled,

where Abraham came from.

This place is the cradle of civilization.

This place is the cradle of civilization.

[narrator] Yet rising above a scattering of ancient ruins,

perched on a hill is something else entirely.

This place was one of mystery and secrecy.

And people in the neighborhood

are scared of approaching.

Looking at the scale of this place,

you can tell that whoever built this

had a stupidly high opinion of himself.

The man who built this became the face

The man who built this became the face

of lavish despotism the world over.

He decided to build himself a luxury palace

fit for an emperor.

The throne room is designed

to emphasize the ruler's dominion

over little old you.

[narrator] The mark of an infamous tyrant

can be found throughout this site.

But as Saddam Hussein amassed his vast fortune,

world leaders prepared to bring him down.

world leaders prepared to bring him down.

And this project would find itself

right in the firing line.

[Prof. Geoff] It's been thoroughly looted,

thoroughly vandalized.

And so you see graffiti everywhere,

Iraqi graffiti, but also American graffiti.

[narrator] What was this building's purpose?

And how did American troops

come to occupy this palatial ruin?

[suspenseful music playing]

[suspenseful music playing]

Everyone was scared of coming nearby,

as the security forces at that time

wouldn't allow anyone close.

[narrator] Archeologist Hussein Falih

now knows this site intimately,

but he remembers when access was highly restricted.

[Hussein Falih] No one knew what was being constructed.

Even the builders didn't know

what they were building the palace for.

[narrator] This level of secrecy and security

[narrator] This level of secrecy and security

reflected the Iraqi leader it was built for.

He came to power in 1979.

[suspenseful music playing]

When he seizes power,

he's intent on instantly removing

any opposition whatsoever.

He soon becomes one of the world's

most feared leaders.

He, you know, kills off and overthrows

all of his opponents.

And thereafter, he embarks on a cult of personality,

And thereafter, he embarks on a cult of personality,

to make him the essential glue

holding Iraqi society together.

[narrator] The dictator immediately looked

to expand his territories,

fixing his attention on the oil rich lands

on the border with Iran.

He thinks, "Hey, I'm gonna just lurch across the border,

take those oil receipts to kind of supercharge

my new Iraqi state,

and there'll be no consequences."

[narrator] But his attempt at a quick land grab

quickly descends into a nightmare.

quickly descends into a nightmare.

[Prof. Geoff] It's trench warfare,

fighting back and forth across this disputed area,

the Iranians using their much bigger population

to launch human wave attacks.

[narrator] Despite receiving support from the USA

and employing chemical weapons,

Saddam Hussein's campaign is a disaster.

And he failed for years a bloody murderous war

between Iraq and Iran.

between Iraq and Iran.

[narrator] He turns to grand building projects

to mask the failure

and tap into Iraqi nationalism.

This project would be called the Summer Palace.

While his country was in a grinding war of attrition

with hundreds of thousands of casualties,

he decided to build himself a luxury palace

fit for an emperor.

fit for an emperor.

[narrator] And for this megalomaniac,

the location of the palace was highly significant.

The location is important because it's near the river,

and overlooking the historical site of Babylon.

[narrator] The Summer Palace would be carefully positioned

within the outer walls of the ancient city,

which Saddam wanted restored to its former glory,

under the great warrior king,

Nebuchadnezzar II.

Nebuchadnezzar II.

[ominous music playing]

His influence was immortalized in construction

when he ruled Babylon.

The Hanging Gardens, Southern Palace,

Ishtar Gate, Procession Street,

and the Babylonian seal.

And Saddam added the phrase to the seals,

"From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein,

Babylon will rise again."

[narrator] The dictator wanted to not only rebuild

[narrator] The dictator wanted to not only rebuild

the ancient city, but also overlook it.

A symbolic show of strength and power,

and he would let nothing stand in his way.

In this place before the construction of the palace,

there was a small village

inhabited by poor toiling families.

[Dr. Michele] In 1986,

Saddam orders the complete destruction of this village

Saddam orders the complete destruction of this village

and he has it blown up.

And in the place of the village,

he builds an artificial hill.

[narrator] Construction could now begin

with workers brought in from North Africa,

supposedly blindfolded to avoid a security risk

during the ongoing war.

The builders were driven here in tinted cars.

Security was at a high level

because they didn't want anyone to know

the location of this palace.

the location of this palace.

[narrator] The project remained top secret,

but it was part of a wider scheme

to build up the family fortune.

This is only one of over a hundred such palaces

scattered around Iraq,

and that in this particular palace,

he has all kinds of tributes to himself.

These seals on the walls are initials of Saddam Hussein,

with the palm logo symbolizing the period

with the palm logo symbolizing the period

during which Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq.

Archeologists told Saddam

that Nebuchadnezzar had these bricks

with his name stamped in them.

Saddam decided that he wanted to do the same thing.

Every brick used in the restoration of Babylon,

in the construction of his palace,

he has uppercase S, lowercase D,

uppercase H inscribed in the brick,

Saddam Hussein.

[narrator] While Saddam tried to evoke

great glories of the past,

construction dragged on into the mid-1990s,

and was only completed after the Iran-Iraq War,

and the first Gulf War had cost the country dearly.

Iraq was going through a period of siege and wars,

and the Iraqi people were in dire need

of basic living necessities.

And the construction was like luxury and extravagance.

And the construction was like luxury and extravagance.

It was indescribable, like a fantasy,

in this building and in all the other palaces.

[narrator] Yet little of this fantasy world remains,

the inside of the palace has been stripped bare.

The walls covered in graffiti.

It speaks to the arrival of an outside force.

Well, Saddam was a real Houdini,

he escaped being deposed by the Americans,

uh, after the Persian Gulf War in 1990, 1991,

goes on through the 1990s

pretending that he more or less won the war in 1991.

But then after 9/11,

refuses to confirm or deny his nuclear program,

and assure the United States

that he won't sponsor terrorism.

[narrator] Time was up for Iraq's Houdini.

Barely had the dust settled after the shocking attack

on the Twin Towers before George W. Bush

began plotting to succeed

where his father had failed a decade earlier.

Saddam Hussein and his sons

must leave Iraq within 48 hours.

Their refusal to do so will result

in military conflict,

in military conflict,

commenced at a time of our choosing.

In 2003, we invaded Iraq,

specifically in order to depose

Saddam Hussein from power.

When the Americans attacked Iraq,

they moved very quickly the so-called Thunder Run

toward the capital.

They chased Saddam out of the capital into hiding,

and then they fanned out across the country

occupying key points, like Babylon.

[narrator] April 8th, 2003,

the Thunderbolts and units

from the 101st Airborne Division

stormed across the Euphrates and launched an attack.

As they approach, they encounter gunfire.

Members of Saddam's elite Republican Guard

are entrenched in the palace,

and put up fierce resistance.

After a few days of intense close-quarter fighting,

After a few days of intense close-quarter fighting,

Saddam's monument to his new Iraqi Empire

is in American hands.

