All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S07E06.Ghosts.of.Black.Mountain.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

*

Narrator: a kentucky ghost town
Caught in the crossfire.

Meigs: in some cases,

People were literally killed
In these fights.

There was always conflict.

Narrator: in japan,

Creepers invade a scene
Wrecked by calamity.

Auerbach: the decoration here
Is fantastic --

This place must have been
Absolutely amazing.

Narrator: and in scotland,
Fragments of a bridge foundation

Narrator: and in scotland,
Fragments of a bridge foundation

Are all that remains
Of a terrifying disaster.

Barratt: this just shook up
The whole of the u.K.

*

Narrator: decaying relics.

Ruins of lost worlds.

Sites haunted by the past.

Their secrets waiting
To be revealed.

Their secrets waiting
To be revealed.

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

*

The remote backwoods
Of harlan county, kentucky,

Hide the remnants
Of a grand-looking town.

*

Meigs: this was
A confident town, a proud town.

Meigs: this was
A confident town, a proud town.

There's buildings here
Made of beautiful stone.

These are buildings made nicer
Than they needed to be.

People wanted to get here.

That was something
That it was drawing them.

Narrator: scattered ruins point
To an industrial purpose.

Jerram: one of the more
Impressive derelict sites

Is this big house
With a huge chimney.

Meigs: it's hard to know what
It is exactly,

Meigs: it's hard to know what
It is exactly,

Just looming over
These abandoned railroad tracks.

Narrator: the operation
Is even more extensive

Below the surface.

Meigs: you can see these tunnel
Entrances --

They look like
New york's lincoln tunnel

Or holland tunnel.

Narrator: among these relics
Lie signs of catastrophe.

Narrator: among these relics
Lie signs of catastrophe.

So what spelt the end
For this once-imposing town?

*

This deserted settlement
Of a thousand homes

Is lynch, kentucky.

It dates back to
The early 20th century.

With its wide streets
And large municipal buildings,

Lynch was once one of
The richest towns in the state.

Lynch was once one of
The richest towns in the state.

Michael o'bradovich worked here.

This town was so big
And so impressive

That people were coming
From chicago and new york --

It was impressive.

Narrator: the town's grandeur
Belies the grim reality

Of what was going on beneath it,

But he remembers
Its former elegance fondly.

O'bradovich: we who live here
Call this "The big store."

All of this here in the front
Was women's apparel

All of this here in the front
Was women's apparel

Or men's apparel.

Over on this side,
There was a diner.

In my time, soda shop.

On the far end over there was
Sporting goods and homegoods.

Narrator: this department store
Was constructed in 1917.

Within eight years,

A large town had been built
Around it, powered by

An enormous, state-of-the-art
Generating station.

An enormous, state-of-the-art
Generating station.

No expense was spared to build
This surprisingly-grand place

In the middle of nowhere.

The first indication

As to who built this place
Sits with its owners.

*

Meigs: u.S. Steel bought up
Hundreds of acres

Under black mountain,
In this part of kentucky.

Narrator: a further hint
To why this place is here

Is the tell-tale
Date of purchase --

Is the tell-tale
Date of purchase --

The middle of
The first world war.

Meigs: in 1917, the demand
For steel was skyrocketing --

You had all the armaments
That were being used in the war,

Everything was made of steel.
Ships were being built,

You know, rail cars
Are being built.

Narrator: even though there's
No iron ore nearby, u.S. Steel

Invested millions of dollars
Into these kentucky backwoods.

Jerram: the real thing
That made lynch

Was actually
Underneath the town,

And that was black gold --
Coal.

Meigs: lynch was created
For one reason,

And that was to provide

A reliable and massive supply
Of coal

To the country's leading
Steel producer, u.S. Steel.

Jerram: this part of
The appalachian mountains

Is very, very rich in
Carboniferous coal.

This is a famous coal deposit

This is a famous coal deposit

That stretches
All along north america

And has been mined
For many, many years.

The thing that makes the coal
At lynch so special

Is it's low in sulfur,

So it's very good
For making steel.

