Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Incredible stone monuments

erected thousands of years ago.

The precision engineering of the obelisks in Egypt

is absolutely ingenious.

NARRATOR: These ancient monoliths display mysterious

electromagnetic power.

They were like lightning rods

that absorbed electrical energy from the heavens.

NARRATOR: And ancient traditions

connect them to interstellar travel.

CHILDRESS: This obelisk was thought of

as being a stargate,

through this inter-dimensional portal.

NARRATOR: Were megalithic obelisks

simply created to memorialize

the pharaohs and kings of ancient Egypt?

Or did they serve a far more profound purpose?

TSOUKALOS: These standing stones are

pointing to the stars.

Why? Because that is where we came from.

NARRATOR: There is a doorway

in the universe.

Beyond it is the promise of truth.

It demands we question everything

we have ever been taught.

The evidence is all around us.

The future is right before our eyes.

We are not alone.

We have never been alone.

Standing in the most honored locations

of the greatest cities on Earth

are massive stone obelisks pointing to the sky.

WILLIAM HENRY: When you look at true power cities around the world--

Paris, London,

New York, Washington, D.C.--

they all have one thing in common: obelisks.

JONATHAN YOUNG: There are obelisks at key locations

in some of the most important cities on the planet.

In a key square in Istanbul,

there is an ancient obelisk

from Egypt with hieroglyphics.

Another is in Paris,

at the Place de la Concorde,

which is in the largest square in Paris.

NARRATOR: Although they are found across the globe,

the vast majority of the world’s obelisks

have a single point of origin: ancient Egypt.

In fact, most obelisks that adorn major cities

were originally part of Egypt’s ancient landscape.

In ancient Egypt, there were over 100 obelisks

that were sculpted and erected.

Only nine or ten of them remain in Egypt,

but a lot, actually, are outside of Egypt.

Obelisks have literally become the spoils of war,

where a country invades Egypt,

or a country overtakes Egypt.

And this goes back to Roman times.

And they would take obelisks away

to erect in their own capital city,

whether it was Rome, under Roman times,

or, later, Constantinople.

NARRATOR: The removal of obelisks from Egypt

continued right into the 19th century.

The Paris obelisk was carried from Luxor in 1833.

London purchased its obelisk from Egypt in 1878.

Cleopatra’s Needle was given to New York

as a gift from the Egyptian government in 1881.

ANDREW COLLINS: Why would you want to move them around

and take them to foreign countries?

And I think the answer must lie in the fact

that they were seen to have an inherent power within them.

ROMANY: The Egyptian obelisk is one of the most unique

pieces of architecture in ancient Egypt.

Every obelisk you look at,

it is a perfect mathematical equation.

Geometrically perfect, physics-wise perfect.

They were always made of granite,

and they were four-sided,

and towered upwards

and eventually ended in this perfect pyramid.

Most obelisks are found in pairs,

often at the entrance to certain temples.

And most of the obelisks

have beautiful hieroglyphs carved into them.

Most hieroglyphs that are on the obelisks

are always the king asking the gods

to be there for him

on his journey through the afterlife,

so that he can arrive to the afterlife

and live for immortality.

And the top was always

dedicated to the sun god Ra,

one of the most powerful gods in ancient Egypt.

NARRATOR: The pyramid-shaped stone

on top of each obelisk,

called the Benben stone,

was a design rooted in Egyptian mythology.

The Benben was a vehicle

which Atum, the god of all creation,

used to travel back and forth

between the heavens and Earth.

HENRY: We think of the Benben as a craft, because

it is believed to have come from the stars, originally.

When the god Atum arrived on Earth,

he arrived in the Benben.

When the god Atum left the Earth,

he rose in the Benben

and presumably went back to the stars.

NARRATOR: Curiously, the ancient Egyptian gods

were often depicted as human-like figures

who came from the stars and possessed incredible powers.

And as far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,

accounts of gods traveling in the Benben

could be a case of misunderstood technology.

We always have to remember

that the technological frame of reference

that our ancestors had cannot be compared

to the technological frame of reference that we have today.