And US troops who went into this palace

and the hundred others that US forces "liberated"

in the course of the Iraq War

were just stunned by the decadence,

the luxury,

the munificence of the furnishings,

the chandeliers, the furniture.

[narrator] But Saddam was still on the loose,

[narrator] But Saddam was still on the loose,

and he had just withdrawn a fortune

from the Central Iraqi Bank,

a billion dollars to fund his escape,

and the fight back.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] April 9th, 2003,

Baghdad falls to the Coalition of the Willing

after the invasion of Iraq.

Dictator Saddam Hussein has been chased into hiding,

but not before extracting a billion dollars

from his central bank,

a quarter of the country's currency reserves.

60 miles south, the ancient city of Babylon

60 miles south, the ancient city of Babylon

is secured, and the doors of Saddam's Summer Palace

are blown wide open.

Archeologist Hussein Falih

is able to catch a glimpse of Saddam's luxury lifestyle.

What I saw during the entry of the American forces

were the luxurious crystal chandeliers.

The water utilities and door handles

all painted in gold of the finest quality.

And we can still see the expensive Italian alabaster.

[narrator] In the chaos that followed the initial invasion,

the palace was looted and vandalized,

until it was made a US military base

later that month.

Two thousand troops moved into Camp Babylon.

The coalition forces do not always treat

The coalition forces do not always treat

Saddam Hussein's palaces with respect.

There is a bit of graffiti, there are some fittings

that might have been detached,

and are now trophies on somebody's desk.

[narrator] While his fortune was being raided,

the net was closing in on the infamous tyrant.

They find Saddam in December of 2003,

hiding in a hole in the ground,

and they turn him over to the Iraqis

and they turn him over to the Iraqis

who then executed him.

[Dr. Lynette] It was a brief...

but unpleasant operation

to topple Saddam Hussein from power.

The Iraq War started sharp,

and then ran on for a very long time,

even after Saddam Hussein was dead.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] The palace was formally handed over

to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture in 2005.

to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture in 2005.

It looked set for a brighter future.

The Iraqi government made a big grant

to the local community to fix up the palace

and use as a cultural center

but the money was misspent or purloined,

and it was... The work was never done,

so it remains as essentially a neglected ruin.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Hussein Falih still has hope

that rather than being associated

with a ruthless dead spot, it can complement

the World Heritage site at its feet.

I hope that this place will be a museum for Iraq

and the ancient archeological city.

[narrator] Treasury and Homeland Security agents

continue to chase down Saddam's family fortune

and freeze his assets.

But the hunt goes on.

But the hunt goes on.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In Byron, Georgia are the remains

of a once iconic sporting arena.

[Sascha] Some places are good at concealing what they are.

This is not one of those places.

This is obviously a racetrack.

And it's not just a simple horse track

or a simple local track, this is big.

or a simple local track, this is big.

This is a half-mile circuit

that has these concrete stands

that is something permanent.

[Jaega] This place looks like it belongs

in a post-apocalyptic movie.

This is a monument to Americana,

but now it is completely overgrown.

[narrator] Graffiti-littered terraces

and smashed floodlights overlook a track

that's clearly a long way from its glory days.

You can see faded the name of the racetrack

You can see faded the name of the racetrack

there on the side and you know

that this has been something special.

There's at least a dozen

hall of famers that raced here.

It's at this raceway that Richard Petty

is going to break the speed record.

[narrator] But while famous racers blessed this track,

others were chasing their fortunes underground.

Just outside the track, there are thick woodlands.

It's the perfect place to hide something.

People are still talking about it to this day,

People are still talking about it to this day,

50 something years later.

This is going to be a huge bust.

[narrator] It's still known

as the mystery beneath turn three.

[suspenseful music playing]

[country music playing]

[narrator] Back in the 1960s,

Saturday nights at the Middle Georgia Raceway

were a weekly highlight for its current owner,

Tim Thornton.

As a high school kid,

it was very special to come down here

and have what I call the big boys of NASCAR

race on a Saturday night.

[narrator] It was the golden age of NASCAR

and this was a regular venue on the circuit.

Some of the biggest names in stock car racing came here,

Richard Petty, The King,

the Allison brothers,

David Pearson.

I could go on and on.

That was really special for us.

NASCAR, you know, started in this part of the country.

[narrator] The atmosphere on race night was electric.

At that time, there was also grandstands

At that time, there was also grandstands

across on the other side of the track,

so it might be 10,000 people out here.

There is the smell of gasoline,

the roar of the crowd,

the screaming of the engines,

it is excitement piled on excitement,

turbocharged with even more excitement.

You can smell the rubber, and the gasoline,

and the cotton candy, and the hotdogs.

And then, your hair blows with the wind

as they go past.

It's just an incredible feeling.

[suspenseful music playing]

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Based on a simple formula,

NASCAR is all about maximizing speed.

But this is also a contact sport.

This is the original American Motorsport,

40 cars dueling it out on a half mile or mile track.

Bumping other cars is part of the game.

It's called trading paint.

[narrator] It's a more complex sport

than it's often given credit for.

It's a lot of science and a lot of technology,

uh, that goes into that race,

really sophisticated.

[Sascha] It has an incredible amount of skill,

dexterity,

and the margin of error is really small.

You lose focus for just a split second

and you can hit the wall at over 200 miles per hour.

and you can hit the wall at over 200 miles per hour.

[narrator] To ensure drivers could maintain

such high speeds,

NASCAR developed its distinctive feature,

the raised banks.

[Tim] This is about a 18-degree bank.

For this size, half mile track,

that's very steep.

[Sascha] The only way to keep these cars

from literally going airborne is to angle the turns.

So these cars are just driving around curves.

They are just halfway flying around them.

They are just halfway flying around them.

[narrator] These steep banks saw Richard Petty, The King,

make racing history.

He won an even 200 races

and he holds several records

including the Daytona 500 record.

He is a god among NASCAR fans.

It was here at Middle Georgia

that Richard Petty sets the record

for the average speed on the half-mile track,

over 82 miles per hour,

over 82 miles per hour,

and this is gonna put the track on the map.

[narrator] But this wasn't the only thing

that would bring fame to Byron, Georgia

and make national headlines.

So the police learned

that there's something afoot at the racetrack.

[narrator] On September 23rd, 1967,

the FBI arrive to investigate.

[Jaega] And it was no accident

that they decided to raid the track

in the middle of a race when the stands were packed.

The police were there for maximum publicity.

They were there to make a scene.

[Tim] So there's something really amazing

that happened back here on the back side of the track.

People are still talking about it to this day,

50 something years later.

[narrator] With engines roaring trackside,

federal agents begin searching the nearby woods.

The only remaining clue

to the mystery beneath turn three

to the mystery beneath turn three

is a strange crater.

Behind me here is the drivers and fronts,

kind of back and fronts if you will.

The cars and the trailers would come in and out here.

The builders, when they designed the track,

were very forward-thinking in a naughty way.

[Tim] They had a ticket booth right back in here.

It had a false floor in it.

[Dr. Landdeck] The police get there

and they find a trapdoor.