These turned out to be some
Of the wealthiest coal mines

In the country.

Narrator: as the son of a miner,

Nick sturgill knows the hazards
That lie below ground here.

This is portal 31,

This is portal 31,

Once part of the largest
Coal complex in the world.

Sturgill: portal 31,
Even by today's standards,

Is enormous.

The north heading of portal 31
Goes approximately 13 miles.

The east heading actually goes
Into virginia

Just a little ways.

Narrator: back in the 1930s,

Extraction continued apace,
Despite the risks.

Extraction continued apace,
Despite the risks.

Meigs: no matter how well
A mine is run,

It's still very dangerous
And difficult work.

The coal company also wanted
To showcase,

To show off
Their high standards.

They also stressed safety a lot.

Narrator:
They even named this place

After the father of mine safety,
Thomas lynch.

Meigs: they wanted to counteract
This image

That mining was this terrible,

That mining was this terrible,

Dangerous occupation
Where people were exploited.

Narrator: it worked.
Lynch attracted workers

From all over the world.

With a german mother
And montenegran father,

Former mine manager
Michael o'bradovich's own family

Is typical of
Those who flocked here.

O'bradovich: in its heyday,
Lynch had around 10,000 people.

O'bradovich: in its heyday,
Lynch had around 10,000 people.

With all those
Different nationalities,

Most of the families here
Had 5, 6, 7, 8 kids.

Narrator: the company invested
Heavily to build this place.

They knew that there was
So much coal here,

It was worth any expense

To build the infrastructure
To get it out.

Narrator:
Everything had to be shipped in

By train and mule wagons.

By train and mule wagons.

Jerram: all of a sudden, you've
Got a big town with schools,

With churches, with hotels,

With whatever you wanted,
In the space of 7-8 years.

Narrator:
Its imposing post office,

Individually designed houses,

And wide boulevards
Were unrivaled,

But the main objective
Was to dig for coal.

They engineered the town
To move the coal

As efficiently as possible.

They built a structure
Called a tipple --

They built a structure
Called a tipple --

This is like a giant bin
That holds coal

And then loads it
Onto rail cars.

They built the biggest tipple
In the world.

Jerram: this tipple could handle
15,000 tons of coal a day.

Lynch was actually
World famous --

It held the record
Where miners produced

Nearly 13,000 tons of coal
In one single nine-hour shift.

Now, that's pretty
Impressive statistics.

Now, that's pretty
Impressive statistics.

Narrator: but the miners
Were dissatisfied

With the low wages
And the risks.

O'bradovich: coal dust
Is so fine and so volatile

That it can combust with
Any little spark.

It can catch on fire,
Cause an explosion.

And at one point
In the history of this building,

They actually stopped using it
Because there was so much dust

Being created,
And some spontaneous combustion

Being created,
And some spontaneous combustion

With that dust
That created some issues.

*

Narrator: inside the mine
Was even more deadly.

Sturgill:
The leading cause of death

Here at portal 31
Was by roof falls,

And, believe it or not,
A lot of coal cart accidents,

Of men being run over or pinned
Against the rib by a coal cart.

Of men being run over or pinned
Against the rib by a coal cart.

The air will kill you --

Miners could contract
Black lung.

There's a lot of different ways

That a man or woman
Can perish in a mine.

Narrator: the owners of lynch
Refuse to compromise

The efficiency
Of their production,

But the miners were gearing up
For a fight.

*

Narrator: by the 1930s,
The coal miners of lynch

In harlan county, kentucky,

Were growing restless.

No amount of grandiose
Town planning

Could make up for the dangers
And low wages of mining.

Meigs: there was always conflict
Between miners and owners,

And their owners often respond
To that conflict

And their owners often respond
To that conflict

With overwhelming force.

Narrator: skirmishes broke out
Across harlan county.

Meigs: this is where battles
Between the coal companies

And the miners came to a head.

We had these clashes between
Miners fighting for more rights

And owners trying to keep up
Production and keep wages low.