Our ancestors perhaps witnessed

some type of a craft

descending from the sky,

out of which these extraterrestrials came

and jump-started civilization.

And they tried to replicate the vehicles

which those gods arrived in.

NARRATOR: Could it be true

that the top of every obelisk

commemorates an alien visitation?

Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,

and they suggest the obelisks hold

far more profound secrets.

The ancient city, located more than 500 miles south of Cairo

on the eastern bank of the Nile River,

was the southern center of trade for the Egyptian empire

more than 3,000 years ago.

It was also the home of a sacred stone quarry

rich in red granite.

HENRY: At Aswan, at the first cataract of the Nile,

you find this immense red granite quarry.

This is where almost all the red granite

that’s used in the temples

and even the pyramids of Egypt originates.

And here is where you find the quarry

that the obelisks came from.

NARRATOR: Many of the obelisks

that were carved out of the Aswan quarry

were then transported hundreds of miles

to their final destinations.

But how people living thousands of years ago

were able to move and erect such massive monuments

continues to baffle modern engineers.

ROMANY: We have inscriptions on the walls in ancient Egypt

that shows us how the process happened,

with multiple ropes

and people dragging it on tree trunks

all the way to the port on the Nile,

where they then have to put it on

sometimes 27, 30, 35 ships attached together

to carry this one massive obelisk,

and then sailing it on the Nile,

all the way to the port that is closest to the temple,

and then arriving to the spot

where you have to erect an obelisk

that is 400 tons or more.

That is 130 feet or more

up into a 90-degrees angle without modern machinery.

But years and years later,

people tried to replicate the process

and have failed miserably.

Transporting an obelisk

and putting it in place,

let alone sculpting it in a quarry,

is still a big mystery to us today.

NARRATOR: While researchers agree

that the rope and pulley method

can explain the transport of some obelisks,

ancient astronaut theorists point to

another, more profound method,

that was documented as well.

We have some references in ancient Egyptian texts

that also speak of

some of these obelisks being levitated.

And the way that worked

is that a magical white powder

had to be strewn across the stones

and then water was added

and through some "magical incantations,"

then those rocks lifted themselves

and they could levitate into place.

CHILDRESS: Were the Egyptians using some kind of alien technology?

Not just to quarry the obelisk, but to lift it up?

To move it, and then to ultimately stand it up?

NARRATOR: Although mainstream archeologists

dismiss the idea that such advanced technology

could have been available to the ancient Egyptians,

there is one obelisk that still lies unfinished

in the Aswan quarry that defies explanation

as to how it would have been moved

to its final destination using mere ropes and pulleys.

The unfinished obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut.

It was actually the biggest obelisk,

the tallest obelisk ever made,

never completely finished.

It would have stood over 130 feet into the air.

It would have weighed maybe 1,200 tons, it’s estimated.

ROMANY: The unfinished obelisk was abandoned

because, as they were sculpting the obelisk,

it had a crack that started showing.

Every obelisk had to survive

for the rest of time and even more.

So, one little crack, it was not acceptable

and they had to abandon it.

NARRATOR: Considering the immense amount of work it took to quarry,

carve, and transport obelisks,

could these monuments have had some practical purpose

beyond mere adornment?

According to ancient astronaut theorists,

there is evidence that these incredible stone structures

may have been used for the transmission

of energy.

NARRATOR: One of the many mysteries

surrounding Egypt’s ancient obelisks

is why the original builders

chose to use stone from the Aswan quarry

when, in most cases, other stone

was more easily available.

It was very important to the ancient Egyptians

that when they erected an obelisk,

that it be all one piece of stone

and that they be carved from the "correct rock,"

which was this very high-quality granite

found in Aswan in southern Egypt.

KAKU: These monoliths were made out of granite.

And there’s some quartz inside the granite.

And quartz has some rather interesting properties.

Like the piezoelectric effect.

If I take quartz crystal and I squeeze it,

I can generate electricity.

Now, some people believe that the obelisks

were like lightning rods

that absorbed electrical energy from the heavens.

NARRATOR: Could the Egyptian obelisks have been designed

to attract energy?

In addition to the conductivity of quartz stone,

it has been found that when the obelisks were first erected,

they were capped with

a naturally occurring metal alloy called electrum.