They opened it and realized they've just stumbled upon

the largest illegal distillery of moonshine

the largest illegal distillery of moonshine

in the whole state of Georgia.

[narrator] Descending down a 35-foot shaft,

they entered a tunnel system that a federal agent described

as one of the most cleverly run moonshine operations

he'd ever seen.

A long tunnel contained a cooker tank,

gas and fermenting tanks

with electric lighting and electric exhaust system.

An estimated 80 gallons of moonshine whiskey

was produced here every day.

was produced here every day.

When the crowds had left, jugs of the whiskey

were loaded into the race car haulers

and smuggled away in the dead of night.

Making moonshine is a risky business.

It is very flammable

and you could potentially

make dangerous byproducts.

It can be done wrong and kill you or blind you.

But there's all different varieties of it.

[narrator] Discovering a moonshine distillery

under a NASCAR track is not as strange

under a NASCAR track is not as strange

as it might initially seem.

[Sascha] During the era of prohibition,

a thriving smuggling business sprang up.

The police, of course, are gonna try

to crack down on this.

So what happened is the smugglers,

or bootleggers as they were known,

would take ordinary looking cars

and they would modify them.

[Dr. Landdeck] And so you have this idea

of, you know,

the old Thunder Road, right?

Where they take their stock cars,

Where they take their stock cars,

their everyday cars, they soup up the motors.

They build spaces in them to carry

as much of this highly flammable alcohol as they can

so that they can outrace the sheriffs,

outrace the police, the FBI, whoever.

[Sascha] They even developed special moves

that they would use to try to escape the police.

If you've ever seen a car going down a straightaway

and then someone, uh, pulls the emergency brake

to make the car spin around on its axis

to make the car spin around on its axis

a 180 degrees so they can immediately start

going the opposite direction,

that's called a bootlegger reverse.

Well, one day, two of these bootleggers

put their modified cars down side by side

to see which one was the fastest and bam,

a new form of racing was born.

So this idea of the moonshine distillery

being found under a NASCAR track

really ties the past to the present and the future

really ties the past to the present and the future

of the motorsport.

[narrator] Yet evidence of the moonshine still

is all but gone.

Traditionally, when the feds would raid a still,

they would use dynamite and blow up the still.

They didn't wanna blow it up

because they would have damaged

or destroyed the racetrack.

So they took heavy equipment and just totally crushed it

and buried it.

[Dr. Landdeck] The sheriffs did a really thorough job

of destroying this.

of destroying this.

They just decimated it completely

to the point that today, all that you can find

is a hole on the ground and the only thing

we really know about it is old photographs.

The track owner was charged

with running the illegal moonshine operation,

but small town, small county,

he was actually acquitted.

That was pretty controversial.

[narrator] Despite the scandal,

the following season kicked off at Middle Georgia.

the following season kicked off at Middle Georgia.

But with NASCAR moving to bigger stadiums,

the owners went looking for new forms of revenue

and it would draw crowds the size

of which Byron, Georgia had never seen before.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In Byron, Georgia is a relic

of NASCAR's glory years.

That became the setting for an altogether different

star-studded event.

The owners of the track decided to do something big

to try to attract attention to the area.

[narrator] On July 4th, 1970,

the racetrack was taken over

the racetrack was taken over

for the Atlanta International Pop Festival.

[Tim] I worked at the Pop Festival

when I was still a high school kid

and they put me probably 300 feet from the stage.

I finally laid down and went to sleep

beside my popsicle truck and woke up,

there's Jimi Hendrix playing "Star-Spangled Banner"

with fireworks going off and here I am

just looking straight up at it.

[Sascha] When Jimi Hendrix played here,

he drew a crowd of over 300,000.

he drew a crowd of over 300,000.

It was probably the largest audience in America

that Jimi Hendrix ever played to.

[narrator] It became known as the Woodstock of the South.

But Hendrix sadly died of a suspected drug overdose

just 10 weeks later.

[Sascha] America is a place that is in love

with the idea of cars

and it's also in love with the idea of rebellion.

and it's also in love with the idea of rebellion.

So, I don't think we should be surprised

that all that, you know,

racing came out of bootlegging

and then Jimi Hendrix played on a NASCAR racetrack,

in a funny way, they all fit together really well.

[narrator] Amateur races continued alongside

music events until a 1984 concert sealed its fate.

Great big brawl and fight broke out,

lot of arrests.

At that point, the county said,

no more and shut it down.

no more and shut it down.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] With no clear future,

this abandoned piece of Americana

is cherished for its unique past.

It means an awful lot to people in the area

and race fans, I suppose worldwide,

really a special place.

[suspenseful music playing]

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In the center of Bangkok,

Thailand's capital city,

punching out of the skyline

is an infamous Ghost Tower.

This is a site that you can't miss,

a huge derelict skyscraper

leaning out over a buzzing metropolis.

Even in its state of disrepair,

you could see that this was

a pretty wild piece of architecture.

a pretty wild piece of architecture.

It looks grand, but as you get closer,

you see that it's just a skeleton

and there's this eerie,

haunted feeling about it.

Inside the building is a minefield of hazards.

You have gaping holes in some sections.

You've got windows with no glass in them,

open stairwells.

[Rob] It's right in the heart

of this buzzing metropolis.

But when you're inside,

you feel incredibly alone.

you feel incredibly alone.

This is one of the tallest buildings in the city

and the view from the top where the balconies extend

is absolutely spectacular.

But without any railings,

venturing out there would be foolhardy.

[narrator] Its continued abandonment

with nothing but vines and trees

occupying the vast shell is baffling.

Here you have a luxury tower

Here you have a luxury tower

in the middle of a thriving booming city,

the real estate it sits on must be incredibly valuable.

Why in the world has no one stepped in

either tear it down or complete it?

Many of the local Thais think it's cursed.

Now, superstition and folklore is very popular

in Thai culture,

but not every story about the Ghost Tower

is just myth and superstition.

is just myth and superstition.

This place got all the fame and attention

that its owner wanted,

but for all the wrong reasons.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] In the 1990s,

Thailand was undergoing economic growth

on an unprecedented scale,

nowhere more so than in the capital Bangkok.

Its skyline was studded with construction cranes

and its buildings were surging skywards.

and its buildings were surging skywards.

And this building was gonna be

at the gleaming center

of this incredible economic surge.

This project was the brainchild

of an architect and developer named Rangsan Torsuwan,

who was this extravagant famous designer.

His buildings were designed to appeal

to Asia's richest people

who would want a luxury apartment

at a prestige address.

[Rob] For Rangsan Torsuwan,

this was more than just a design though.

this was more than just a design though.

He owned the company that was building it.

And the costs was staggering

with multiple big investors putting up the money.

[narrator] He named the building

the Sathorn Unique Tower

and what he had planned was hugely ambitious.

When construction started in 1990,

Sathorn Unique was earmarked to be

one of the most luxurious tower buildings

in all of Bangkok

and you're gonna have some 659 luxury flats

and you're gonna have some 659 luxury flats

and dozens of retail spaces.

[narrator] Pansit Torsuwan is Rangsan's son.