*

Narrator:
In lynch, rumor has it

Narrator:
In lynch, rumor has it

That the violence
Didn't end there.

One eyewitness told
Nick sturgill

What she believes
She saw back in the 1930s.

Sturgill: she would be sitting
Out on the porch

And company officials would walk
Or ride up black mountain

With known union members
Or union sympathizers,

What have you,
And after a few minutes,

She would hear gunshots.

And a few minutes later,

The company officials
Would come down the mountain,

The company officials
Would come down the mountain,

And they would come alone.

Narrator: no one knows for sure
What happened

In those troubled times.

The mine owners eventually
Quashed the discord

And the enormous underground
Complex at lynch

Continued to produce coal
For many more years.

Sturgill: total mileage of
Tunnels in this mine,

If I had to guess,

Would be upwards or exceed
A thousand miles.

During the height of
U.S. Steel's operations

During the height of
U.S. Steel's operations

Here at portal 31,
On any given day,

You would have approximately
1,500 men on one shift.

Narrator: but this boom time
Could not last forever.

The last piece of coal left
The colossal portal 31 in 1963.

And the other mines in lynch
Closed

During the following decades.

Sturgill:
U.S. Steel pulled out of here

Sturgill:
U.S. Steel pulled out of here

Simply because
They pretty much mined out

What they could mine easily
And economically,

But also because, you know,
This coal was needed for steel.

Well, you know,
In the last few decades,

Steel is really not in demand
Like it used to be

During world wars or during
The industrial revolution

Or the building of skyscrapers
Or anything like that,

So this grade of coal is just
Not sought after as it once was.

So this grade of coal is just
Not sought after as it once was.

By the late '80s,
The economics were changing,

And the mines
Eventually shut down.

Sturgill:
In those 46 and a half years,

U.S. Steel, they mined
Approximately 120 million tons

Of coal here.

*

Narrator: today, this ghost town
Echoes with the endeavors

Narrator: today, this ghost town
Echoes with the endeavors

Of the industrious residents
Who mined this land.

Sturgill: a lot of people
Tend to forget

The blood, sweat, and tears,

The struggle that these men
Put up with every single day

To bring this rock
Out of the ground.

*

*

Narrator:
In the city of kobe in japan,

Narrator:
In the city of kobe in japan,

Buildings stand
Tightly-packed together,

But one empty structure
Looms above the rest.

*

Bell: right at the edge
Of the city,

Suddenly, the buildings stop

And this hill just climbs up
Away from you.

Selwood: it's heavily wooded
With very, very dense foliage,

And so it's really extraordinary
To find in the middle of it

This striking,
Decrepit building.

Auerbach: it's like something
Out of a sci-fi movie --

Auerbach: it's like something
Out of a sci-fi movie --

Where it's half man-made
And half just taken over.

By nature.

Narrator:
The only way to reach it

Is to step on board
The old funicular railway.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter: above here,
There's a structure

That's about 90 years old.

The building sits on top
Of a very high precipice

With an incredible view
Over the whole of kobe city.

*

*

Narrator: the unrivaled position
The site holds was matched

Only by its elaborate interiors.

Auerbach: the decoration here
Is fantastic.

So many brilliant details,
And you can tell, in its time,

This place must have been
Absolutely amazing,

But now it is falling to pieces.

*

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter:
The building has suffered
With all sorts of events

Interpreter:
The building has suffered
With all sorts of events

Over the years.

Selwood: it really looks like
It's been through wars or hell,

But the question is,
What ended this place?

*

*

Narrator: from the top of
The railway on maya mountain,

A solitary path leads towards
The old, abandoned structure.

*

*

Utsumi kenichi works
For the heritage group

Now in charge of the building.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter: originally,
Maya mountain

Was a religious site.

Then, a large temple called
Tenjoji temple was built here,

And it needed a funicular
To bring all the materials up.

After that, many visitors
Used the funicular

To come up to worship,

To come up to worship,

So this structure was built to
Welcome them when they arrived.