We know that they were covered or capped, in many cases,

with electrum, which is a combination of gold and silver,

and they may have been

meant to attract plasma,

electrically charged particles.

NARRATOR: As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,

the obelisks were almost certainly intended

to conduct energy.

And they suggest that the source of this energy

may not have been from the heavens, but instead

from the world’s most extraordinary ancient structure.

On the western bank of the Nile River

stands a marvel of ancient engineering:

The Great Pyramid.

The largest structure in the Giza pyramid complex

stands roughly 450 feet tall

and consists of over two million stone blocks,

some of which are made from the same red granite

that was used to create the obelisks

throughout the country.

While Egyptologists believe

that it was built around 2570 BC

with earthen ramps, ropes and pulleys,

definitive proof of how it was constructed

and how old the giant structure is

remains a mystery.

ROMANY: The Great Pyramid of Giza is a marvel of architecture.

Every block was five tons

and there is about two million of them

to create a perfect pyramid shape

that is one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.

The most ancient one of them all and--

and the only one standing.

CHRISTOPHER DUNN: The Great Pyramid at Giza covers 13 acres.

It’s a very remarkable building.

The precision of this building,

uh, exceeds anything that we require of builders today.

For instance, the area-- over 13 acres--

was leveled within seven-eighths of an inch.

That’s about the thickness of a thumbnail.

The casing stones are joined line to line,

to within 10/1000 of an inch.

And their joints are

filled with some kind of mysterious cement.

But nobody’s been able to figure out

what the formula is.

This is not the work of primitive people

who have copper chisels.

Inside the Great Pyramid are a number of fascinating

chambers and corridors,

like the Grand Gallery,

this towering stairway

that goes up into the so-called King’s Chamber.

NARRATOR: Mainstream scholars theorize

that the Great Pyramid was built as a tomb

for the Pharaoh Khufu,

who reigned from 2589 to 2566 BC.

But archaeologists have yet to find any human remains

or authentic grave markers within the structure.

The design of the tunnel system

and chamber rooms within the Great Pyramid

have convinced engineering expert Chris Dunn

that the true purpose of the massive structure

was to act as a power plant,

distributing energy through obelisks.

DUNN: We’re taught in school

that the Great Pyramid is a tomb.

But if you look at

the complexity of these buildings,

the precision with which they were built,

the features that you see on the inside,

these various shafts and passageways...

For me, it looks like a machine.

NARRATOR: With more than 50 years of experience

in the aerospace industry,

Dunn believes that chemical reactions took place

within the Great Pyramid

that generated electromagnetic waves.

DUNN: You have two shafts leading

into the Queen’s Chamber.

And these shafts delivered the chemicals to the chamber

that they would mix and boil off hydrogen

and then hydrogen would pass through

another passageway to the Grand Gallery,

and then into the King’s Chamber.

NARRATOR: Dunn speculates

that once the hydrogen gas reached the King’s Chamber,

vibrations energized and converted the hydrogen atoms

into microwaves.

You have evidence to support

the, uh, theory that

hydrogen was being fed down the northern shaft

which leads to the King’s Chamber,

and then it enters the chamber

and collects the energy that has accumulated in that chamber

and then directs it through the southern shaft

for the microwaves to spread out.

So, that energy, uh, would reach large distances.

And I think if you had an obelisk

at any distance, it could actually affect

that particular structure.

The great pyramid is itself a power generator.

And that energy, it is broadcast from the pyramid,

it’s picked up by the transmitters,

which are the obelisks, placed at key sites,

made of red granite, that are able to be tuned

to the specific frequencies coming from the pyramid.

NARRATOR: Could it be true--

as some researchers and experts like Chris Dunn believe--

that the Great Pyramid of Giza

was actually a power plant?

And that obelisks were used as receiver towers

designed to distribute the generated power?

While such a sensational notion

may sound like science fiction,

Egypt’s pyramids and obelisks

served as inspiration for the first person

to wirelessly transmit electricity

in the modern world:

Nikola Tesla.