He was just a teenager

when the work on the tower began.

My father hoped that this would be

the company's flagship project.

He planned to get the company listed

on the stock exchange of Thailand.

[narrator] To make it a success,

he had a very specific architectural design in mind.

he had a very specific architectural design in mind.

The design philosophy of Sathorn Unique Tower

is actually my father's philosophy

to let the building be a language

that speak to the people.

That's why he chose neoclassical architecture

as the language because people think it's luxurious

and expensive and that it will be

a good long-term investment.

[narrator] Hundreds of families and investors

[narrator] Hundreds of families and investors

bought into this dream.

We were able to presell about 90% of the units,

leaving only penthouses on the top floors

and retail units on the lower floors.

The show went up quickly

and this building was clearly going to be

everything it had promised.

But there was a twist on the horizon

that was so farfetched you could barely write it.

And at the heart of it all

was the founder, Mr. Rangsan Torsuwan.

was the founder, Mr. Rangsan Torsuwan.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] The Sathorn Unique Tower was set to be

the most luxurious high-rise in Thailand

when its owner Rangsan Torsuwan was caught up

in a major scandal.

[Pansit] What happened in 1993,

absolutely no one saw it coming.

One day, out of nowhere,

I received a phone call saying my father

had been arrested for plotting to murder

had been arrested for plotting to murder

the president of the Supreme Court.

It was a dramatic moment

that sent shockwaves rippling through the country.

[narrator] With his father in prison,

Pansit made it his mission to find out the truth.

But time wasn't on his side

nor with those in power.

Thailand politics at the time were really byzantine

with all kinds of rivalries and plots and accusations.

with all kinds of rivalries and plots and accusations.

So, this was a case where a prominent figure

was caught up, whether truthfully or not,

in a giant political scandal.

When you're up against the president

of the Supreme Court,

nothing goes your way and that put my family

in an extremely difficult situation.

Rumors were spreading like wildfire.

Some said my father would be killed.

[narrator] The longer his father was locked up,

the worst the consequences for the family

and their business.

[Jim] Some investors started pulling out.

Banks stopped lending.

Who wants to risk their money on a project

whose leader and designer is in jail?

[Rob] The whole success of this project

depended on what happened to Mr. Rangsan.

And for months, the building stood semi-complete.

Its future rested on the fate of one man.

Its future rested on the fate of one man.

[tense music playing]

We were trying to find a way to get him out on bail,

but we couldn't until six months later

when he was released on the highest bail

ever set in Thai history.

[narrator] Even though Rangsan was out,

the investigations against him were ongoing.

[Sascha] This was a real rocky time

for the funding of Sathorn Unique,

for the funding of Sathorn Unique,

but it didn't necessarily kill the project.

He managed to scrape together just enough funds

to keep it going

and they might have weathered this crisis,

but there was another disaster looming on the horizon.

[narrator] This disaster was about to engulf

the whole of Thailand.

[Jim] In 1997, the economies of Southeast Asia

went into a terrible economic collapse.

went into a terrible economic collapse.

Banks didn't have money to lend,

stock markets collapsed, unemployment shot up.

This was an enormous crisis for the countries as a whole,

but especially for developers

who were overextended.

Many of the building projects came to a crashing halt,

including this 49-story tower.

[Pansit] When construction stopped in 1997,

I was in a state of shock

I was in a state of shock

because it was so close to being finished.

My father couldn't understand where all the debts went

after financial institutions were shut down.

And he didn't know what to do next,

who to talk to, or who else could give us loans.

[narrator] Rangsan desperately searched

for new investors.

But before long,

his past came back to haunt him.

In 2008, he was once again charged

In 2008, he was once again charged

and this time convicted of attempted murder.

That conviction was actually overturned

by an appeals court two years later in 2010,

but with Rangsan's complicated personal history,

investors were really reluctant

to sink their money into one of his projects.

And this really spelled the end

for any hopes of completion of the Sathorn Unique Tower.

This wonderful dream was going to die.

[narrator] Today, the responsibility

of the tower lies with his son,

but it seems the challenge of completing this building

is just too big.

It's impossible for our company

to continue construction

because the money needed would now have to be

three times more than it cost 20 years ago.

It took a fortune to build

and it will take a fortune to finish it.

[Sascha] There's another reason that this site

[Sascha] There's another reason that this site

is unlikely to ever get developed.

Many of the local Thais think it's cursed.

There's even a rumor going around

that the tower is built on a former burial site.

[Pansit] What happened with this project

has devastated my family's financial status,

but it hasn't devastated my soul.

I understand the world better

I understand the world better

and I learned it from this building.

Nothing is definite in this world.

If there's success,

there will always be failure and vice versa.

[narrator] Today, the tower stands as a dark shadow

on the increasingly glittering skyline,

but it isn't as quiet here as its owners would like.

It's now become somewhat of a YouTube sensation,

It's now become somewhat of a YouTube sensation,

attracting daredevil urban explorers

from around the world.

The family tries to keep people out,

but somehow people keep managing

to break into this tower and shoot their videos

for that moment of fame

and taking enormous risks in the process.

And with neither development nor demolition any closer,

the Sathorn Unique Tower seems set to remain

as one of the world's most prominent temples

to urban decay.

[narrator] Next up on Mysteries of the Abandoned,

Fame and Fortune,

a fantastical world where wizards roam,

a haunting shell where General MacArthur

was holed up with a treasure trove of gold,

and a feared facility

where a heavyweight champion made his name.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] On Mysteries of the Abandoned,

Fame and Fortune...

a stark facility where a champion was forged,

an island of ruins

where American troops smuggled out

a booty of gold,

and a technical breakthrough at an English abbey

opens the door to a world of wizardry.

opens the door to a world of wizardry.

Nestled within the picturesque English countryside

is a grand old structure with a spellbinding past.

This is Wiltshire, which is world famous

for its sweeping valleys

and of course Stonehenge which everybody knows.

But only 30 miles away,

there's this gem which is very unknown.

It has beautiful gothic details

It has beautiful gothic details

on all its exterior walls

but it also has very strong looking gateways.

There are massive stone walls

and foliage climbing all the way up the side.

As you get closer,

you can see that it's really still quite intact.

There are courtyards and hallways.

It's a very sophisticated assembly of buildings.

[Rob] You can see right across the site,

these very traditional latticed windows.

And one of them in particular plays a very important role

that cemented its place in history.

that cemented its place in history.

[narrator] A pioneering photographic image

captured right here would help open the door

to a magical new world

that would one day be exploited

by the silver screen.

This place hides a magical secret

that's been seen the world over.

[narrator] Dotted throughout this complex

are features that Harry Potter lovers

around the globe will instantly recognize.

around the globe will instantly recognize.

In the middle of one of the rooms,

you see this giant caldron sat on a stone plinth.

Nowadays, Cloister Walk is world famous

as a crowded school hallway

filled with wizards' hats and wands.

[narrator] But this site owes its existence

to a formidable woman who lived 800 years

before J.K. Rowling's books

were turned into one of the world's

most successful film franchises.

most successful film franchises.