Narrator:
The original art deco features

Point to the early ambition
Of this place,

Which opened in 1929.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter:
In japan, at that time,

Art deco was seen
As futuristic --

It was the latest cultural
Import from the west,

And this building reflects
That fashionable trend.

Auerbach: there's a lot of
Enthusiasm about the future

And a lot of a design aesthetic
Really reflects

That machine-age perspective.

You see it in new york,
In paris, in london,

With these beautiful lines

Trying to imitate the same
Clean lines of a locomotive

Or an airplane.

Auerbach: that style, you see it
All over japan,

And that enthusiasm is expressed
In this building as well.

*

*

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter: over there,
Around the stage,

It's designed with curves --
That's the style.

If I had been alive at the time,
I would have loved

To have seen it
In all its glory.

Narrator: this vision of
Modernity was the maya club --

Boasting public baths,
A restaurant, and a theater,

This was a destination
In its own right.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter:
This is the screening room.

It used to be a cinema, where
They showed films every day.

Chandeliers hung from
The ceiling,

And there was a red carpet
On the floor.

This was a place where people in
Kobe came to enjoy themselves.

Most people who visited
Weren't rich or anything close.

This place was for everyone.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Auerbach: you can still see
The sublime level of decoration

And the intellectual energy
That went into this place --

It must have been marvelous
In its heyday.

Narrator:
It was built on the promise of
A prosperous future.

But the rumble of war,

Which could be heard
In the distance,

Began to threaten
The hilltop haven.

Bell: those rooms that had been
Packed -- the grand dining hall,

Bell: those rooms that had been
Packed -- the grand dining hall,

The entertainment room,
Once filled with people,

Slowly began to quieten
And empty out.

*

Narrator: during the early
Decades of the 20th century,

Japan had been pursuing
A mission of imperial expansion.

They entered
The second world war

After attacking the u.S.
In december 1941.

Japan's mainland cities
Were in direct line of fire

Japan's mainland cities
Were in direct line of fire

When the u.S.
Fought back in 1945.

The skies above kobe
were filled with u.S. Bombers.

Tons of explosives
Were dropped on the city.

Auerbach: so in
The last few months of the war,

This city is devastated.

Narrator: almost 9,000 people

And three square miles
Of kobe were obliterated.

And three square miles
Of kobe were obliterated.

The destruction went right
To the foot of maya mountain.

The club itself escaped
The worst of the carnage

And it would soon
Prove invaluable.

*

*

Narrator: sitting high above
Kobe, the maya club

Survived the u.S. Bombing raids
Of the second world war.

Now its time of national service
Was about to begin.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter: so, this was
The guest room floor

For the original facility.

After the war, soldiers
Who came back from overseas

After the war, soldiers
Who came back from overseas

And those people
Who lost their homes in kobe

Began living here
In these rooms.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

*

Auerbach: so this site is turned
Into a kind of barracks,

And they can use this as a base

From which they search
For their lost family members

Amidst the devastation
Of what used to be kobe.

Selwood: their task -- their
Terrible task was to try to find

Selwood: their task -- their
Terrible task was to try to find

In all of the rubble
Their families and their lives,

And to try
And put those back together.

*

Narrator:
After somehow making it out
The other side of the war years

For this building,

Soon there was hope
For a brighter future.

Selwood: yes, it was damaged
And derelict,

But, actually, throwing
A little bit of money at it,

It could be brought back
To its glory days,

But with a slight twist
As a hotel.

But with a slight twist
As a hotel.

Auerbach: the whole site's been
Restored to its former glory --

It's vibrant, it's luxurious,
And people can once again

Enjoy these magnificent views
Of the city.

Narrator: but as the damage writ
Large across the building shows,

This story has
No fairy tale ending.

Just when it looked
As its future was assured,

Disaster struck again.

Disaster struck again.

Narrator: the year was 1967.
The storm was typhoon billie.

*

Auerbach: a typhoon hits kobe,

Killing hundreds and causing
Catastrophic mudslides.