NARRATOR: When engineering expert Chris Dunn

first presented his theory

that the Great Pyramid was used to generate electricity

in his 1998 book The Giza Power Plant,

it ignited a firestorm of controversy.

But he was not the first

to propose this audacious notion.

A century earlier, in the 1890s,

Nikola Tesla, the famed engineer and inventor

of the first alternating current motor and power system,

studied the ancient structures of Egypt

while working to develop a system

for transmitting electricity

without the use of wires.

SEIFER: Tesla studied the ancient Egyptians.

He was fascinated by the ancients

and their understanding that quartz produced

electrical frequencies.

He thought that they understood what quartz was all about.

Tesla used crystals. He used quartz.

And all of that can be found in the ancient obelisks.

NARRATOR: According to Chris Dunn’s theory,

chemical reactions took place inside the Great Pyramid

to create microwave energy

and transmit it to the obelisks

through the air.

But Tesla believed the ancient Egyptians may

have instead been amplifying

the natural energy currents present in the Earth.

In 1898,

he began building an electrical tower in Colorado Springs

based on this hypothesis,

and, three years later,

announced that he had succeeded

in creating the modern world’s first

wireless energy transmitter.

It’s really interesting to me

that when Nikola Tesla was putting together

his Colorado experiments,

he was getting information from an expedition

that J.P. Morgan was paying for in Egypt.

And he was getting information

about the size of the pyramids and the obelisks

and Tesla was talking about using these towers

to send power that he takes from the Earth

around the world to people wirelessly.

It was a large tower

that has a ray conductor on top of it

and then a large conducting pipe that went way deep

into the granite basin underneath it.

He was grounding his system into the Earth,

electrically connecting it to the Earth,

and then he would tune this system

until it reached a certain frequency.

He drives the energy into the ground.

He then put light bulbs all along the mountains

and all these light bulbs lit.

That was his proof that he could send electrical energy

through a wireless system.

NARRATOR: After the success of his initial experiment,

Tesla began devising a much more ambitious plan

for wirelessly transmitting electricity.

In March of 1901,

after relocating to Long Island, New York,

Tesla began construction on a nearly 200-foot-tall structure

known as Wardenclyffe Tower.

The larger structure would allow him

to generate more energy to send into the Earth.

Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower

was supposed to be his crowning achievement.

A lasting monument that would generate energy,

and send energy over hundreds of miles.

Tesla thought he could energize entire cities.

Unfortunately, it was never tested

because he ran out of money.

NARRATOR: Although Nikola Tesla was unable

to realize his grand vision

for wirelessly transmitting energy

with Wardenclyffe Tower,

is it possible that he was on the brink

of recreating a technology

that the ancient Egyptians possessed

nearly 4,000 years before him?

TAYLOR: Tesla’s original designs

for the Wardenclyffe Tower

was to be the same height as the King’s Pyramid in Giza.

I find it really interesting.

Was he thinking that the ancient Egyptians

were actually sending power,

collecting it from the Earth somehow,

and transmitting it with these obelisks?

If Nikola Tesla was onto something like that,

perhaps that was

what the ancient Egyptians were doing.

NARRATOR: But if Egypt’s obelisks

were designed to conduct energy,

the question remains:

what purpose did this serve?

Was it to create a source of electricity for the community?

Or could the power of the obelisks

have served an otherworldly purpose?

Perhaps clues can be found at the Temple of Edfu,

which contains thousands of hieroglyphs

detailing the customs and mythology of ancient Egypt.

According to the so-called Edfu Texts,

a 160-foot-tall obelisk once stood

at the sun temple of Abu Gorab in Memphis,

where the people could commune with the gods.

TSOUKALOS: According to the ancient Egyptian

building texts from Edfu,

Abu Gorab was known as "the Place of the Gods."

And what’s so interesting is that

most mainstream Egyptologists

are actually saying that

we know it as a place

where the ancients connected with "divine energies."

YOUNG: The obelisk itself was the point of contact

between humans and the gods.

We communicated with the gods through that stone.

HENRY: I think it’s quite possible that

where you find these obelisks were

places of communion or communication

with the sky gods,

with extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR: Could it be that the obelisks

were alien communication devices,

allowing the ancient Egyptians to make contact

with their extraterrestrial gods?

Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,

and suggest further evidence can be found

by examining the story of Egypt’s most famous son:

the prophet Moses.

NARRATOR: Cairo, Egypt.

Roughly 20 miles northeast of the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx

is a site that was of great significance

to the ancient Egyptians:

the sacred city of Heliopolis.

Here, at the site of a 70-foot-tall obelisk,

the pharaohs were said to commune

with a council of nine gods called the "Ennead,"

who brought technology and knowledge to mankind.

One of the oldest obelisks we have today

is one that was of a pair of obelisks

that stood in Heliopolis,

the city of the sun god Ra, so close to Cairo today.

In Heliopolis, the pharaoh of Egypt

would have to consult with the nine gods, the Ennead,

with every aspect in life

to make sure he is doing the right thing.

Every ancient Egyptian would have their full trust

that anything coming out from the mouth of the king

is the word of the nine gods.

And the obelisk is there

to receive the messages

and deliver it to its people.

COLLINS: So, once more,

we have the idea of the obelisk

associated with

communication with some kind of higher intelligence.

NARRATOR: What makes Heliopolis of particular interest

to ancient astronaut theorists is the fact

that it is associated with a famous biblical figure

who also created a device for communicating with the heavens:

the prophet Moses.

According to the Book of Exodus,

Moses was born in Egypt to Hebrew parents,

who set him afloat on the Nile in a reed basket

to save him from an edict

calling for the death of all newborn Hebrew males.

Found by the pharaoh’s daughter,

he was raised in the Egyptian court,

and educated in Heliopolis.

We know from the Bible

that Moses was raised in the house of Pharaoh.

He was raised amongst the priests

of the Egyptian religion.

They had knowledge

of the ancient wisdoms

and the ancient technologies.

Moses learned many of these things from them.

So, years later, when God speaks to Moses

and commands Moses to bring

the children of Israel out of Egypt,

Moses brought with him many of these secrets.

NARRATOR: In the Book of Exodus,

Moses frees the Israelites from enslavement

and leads them out of Egypt.

COLLINS: The Israelites were taken out

into the wilderness of Sinai.

And they came to Mount Sinai itself.

And Moses went up the top of the mountain

and he saw Yahweh

in the form of an incredibly bright light.

And during this time,

God gives him the Ten Commandments.

But what he also does

is give him the instructions

on how to make the Ark of the Covenant.

NARRATOR: The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible

as the sacred wooden box

that would hold the Ten Commandments.

It was also said to enable

direct communication with God.

Is it possible that Moses’s education in Egypt

influenced the construction of the Ark of the Covenant,

a sacred vessel believed to be a communication device

and possessing the same powers

attributed to the obelisks?

Curiously, within the ancient Egyptian Temple of Seti

in Abydos, there is a mural

that depicts an object which, to some researchers,

looks strikingly similar to the Ark of the Covenant:

the so-called Osiris Device.

HENRY: At the Temple of Seti at Abydos

is a depiction of a very technological-looking apparatus.

That is the Osiris Device.

Now, when we look at the platform

upon which the pillar portion of the Osiris Device rests,

that platform looks exactly like depictions

of the biblical Ark of the Covenant.

This is no coincidence.

This is a continuity of tradition.

Now, if this is a real communications device,

it actually, honestly, must have worked

with some form of a technology.

NARRATOR: According to some researchers,

not only was the Ark of the Covenant based on technology

that Moses learned about in Heliopolis,

but the fact that it was described

as a communication device

points to a connection with the obelisks.

COLLINS: This is a box that’s covered over in gold in layers.

And then it has a lid,

the so-called "Mercy Seat,"

with the two cherubim facing each other

and God would appear

between those two cherubim as this blinding light.

We have elements here in connection with the obelisks.

They, too, would seem to have had

gold placed at their apexes.

And we also know that the pyramids

had capstones made of gold

and that gold is an incredible conductor of electricity.

CHILDRESS: So here we have the obelisks as, perhaps, electrical devices

and also communication devices.

And then you have the Ark of the Covenant.