So this place was founded by a woman

who was a pioneer of her time.

[narrator] Emma Hitchings is passionate

about the chronicles of this site

and the legend of its founder Ela of Salisbury.

Ela was a noblewoman.

She was born in 1187

and she was the only child of the 2nd Earl of Salisbury.

And when he died when she was nine years old,

she very unusually not only inherited his title

she very unusually not only inherited his title

but also all of his money.

[narrator] Now, an immensely wealthy woman,

Ela's ward,

The Crusader King Richard Lionheart

used her to benefit his own family.

King Richard married Ela off to William Longespee,

who was Richard's illegitimate half-brother.

And so he got through Ela his titles

because he had nothing to stop him.

[narrator] Longespee was made Sheriff of Wiltshire

[narrator] Longespee was made Sheriff of Wiltshire

by Richard's heir, King John.

This connection would soon bring

into Ela's custody an item of profound importance,

when the infamous Bad King John

signed a treaty.

In 1215, a band of rebellious medieval barons

forced King John of England

to agree to a laundry list of concessions.

It later became known as the Great Charter

or in Latin, Magna Carta.

or in Latin, Magna Carta.

Magna Carta was one of the most famous documents

of medieval England signed by King John in 1215

with William Longespee at his side.

[narrator] Magna Carta was updated in 1225,

an early Bill of Rights

that would form the basis of England's legal system

and the precursor to the US constitution,

with clauses on individual rights

and women's rights

which Ela would later use to her own advantage.

which Ela would later use to her own advantage.

Copy was sent to every county in the country

and the copy that went to Wiltshire

went to the Sheriff of Wiltshire

who was William Longespee.

[narrator] But that same year,

Ela's husband went missing.

When William Longespee was returning from war,

he was shipwrecked and thought lost.

[narrator] Rumors spread that he was dead

and men of influence began circling,

eyeing Ela's wealth.

eyeing Ela's wealth.

A knight approached her

and attempted to force a marriage.

Only by quoting a section of Magna Carta itself

was she able to refuse the offer.

[Rob] It's like something out

of a medieval courtroom drama.

Ela used her savvy knowledge of this now

ancient legal document to win her case.

[narrator] Ela supposedly quoted

the eighth clause of the 1215 charter

the eighth clause of the 1215 charter

that stated, "Women were no longer obliged

to remarry and reads."

"No widow is to be distrained to marry

while she wishes to live without a husband."

But in fact, her husband was still alive

and did return to English soil.

Remarkably, Longespee made it back home

that he died shortly after his return.

It was alleged that he was poisoned,

although that was never proved.

although that was never proved.

[narrator] With his death,

Ela inherited the title of Sheriff of Wiltshire

and unusually for the time,

chose to remain a widow for the rest of her days.

Devoted to her husband,

the tragedy would prove the inspiration

for Lacock Abbey.

Ela was devastated and wanted to set up

two monastic institutions in his memory,

so she set up one for monks

so she set up one for monks

and then this abbey, Lacock, for the nuns.

On the 16th of April 1232,

Ela laid the foundation stone of her abbey.

Partly, it's a tribute to her husband

and partly as a place to retire to later as a nun.

When Ela came to the abbey,

she brought all her papers with her

including the Magna Carta

and it was kept here in one of the safe rooms.

[narrator] The abbey served as Ela's burial place

[narrator] The abbey served as Ela's burial place

and her copy of Magna Carta remained here

for centuries to come.

Handed over to the British museum in 1945,

it is one of only four known copies

of the original charters still in existence.

The document like the abbey

found its way to Ela's descendant,

William Henry Fox Talbot.

Although a man of science,

Although a man of science,

Talbot would invent a machine within these walls

that would have consequences of a magical nature.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] In the 1830s,

Fox Talbot was working on an invention

at his home, Lacock Abbey.

His breakthrough was born out of a love of painting

but also his lack of talent as a painter.

Fox Talbot's wife and daughters

were great watercolorists

capturing great landscapes and life drawings.

And in fact, some of their paintings

can still be found at Lacock Abbey today.

can still be found at Lacock Abbey today.

William wasn't so good with pen and paper,

so he tried to find a scientific way

to capture the scenes before him.

[narrator] At a time of great innovation

in the field of photography,

Talbot made a stunning breakthrough.

There had been experiments

to capture images on paper by others before him,

but Fox Talbot went on to create

the three primary elements of photography.

the three primary elements of photography.

Developing, fixing, and printing.

Talbot already knew about the light sensitivity

of a compound called silver chloride,

so he tried to use that

to capture the world around him.

He took a piece of paper

and soaked it in sodium chloride

or ordinary table salt.

He brushed one side of the paper

with silver nitrate

and when that reacted with the salt,

that produced silver chloride

which is a light sensitive paper.

which is a light sensitive paper.

He called it his photogenic drawing

and using the sensitive paper that he'd created

because he was still seeing it in his mind

as a way of keeping up with the watercolor abilities

of his wife and daughters.

[narrator] Fixing the paper to the inside of small boxes,

he waited for the exposure to light to take full effect.

These became known as mousetrap cameras,

partly because they were so small and partly

because his wife kept finding them

because his wife kept finding them

all over the place.

He invented that process here

and the first ever photographic negative

was taken of the oriel window upstairs

overlooking the south floor,

which really makes this abbey the home of photography.

[Dominic] Talbot of course died with no idea

of what his invention would go on to become.

He could have had no conception

of the popularity of cameras, selfies, television,

of the popularity of cameras, selfies, television,

and even of course the big silver screen.

A hundred and seventy years

after that very first photograph,

far more sophisticated cameras

that Talbot's came to Lacock

when the entire Hollywood machinery

descended on the abbey.

In 2000, J.K. Rowling's overnight hit

of the young very famous wizard,

Harry Potter was adapted for the big screen

and filming commenced all across the UK.

and filming commenced all across the UK.

However, a very special location

was needed to lend face for the main setting

of the Harry Potter movies,

the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

and what better location to stand in

for Hogwarts than Lacock Abbey.

[narrator] These rooms were transformed

into something else entirely.

Our warming room

Our warming room

became Professor Quirrell's classroom.

Our chapterhouse was used as the place

where Harry found the Mirror of Erised.

Professor Snape's classroom was in our sacristy.

The whole cast can be found coming up and down

these corridors when they're going through the school.

[Jaega] By all accounts, the film crew

had a great time on set

but the building is over 700 years old,

but the building is over 700 years old,

so they had to be careful.

You don't want props or lighting falling down.

There is another story from filming

which relates to Mrs. Norris,

the cat of the caretaker of Hogwarts.

Now, in true diva style,

the cat got to sit on a heated pillow

in between takes.

[narrator] Handed over to the National Trust in the 1940s,

the abbey is now a mecca

for Potter fans the world over.

Walking around there having the chance

as a true Harry Potter fan

to be able to get your picture taken

in that famous hallway, that would be fantastic.

[narrator] It's also a place

where tourists can learn of other characters

that helped create this atmospheric film set.