Those mudslides damaged
The building beyond repair.

It probably could
Have been fixed,

But the new owners,
The cost was just too much.

So it's abandoned again.

It had a second life,
But it was painfully brief.

It had a second life,
But it was painfully brief.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter: those mudslides
Came inside here.

It was such a mess
That they couldn't run it

As a hotel anymore.

Narrator:
While the site has seen a few
Other short-lived uses

Through the years,
It would never fully recover

From this devastating
Natural catastrophe.

*

*

Now being watched over

By the maya mountain
Revitalization association,

This building is about
To enter a new phase.

Utsumi: [ speaking japanese ]

Interpreter: I was born and bred
In this city,

And this building
Has always been here.

I believe tangible things will
Eventually return to nature,

So I want to protect them.

So I want to protect them.

*

Narrator: in a blustery
Scottish estuary,

A world-famous structure
Straddles frosty, deep water.

*

Auerbach:
The first thing you notice

Is this big red giant
Of engineering.

Is this big red giant
Of engineering.

This is a very dangerous place
To build a bridge.

Narrator: it towers over
A craggy outcrop.

Auerbach: in the middle of
This enormous estuarial river,

You find this tiny rocky island.

There's all sorts of things
Tucked away around the edges --

There's quite a lot going on.

Narrator:
An insignificant structure

At the base of the mighty bridge

Could hold the key to
This small island's importance,

Could hold the key to
This small island's importance,

And it's linked to a fatal
Disaster that rocked a nation.

*

This waterway is known
As the firth of forth.

Auerbach: the size and depth of
This estuary made it

Scotland's most important
Trade artery for centuries.

*

Narrator:
Historian ron morris

To the abandoned island
Of inchgarvie,

To the abandoned island
Of inchgarvie,

Which sits below
The forth bridge.

Auerbach: "Inchgarvie"
Translates as "Rough island,"

And this place really
Lives up to the name.

And this place really
Lives up to the name.

The currents are terrible,

The waves crash into it,

It's cold, terrifying,
And claustrophobic.

*

Narrator: yet, for centuries,

People have gone
To great lengths

To make use of this inhospitable
Piece of rock.

But why?

*

Narrator: on the east coast
Of scotland,

A small, rugged island

Sits in the middle of the
Once-indomitable firth of forth.

Evidence on the ground suggests

That the scots have
Inhabited inchgarvie

Since the late 1400's.

Nusbacher: people have been
Building here,

Clearly with an eye to defending
This bare, rocky island.

Narrator:
In the days when the only way

To cross this estuary
Was by boat,

Inchgarvie was
A strategically-important

Staging post.

In 1491, king james of scotland
Granted a local laird

In 1491, king james of scotland
Granted a local laird

The right to build a fort here.

But inchgarvie's ruins show

That someone has defended
This estuary much more recently.

Narrator:
The newer fortifications

Date back to
The first world war.

Auerbach: the first thing you
Notice is a gun emplacement,

Which is obviously 20th century,
And the gun battery faces east,

Which would be towards
The north sea,

Towards the entryway
To this estuarial river.

Narrator: yet the disaster
Linked to this place

Came not in wartime,
But in peace.

Came not in wartime,
But in peace.

40 years earlier,
The advancing age of invention

Meant that scotland's
Firth of forth

Had to be conquered.

Barratt: the u.K. Was exploding
In trade and transportation.

The railway boom kicked off
Big style,

And goods and people were moving
All over the u.K.

But the firth of forth is
A huge, deep water channel,

But the firth of forth is
A huge, deep water channel,

Is an unsurmountable
Obstruction.

To get from one side
To the other

Would be a 40-mile detour
Or a tricky trip on the ferry.

So they commissioned a bridge,
But there was a problem.

Narrator:
The depth of the estuary

Made it very difficult to build.

*

Narrator: in the 19th century,
Inchgarvie was bought

By the forth bridge
Railway company,

To provide a foundation
For a bridge.

What you see on the surface
Is just a tenth of it,

But the geology
Underneath the water,

Means that rocks extend out.

Narrator: over millennia,

Glacier ice scoured away
Soft layers of rock,

Leaving behind hard, rocky
Outcrops like inchgarvie.

Leaving behind hard, rocky
Outcrops like inchgarvie.

And that provided
A solid foundation

In order to get the cantilever

For the center of
The firth bridge.

Auerbach:
There was a natural column --

A stone foundation right there

In the middle of
The firth of forth --

Inchgarvie.

It was like a gift
From the gods.

Narrator: but an abandoned pier
Points to a complication.

Narrator: but an abandoned pier
Points to a complication.

Nusbacher: if you look at
The bottom of the bridge,

There's like a stump,
As if an extra caisson

Had been built
And then discarded.

Narrator: a caisson is the first
Step in building a bridge --

This watertight structure allows
The foundations to be laid.

This watertight structure allows
The foundations to be laid.

Nusbacher: the geology of the
Region here makes it very hard

To successfully build a bridge.

You've got to build caissons,

Float them to just
The right spot,

And then sink them deeply
Onto the sea floor

In order to build the footings
For your bridge.

Here on the island, we can see

That somebody has started
To put caissons down.

That somebody has started
To put caissons down.

*

Narrator: the explanation
For the abandoned caisson

Lies 30 miles north

On another windy
Scottish estuary -- the tay.

Here, the celebrated engineer
Thomas bouch

Had built the tay bridge.

Barratt: sir thomas bouch,

He designs caissons,
The ability to sink a ring

Into a water body
And then put concrete inside it

Into a water body
And then put concrete inside it

So you can build up
These supports.

Narrator: his next commission
Was to design another bridge

To span the firth of forth.

Narrator: bouch's new design was
Hailed as the wonder of the age

Until the howling winds
Of scotland

Sent dozens of helpless souls
Into the drink.

*

Narrator:
In the mid-19th century,

One of britain's
Most famous engineers

Had been commissioned
To build the forth bridge,

But disaster was about to strike
One of his earlier designs

In a nearby estuary.

Barratt: one night, the wind got
Up really quite strong,

So a big, big load from
Sort of a horizontal direction

So a big, big load from
Sort of a horizontal direction

Pushing against the tay bridge

That thomas bouch
Hadn't accounted for.

*

Narrator: the central section of
The tay bridge collapsed.

The train continued to carry on
And plunged back into the water.

Narrator:
More than 70 people died

In the tay estuary that night.

Auerbach: this was bad news
For the forth bridge.

Auerbach: this was bad news
For the forth bridge.

The future of that new
Rail bridge was now in doubt.

Could they continue building
The bridge

Using the design of this
Now-disgraced architect,

Or should they abandon
The project?

Well, they decided to scrap it.

Barratt: all you can see now
In what's left behind

Is one pillar
Sticking up out of the sea.

Thomas bouch was devastated,
His reputation was ruined,

Thomas bouch was devastated,
His reputation was ruined,

And he never recovered,
And he died a disgrace.

*

A few years later,
A new bridge was commissioned

And it still stands to this day.

*

Narrator: the forth bridge
Is now one of three

To span this estuary.

Narrator: in the north of the
Mediterranean island sardinia

Is a dramatic range
Of rocky mountains.

At its heart is
The imperious granite massive

Of monte limbara.

*

Bell: you ascend up this
Winding, steep mountain road

Bell: you ascend up this
Winding, steep mountain road

Until you reach the peak,
And then in a clearing,

These six massive structures
Appear out of nowhere.

*

Meigs: all of a sudden, you see

This compound
Of massive antennas,

Pointed off in all directions.

Some very large and ambitious
Communications center

Was built here,
But what was it for?

Narrator: at almost 4,500 feet
Above sea level,

This mountain creates
Its own microclimate.

This mountain creates
Its own microclimate.

Bell:
This place is at high altitude.

The weather can turn
On a knife edge --

One minute,
It's brilliant sunshine,

And the next,
You're enveloped by cloud.