From Ela to Henry Talbot to Harry Potter,

From Ela to Henry Talbot to Harry Potter,

this place has always been home

to extraordinary heroes.

[narrator] In Jefferson City

on the banks of the Missouri River

is a relic of old America.

From the outside, it looks kind of like

the gloomiest castle you've ever seen.

Bars on the windows, strong high walls,

Bars on the windows, strong high walls,

and you know exactly what you're looking at.

[narrator] Time Magazine once described this prison

as the bloodiest 47 acres in America.

The state of the place

reflects its tumultuous history.

[Jim] Parts of it are boarded up.

In one section, the entire roof has collapsed.

They burned all the buildings

and the impacts were still being felt

when I came here in 1968.

when I came here in 1968.

[narrator] The inside is as grim as the outside

and the cell blocks evoke fear and trepidation.

Along with these crumbling walls,

these spooky rooms, there's even a gas chamber

thrown in for good measure,

you get the sense of confinement

and claustrophobia.

You can only imagine what it would have been like

to be a prisoner brought into

one of these cell blocks,

all the other prisoners looking down to see

who the new person is.

[narrator] Yet one of these young men

being looked down upon would rise to the top.

He went from rock bottom

to a place of incredible fame.

When you hear this person's story,

it really is a version of the American dream.

[narrator] A champion was forged

within these walls.

within these walls.

His life was blighted by controversy

and links to the criminal underworld,

but his legendary status at this facility

is well and truly secure.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] Former deputy warden,

Mark Schreiber, has firsthand experience

of this compound's bloody history.

I worked two officer homicides in here

and I worked a lot of inmate homicides,

and everything from escapes,

to narcotics, to assaults, you name it.

[narrator] He began working here in 1968.

[narrator] He began working here in 1968.

That year, James Earl Ray

assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King,

having broken out of this very prison.

Escape attempts were common

as inmates desperately try to flee a facility

that had forged a fearsome reputation.

This is the Missouri State Penitentiary.

The prison actually was opened in 1836,

the very week that the Alamo Battle

was going on in Texas.

was going on in Texas.

[narrator] Schreiber recalls a recent discovery

that helped shed light on those early years.

The prison administration was under a court order

to put in an exercise yard for the men on death row.

So, when the contractor came in

and started the excavation,

the contractor hit something very solid

and what it hit was the buried cells.

[narrator] These buried cells are relics from a time

[narrator] These buried cells are relics from a time

when Missouri was virtually Wild West territory.

[Jim] Missouri was almost frontier land at that time.

As the state expanded,

the prisoner population expanded,

the building was also expanded.

And it housed a lot of famous prisoners

over the years.

[Mark] If anybody's claustrophobic

or you're scared of the dark,

we don't want you coming in here.

J.B. "Firebug" Johnson started a major riot

in the prison in the 1870s

in the prison in the 1870s

where they burnt down a bunch of factories.

And you can see where Firebug Johnson

was down here in the dungeon cells,

and the story goes that the whipping post

used to be located in this area.

They would open up the wooden door

and they would let the inmates in

to see the guy getting whipped.

To keep from going insane,

he'd take a button off his uniform

and put it in the dark

and he'd spend all day looking for the button.

And when he got out, he wrote a book

And when he got out, he wrote a book

called Buried Alive:

Eighteen Years in the Missouri Penitentiary.

[narrator] After Firebug Johnson

had departed in 1900,

the prison rapidly expanded.

A gas chamber was added and by the 1930s,

the complex included a five-story hospital,

a morgue, and several factories.

And the prison was the economic base

for the city of Jefferson for many years.

for the city of Jefferson for many years.

It was a huge operation

with two million square foot of building space.

[narrator] Despite its sheer scale,

it was still bursting at the seams.

One time, they had almost 4000 some inmates in here

terribly crowded.

You can only imagine the frustrations,

the humiliations of being incarcerated,

and that makes every prison a potential powder keg.

[narrator] On September 22nd, 1954,

[narrator] On September 22nd, 1954,

a spark ignited the powder keg.

A couple of inmates pretended to be sick,

they got the attention of a guard,

some other inmates were able to overpower the guards

and take their keys,

then they ran up and down the cell block

unlocking as many cells as they could.

Within hours, thousands of prisoners

were roaming free and fires were raging

in various parts of the prison.

[narrator] The burnt out buildings

still visible today

are testament to the ferocity of those fires.

When the dust had settled,

50 inmates were injured, four were dead.

Into this caldron of fire

arrived a young man with a troubled past.

One day in June 1950,

a young Black man who was around 20 years old

a young Black man who was around 20 years old

walked into these walls.

He had been arrested for armed robbery

and was sentenced to a term of five years.

His name is Charles Liston, everyone called him Sonny.

[narrator] The 24th of his abusive father's 25 children,

Sonny had grown up surrounded by poverty and violence.

Sonny as a child is picking cotton

and when he's 16 years old,

he's already a strapping young man.

he's already a strapping young man.

He's over six feet tall.

He's over 200 pounds.

His strength is such that

he is used to help break up strikes.

[narrator] And it didn't take long

for Sonny to pick a fight on the inside.

Reports are that he mostly kept to himself,

but there's also reports of him brawling

with other inmates,

and that's an activity that could land you

in a lot of trouble

and maybe solitary confinement.

and maybe solitary confinement.

But in Sonny Liston's case, it landed him somewhere else,

the boxing ring.

[narrator] The boxing club within the prison

was holding monthly exhibitions

and Sonny's standout talent was quickly spotted.

The chaplain was also

the prison's athletic director,

Reverend Schlichtmann and he saw that Liston

had what it took.

And so this chaplain takes Liston under his wing,

And so this chaplain takes Liston under his wing,

mentors him, coaches him,

and turns Liston into a really fine boxer.

The boxing ring would've been down here

on the lower yard.

And hundreds of inmates would've come

and watch Sonny box.

No one ever defeated Sonny Liston.

[narrator] He dispatched the prison heavyweight champion

in front of nearly 3,000 howling inmates.

You can imagine in a time

with very little entertainment for the prisoners,

with very little entertainment for the prisoners,

how exciting it was to see some of these boxing matches.

They brought what was supposedly

the best heavyweight boxer in St. Louis, Missouri

to fight against him and he only lasted two rounds.

[narrator] With the extent of his potential

becoming clear, a campaign began

for Sonny's release.

Two different chaplains in the prison

helped develop his talent.

They advocated for his parole

and they arranged for him to be supervised

and they arranged for him to be supervised

and trained as a boxer after his release.

[narrator] The big day came in 1952

when Liston was paroled.

He took a job as a laborer at a steel mill,

but it wouldn't take long for him to make his mark.

Once he turned pro in 1953,

he reaches the heights of his sport

really quickly, has an amazing record.

[narrator] With the biggest hands ever recorded

in boxing history,

Liston established himself

Liston established himself

as the knockout king.

In 1962, 10 years after being released,

Liston went up against Floyd Patterson

for the heavyweight championship.