Meigs: they must have had
An excellent reason

To want to build this kind of
Very ambitious

High tech facility
In exactly this spot.

Bell: inside, you have row upon
Row of electronics equipment,

Bell: inside, you have row upon
Row of electronics equipment,

Massive generators,
Living quarters,

And of course,
These six huge dishes.

Whoever built this had access
To some serious resources.

Narrator:
Kept top secret for decades,

Speculation over the type of
Operations that took place here

Has always been rife,
And rumors still abound.

Nusbacher:
The locals have no details,

Nusbacher:
The locals have no details,

So the locals make up
Their own stories to explain

This mysterious hulking presence
On top of the mountain.

*

*

Marcello moretto remembers well

What this site looked like
Years ago.

*

Moretto: [ speaking italian ]

Interpreter: it is rather weird
To see it today,

Interpreter: it is rather weird
To see it today,

But at the time it was
Abandoned,

It was left in perfect
Working condition,

Even though, of course,
It was no longer in use.

Narrator: he works for
An environmental agency

Now trying to clean up
The noxious mess

Left by this decaying
Infrastructure.

Moretto: [ speaking italian ]

Interpreter: from
An environmental standpoint,

Especially from
A forestry standpoint,

This is a dump of
Basically iron materials.

Nusbacher: this is built at
The top of a mountain --

Everything that happens up here
Flows downstream,

And as this place
Starts to disintegrate,

It becomes a toxic threat
To people living down below.

Narrator: the long-term
Environmental impact

Was the last thing
On the minds

Of those constructing
This complex back in 1966,

When the world was split by
Two bitterly-opposed ideologies.

When the world was split by
Two bitterly-opposed ideologies.

Nusbacher: it is no exaggeration
To say that this is a moment

When the nato countries --

The united states
And its european allies --

Are convinced that any moment,
The soviets are going to attack.

This place is born out
Of a very real expectation

That the cold war

Is going to turn
Into world war iii any day.

Is going to turn
Into world war iii any day.

*

Narrator: so who built these
Decaying behemoths to gain

The upper hand in the escalation
Of world war iii?

*

Narrator: in the 1960s,

The world was in the depths
Of the cold war,

With the u.S.
And the soviet union

Vying for supremacy.

Meigs: the threat of nuclear war

Was looming very intensely
At all times.

Both sides knew they needed
Excellent communications,

Both to know what was happening,

Both to know what was happening,

But also, potentially,
To prevent a misfire,

You know,
To prevent a false alarm.

Narrator: these six vast dishes
Date back to that time.

Inside, rusting machinery
Reveals

The identity of their owners.

Built by the u.S. Air force,
This was one of nato's

Most secret
Radio communication centers.

The monte limbara station
Was designed

To plug a weak spot
In nato defenses.

To plug a weak spot
In nato defenses.

*

Nusbacher:
Nato's southern flank --

That is the nato countries

Facing south,
Towards north africa --

Was always the soft
Underbelly of nato.

It was always a place where
The soviets, where their allies

Might be able to strike.

Narrator:
The location of this facility

Betrays nato's
Clandestine intention.

*

*

Meigs: the island of sardinia
Is beautifully placed

For this kind of communication.

For one thing, you're sitting
In the mediterranean

Between italy and spain.
To the east,

It points to a similar station
In naples, to the west,

To the island of minorca,
Off the coast of spain,

And via those,
Ultimately around the world.

*

Narrator: this station was part
Of a vast network

Narrator: this station was part
Of a vast network

Capable of transmitting
Crucial classified messages

Over thousands of miles.

The ultra high frequency devices
And abandoned technology

Found at this site show
How this was overcome.

Nusbacher: this was
A microwave communications base

That used microwaves
To communicate

By using the troposphere,
Part of the atmosphere,

To send microwaves
Over the horizon.

To send microwaves
Over the horizon.

And the best way to communicate
Long distances at this time

Was called troposcatter,
Or tropospheric scatter.