Wasn't much of a contest, he knocked him out

in two minutes, six seconds.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Despite reaching the pinnacle of his sport,

Sonny couldn't shake his criminal past.

[Dr. Michele] He assaulted a policeman,

he stole the policeman's gun,

he stole the policeman's gun,

but he also was reputedly tied in with mob figures

who supported his career.

Two mafia figures

purchased majority shares in his contract.

So he's literally associated with figures in the underworld.

[narrator] In April 1963,

he passed through these gates once again.

But why was he back?

Had Sonny thrown his fame and fortune away?

[dramatic music playing]

[bell rings]

[narrator] In 1963,

Sonny Liston, heavyweight boxing champion of the world,

returned to his former home,

the Missouri State Penitentiary.

Inmates are cheering, they're excited,

he's going around shaking hands.

It's a triumphant moment for someone

who had been incarcerated there.

[narrator] The champ had returned

to show his gratitude to the staff

to show his gratitude to the staff

and visit the prisoners.

He ate with the inmates in the general dining hall

and it was, by all accounts, just a...

An incredibly powerful meaningful experience

for the prisoners to see this hero

who had been one of them and then had become

this worldwide superstar.

[Sascha] One normally doesn't think of prison

as a place that folks get nostalgic about,

but Liston actually returned here several times.

He'd become something of a legend

not just to the inmates but to the staff as well.

not just to the inmates but to the staff as well.

And there's pictures of him with the warden,

with the barber in the old boxing ring

really getting in amongst it all.

[narrator] Back on the outside in 1965,

came the career-defining moment,

a fight that everyone knows.

But only because of the opponent

that he was hotly fancied

to dispatch with ease.

Sonny Liston's achievements as a boxer

are nothing short of miraculous.

But he was never the darling of the press.

But he was never the darling of the press.

Uh, and what he's most famous for,

uh, is getting knocked out by Ali in under two minutes

and essentially becoming posterized

in that famous photo of Ali,

you know, looming over his defeated foe.

[narrator] Yet even this fight was cloaked in scandal

and mystery with many claiming a fix.

To this day, Ali's knockout blow

is sometimes referred to as "The Phantom Punch."

is sometimes referred to as "The Phantom Punch."

And sadly, controversy would follow Sonny

even in death.

Found dead at his Vegas home in 1971,

some suspected a heroin overdose,

but others still believe he was murdered.

There was a lot of talk about

Sonny Liston later on when he...

When his life ended about how tragic that was

because, uh, a lot of the offenders felt

that-that, uh, some of his managers

and people like that had really taken advantage of Sonny.

and people like that had really taken advantage of Sonny.

[narrator] His popularity with the inmates

had secured him legendary status here.

And a faded mural on the prison wall

painted by an inmate is testament

to Sonny Liston's enduring legacy.

While the penitentiary was advised to close

after the notorious 1954 riots,

it continued to operate into the 21st century.

It took 50 years from the time I was in the third grade

to the time that I was a deputy warden in 2004,

it took that long before it actually gets closed.

[narrator] In 2019,

the abandoned complex was struck by a tornado

that ripped the roof off A-block,

Liston's former home,

and tore down sections of the prison wall.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Mark now enjoys looking after

the prison's vast historical archive

the prison's vast historical archive

and leads tours providing insight

into the institution's 168-year long life,

including its love affair with The Big Bear.

Sonny Liston's story is a story of rags to riches,

of success against all the odds.

In some ways, it's the story of the American dream.

But we should make no mistake,

a place like the Missouri State Penitentiary

is a place where dreams go to die.

And the chances that another Sonny Liston

And the chances that another Sonny Liston

are gonna emerge from this

sprawling privatized for-profit prison system

seem vanishingly small.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] In the Philippines,

a neglected site in Manila Bay

once held the fortune of a nation.

From above, this place looks a bit like a tadpole.

From above, this place looks a bit like a tadpole.

It has a bulbous head and a long winding tail.

[narrator] A series of mismatched structures

crowd the rocky island.

Big buildings, either machine shops

or sleeping quarters or office buildings,

all in a state of ruin.

[Alicia] One seems to go on forever,

it could've housed thousands of people.

[narrator] Scorched interiors hint at a violent demise.

[narrator] Scorched interiors hint at a violent demise.

And below ground, the puzzle continues.

[Sascha] It could be a railway tunnel,

but there are no tracks.

And inside is a labyrinth of rooms.

[narrator] A small box could be the key

to understanding this sprawling site.

[Sascha] There's what looks like an old oven.

It's known as "The Vault."

But who built it and why?

[narrator] The answer could solve a mystery

that has shrouded this island for decades.

Somewhere near this site

could be hundreds of tons of silver

worth a reported $4,000,000.

[narrator] The economic and strategic value of Manila,

capital of the Philippines,

meant the Americans fought hard

to take possession of it in 1898.

[Sascha] The Americans built banks

[Sascha] The Americans built banks

and a stock exchange,

so Manila had a lot of money in it and moving through it.

[Armando] The economy of the Philippines then was very good.

The treasury vault had $60,000,000 in gold bullion

and 23,000,000 pesos in silver coins.

[narrator] Local expert Armando Hildawa

knows just how important Corregidor was

in protecting Manila.

The two square miles of Corregidor Island

The two square miles of Corregidor Island

were pivotal to securing America's

foothold in Asia.

And so they decide the key to holding the Philippines

is Manila Bay.

How do we hold Manila Bay?

The Island of Corregidor.

[narrator] So they built a world-beating barracks

for their troops.

This is Topside Barracks. Built in 1914,

this was then

the longest American barracks in the world

the longest American barracks in the world

to house a maximum of 8,000 men

of the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment.

It had the chapel, it had the library,

a bowling alley, indoor swimming pool,

washroom areas, mess hall.

[narrator] To defend Manila from naval attack,

the Americans built five gun batteries on Corregidor.

[Armando] And these are what we call 12-inch disappearing guns.

When this gun will fire, the tip of the gun

does not go up. No, sir.

The entire gun goes back and up above the wall.

And after firing, it will hide behind the wall again.

[gun fires]

[Prof. Geoff] The Americans essentially conceived

of Corregidor Island as like a floating battery

that will bar the approaches to Manila Bay

to any hostile fleet.

And they considered this to be

an almost impregnable obstacle to any adversary.

[narrator] And with war in the Pacific looming,

this mighty American fortress

was about to be put to the test.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] At the start of the Second World War,

the American gun batteries on Corregidor Island

were ready for battle.

Traces on the ground suggest

the defending US troops

were in for the fight of their lives.

[Armando] Every now and then, you find some

World War II artifacts

like 50-caliber shells, 30-caliber bullets,

like 50-caliber shells, 30-caliber bullets,

fragmentation grenade, sometimes a helmet

or part of a helmet.

[narrator] Back in 1941,

General MacArthur led the US forces

defending the Philippines from Japanese attack.

[Dr. Alicia] On December 8th, 1941,

the Japanese began their invasion

of the Philippines.

General MacArthur actually declared Manila an open city.

And as an open city,

it meant that it would be surrendered without a fight.

it meant that it would be surrendered without a fight.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] The US troops retreated to Corregidor,

but they were determined to cheat the Japanese

of Manila's wealth.

MacArthur emptied the banks in Manila of all their money

and especially their precious metal, gold and silver,

to deny it to the invading Japanese.

On December 27th, 1941,

a flotilla of small ships and tugboats

a flotilla of small ships and tugboats

brought this huge mother lode of gold and silver

across the bay to store it in Corregidor.

[narrator] No less vital were wartime papers brought here

to Corregidor's military HQ.

[Armando] This is an original vault.

Not a treasury vault.

It's more for confidential,

top-secret documents and maps.

[narrator] Along with US troops

[narrator] Along with US troops

from all over the Philippines,

MacArthur retreated to the bastion of Corregidor.

But its military installations

were no match for the Japanese bombers.

When the first Japanese air raid was conducted,

all of these buildings were evacuated.

As you can see, this was very much

exposed from airplanes.

[narrator] The onslaught forced the Americans

[narrator] The onslaught forced the Americans

to retreat even further.

The Malinta Tunnel was an underground storage facility

for supplies, food, water, medicine, and gasoline.

End to end in a straight line two miles long.

Once we enter on top of us,

300 feet of solid rock.

There are no dead ends.

All the laterals and sub-laterals

are connected at the far ends.

This is a feat of engineering.

This is a feat of engineering.

You can fit 8,000 men inside the tunnel.

[narrator] General MacArthur moved his HQ

into the Malinta Tunnels.

[Armando] This was then the office of General MacArthur

when he was inside Malinta Tunnel.

Now eventually the gold bullion,

the silver coins from the treasury vault

were transferred here.

[narrator] Meanwhile above ground,

the battle raged on.

And another of Corregidor's

And another of Corregidor's

military assets crumbled.

[Armando] This was then the post hospital building.

This would've been the surgery room,

an operating table here,

scrubbing area for the doctors.

This had the capacity of 1,000 beds.

[narrator] But in the face of Japanese aerial bombardment,

the injured also crowded into the tunnels.

the injured also crowded into the tunnels.

[Armando] This is the underground hospital section

of Malinta Tunnel.

It was only to accommodate 300 beds.

But when the Japanese bombed the hospital building

on topside, all patients transferred here

bringing the figure to 1,000.

One of the nurses was quoted as saying,

"The blood almost dried up here.

It was about one inch thick."

In the Malinta Tunnel,

life descended into bedlam

for the men that were sheltering there.

for the men that were sheltering there.

[narrator] Thousands of US and Filipino troops

sat trapped in the tunnels for months

as the Japanese continued their relentless aerial assault.

The island bastion of Corregidor

was the last remaining obstacle

to the Japanese expansion across the Pacific.

[narrator] And having heard the rumor

that billions of dollars of gold

and silver were stashed on Corregidor,

and silver were stashed on Corregidor,

the Japanese had no intention of giving up.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] On Corregidor Island in 1942,

General MacArthur and 10,000 US troops

were holed up in a series of tunnels

alongside millions of dollars'

worth of gold and silver bullion.

Given the blow the Japanese administered at Pearl Harbor,

no fleet's gonna come and rescue these guys.

[narrator] The island's defenses

were strug gling to hold.

The ammunition that the antiaircraft artillery had

was only effective up to about 24,000 feet.

Once the Japanese pilots realized this,

they simply flew above that level

and continued to drop

their deadly cargo onto Corregidor.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] The officer-in-charge

sent out a desperate plea for supplies

sent out a desperate plea for supplies

to help them reach the bombers.

The US submarine Trout was dispatched

to send 3,500 antiaircraft ordinance

to Americans who were trapped at Corregidor.

And it had a very perilous mission ahead of it.

[narrator] The submarine had to dodge

both the Japanese naval blockade

and the US defensive mines below Manila Bay

to reach Corregidor.

But it manages to make it all the way to Corregidor

But it manages to make it all the way to Corregidor

and deliver its cargo.

But now there's a problem.

As it gets back in the water,

it's riding too high, it needs ballasts.

So they actually requested 25 tons of sandbags

but Corregidor had no sandbags

that they were able to spare.

And so somebody has the bright idea,

"Why don't we use bars of gold as ballast

and get them out of here and get them safely

back to the United States?"

[narrator] With enemy bombs raining down on them,

[narrator] With enemy bombs raining down on them,

the US servicemen had to get the bullion

out of the safety of the tunnels.

You have to transfer from the tunnel

to the south dock 20 tons of gold and silver,

so you can't just carry it in one truck.

It has to be several trips of several trucks.

So eventually the gold were brought out

to the south dock to board the USS Trout.

So this stuff is literally used

as the equivalent of scrap metal

as the equivalent of scrap metal

to weigh down the submarine

so it can make its escape.

The USS Trout left here February 4,

2:30 in the morning, early morning.

But it stayed submerged under the water

in Manila Bay until evening.

The next day, it had to float out.

[narrator] But the Americans still had to deal with

more than 400 tons

of silver pesos.

of silver pesos.

And as the Japanese tightened the siege

of Corregidor Island,

the US forces on the island

decided to try to hide

all the bags of silver coins

they had taken out of the banks in Manila

to deny them to the Japanese.

They literally went out to sea

from Corregidor Island

with 45 tons of silver coins

and they sank them in Caballo Bay

with no great precision.

[narrator] The US finally surrendered to the enemy

[narrator] The US finally surrendered to the enemy

two months later.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Now, the Japanese

sent American prisoners of war down

to search for the treasure they themselves had dumped.

But the POW divers

sabotaged the rescue efforts.

When they got to the wooden crates,

they, uh, cracked it open with the crowbars,

and when the Japanese were lifting the silver coins,

the crates popped open and scattered

all of the coins in the sandy bottom.

all of the coins in the sandy bottom.

[narrator] While some coins were retrieved,

most of the silver treasure lay on the seabed

until the end of the war

when the US took Corregidor back.

By now, the Japanese themselves

were holed up in the Malinta tunnels

where scorch marks reveal what happened next.

[Armando] The Americans poured in gasoline mixed with napalm.

The Japanese knew what was going to happen next.

[narrator] The Japanese knew there was no escape,

and for them, honor lay in suicide.

[Armando] They blew themselves inside the tunnel

using dynamites, bombs, and grenades,

which ignited the gasoline at the same time.

Wham, this entire tunnel system collapsed,

flames shot out from all the openings.

flames shot out from all the openings.

[narrator] More than 2,000 Japanese

committed mass suicide.

When the war was finally over,

shrines were built to commemorate the American,

Japanese, and Filipino lives that were lost here.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Treasure hunters still search the water

surrounding Corregidor for the missing silver pesos.

[Armando] So this is what our money look like

during the American period.

You can see on the reverse here is a very small S,

coins minted in San Francisco

for use in the Philippines.

More than half the silver was never recovered

and is still lying somewhere

in the waters around the site.

And this is why coins still occasionally

wash up on the beach to this day.