Narrator: until the 1950s,

Radio communication beyond
The curvature of the earth,

Which blocked the signal,
Was impossible.

With the invention
Of troposcatter,

Stations like monte limbara

Could transmit
To a receiver station

Out of the line of sight.

Out of the line of sight.

By using particles six miles up
In the earth's lower atmosphere

To reflect microwave signals.

Meigs: that system can amplify
The signal,

Send it up again,
And repeat the process.

So instead of sending your
Radio signal, you know,

30, 40, 50 miles,
Now you can send it 250 miles.

Narrator: that meant fewer
Costly relay stations

And much faster
Long-distance communication.

And much faster
Long-distance communication.

Nusbacher: we were ready to
Coordinate the nuclear forces

That we're going to have
To smash a soviet advance

Into western europe.

The amount of communication
And coordination

That was required
By the supreme headquarters,

Allied powers europe, by nato,

By the vast american commitment
To defending europe,

All of that required an immense
Amount of coordination.

All of that required an immense
Amount of coordination.

Meigs: thankfully,
They never had to,

But the fact that we were ready,

Maybe, is part of the reason,
On both sides,

Why the cold war
Never turned hot.

*

Narrator: this base did play
An active role in war --

A u.S. Fighter bomber
Was supposedly guided

By the monte limbara antennae
On a controversial mission.

By the monte limbara antennae
On a controversial mission.

Nusbacher: in 1986, a disco
In berlin is bombed

By libyan-sponsored terrorists,

And american servicemen
Are involved.

President reagan orders
Muammar gaddafi,

The libyan dictator,

That his family compound
Be bombed by american aircraft.

*

Narrator: gaddafi's
Private residence is struck

And dozens of civilians
Are also killed.

And dozens of civilians
Are also killed.

The claim that this station
Facilitated the strike, however,

Remains unfounded.

*

Even when the iron curtain
Was raised across europe,

This station had not yet
Outlived its usefulness.

Nusbacher: as late as operation
Desert shield/desert storm,

In 1990-91,

The u.S. Is still, to some
Extent using these troposcatter

The u.S. Is still, to some
Extent using these troposcatter

Stations to communicate
Around the mediterranean.

And it is such an easy system
To use that you are able

To dial troops in theater,
Using defense switch network,

As though you're dialing around
The corner back in the states.

*

Meigs: this system is still
Very much in use,

And useful during that period
When all kinds of secure traffic

And useful during that period
When all kinds of secure traffic

Had to travel around
The mediterranean europe.

Narrator: the monte limbara
Station was retired in 1993.

Meigs: it had been made obsolete
By satellite communications,

Which are so much easier --

They don't require
All these bases

All over the country,
So much more secure.

All you need is a few satellites
Orbiting the earth

And you can really communicate
With any point on the planet.

Bell: when the u.S. Forces left,

It was like they just vanished
Into thin air.

It was like they just vanished
Into thin air.

But what they left behind
Wasn't just documents,

Machinery, and equipment --
It was an ecological nightmare.

*

Narrator: for the locals,
There was one final insult.

Bell: as this revelation of
Exactly how much the u.S. Paid

The italian government

For use of this mountaintop site
For 27 years --

Just five lira a year.

Just five lira a year.

Narrator:
That's less than one dollar.

*

Environmentalists
Like marcello moretto

Are attempting
To clean up this site

And transform it into a place
Of historical significance.

Moretto: [ speaking italian ]

Interpreter: we would like this
Place to become a museum

About the cold war.

About the cold war.

A museum of industrial and
Military archeology.

It would have
Its own importance.

Narrator: in a more recent turn
Of events,

Tropospheric scattering
Is experiencing a resurgence,

And military experts see renewed
Potential for sites like this.

Nusbacher:
As nato weakens

In the face of
American disinterest,

As russia becomes more powerful,

As russia becomes more powerful,

It is not difficult
To see a scenario

In which someone desiring
To dominate the mediterranean

Could deploy
Antisatellite weapons

And could create a situation

In which this mountaintop
Might again

Be useful
As a communication station.

*