And they seem to have the same function.

And you have to ask yourself,

could it be the same technology

coming from the Egyptian gods?

NARRATOR: Was the Ark of the Covenant

a portable version of an obelisk?

An energetic device that provided

a direct communication link

to otherworldly beings?

Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,

and suggest that further evidence can be found

in a place where tradition holds that the Ark of the Covenant

has remained hidden for centuries--

a place that also happens to be home

to the largest collection of obelisks on Earth.

NARRATOR: Aksum, Ethiopia.

This ancient city

was once the heart of the Kingdom of Aksum,

a powerful empire that thrived for nearly 900 years

starting in the first century AD.

It is also home to more than a dozen ancient obelisks.

HENRY: What’s curious about Aksum is

the large number of obelisks that are there.

It’s a city of obelisks.

It’s practically a forest of obelisks.

NEWMAN: There, the obelisks are a whole different thing.

These aren’t just perfectly smooth.

These have got almost, like, windows going up in levels.

One of them even has, like, a doorway carved on the bottom

with a small handle, just carved out of solid rock.

NARRATOR: The obelisks of Aksum were not topped with a pyramidion

or carved from the Aswan quarry like those in Egypt,

but they were equally as massive

and were each made from a single stone.

CHILDRESS: The largest obelisk that we know that was ever erected

was not erected in Egypt but in Aksum.

There were over 100 obelisks at one time.

And the biggest is a huge obelisk

that weighed well over 1,000 tons.

NARRATOR: But why did the people of Aksum make so many obelisks?

Could they have learned the secrets

of the ancient Egyptians?

According to some researchers,

these obelisks may have been erected to indicate

that Aksum has a profound connection to the heavens.

A connection that may combine two ancient technologies:

the obelisks

and the Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant.

The great mystery: where is it?

The Bible, of course, has its own traditions

and teachings on this.

But out of the Ethiopian culture

we have an alternate teaching,

an alternate lesson about where is the Ark.

They believe that the Ark of the Covenant

is there residing with them.

NARRATOR: The mystery of what happened to the Ark of the Covenant

began in 587 BC,

when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem

and looted Solomon’s Temple,

where the Ark had been housed for 350 years.

After this event,

the Ark of the Covenant disappears

from the historical record,

but, curiously, there is also no record

of the Babylonians having taken it.

While there are many theories as where the Ark went,

one of the most prominent claims can be found

in ancient Ethiopian history.

One version of the fate of the Ark of the Covenant

is contained within a Ethiopian holy book

known as the Kebra Nagast.

It’s a story involving King Solomon,

who had the Ark,

and his meeting with the Queen of Sheba.

And it was said that they had a liaison,

and that a son was born to the Queen of Sheba

by the name of Menelik.

And that, eventually, Menelik traveled

from his homeland of Ethiopia

to visit his father Solomon in Israel.

NARRATOR: According to the story,

when Menelik left Israel,

he and his men secretly took the Ark with them back to Aksum.

Devoted followers believe

it still resides there today.

REVEREND MICHAEL J.S. CARTER: Many believe,

especially Ethiopian Orthodox Christians,

that the Ark of the Covenant

is in a small chapel

called Our Lady Mary of Zion Church.

And monks are there who guard this day and night.

On pain of death, they cannot leave the grounds.

So, something is there that is

worth these monks saying,

"I will die before I leave this compound."

HENRY: You wonder, why are there so many obelisks

in this place, at the very same place

where the Ark of the Covenant is said to have been located?

Is there a connection?

CARTER: Aksum, at one time,

was a center of power and prestige

in the ancient world.

It was the trading route

between Persia and Rome.

And so they were connected to...

to other parts of the ancient world.

And now you have the Ark of the Covenant,

and you have the obelisks.

If you connect the dots,

it’s very difficult not to think

that civilization got its knowledge from Egypt.

CHILDRESS: In Aksum, they believe that the Ark of the Covenant

and the obelisks are all connected.

So we have to ask ourselves,

were the ancient people using some kind of super technology?

It remains a mystery to this day.

NARRATOR: Could the obelisks of ancient Egypt,

which still mystify modern engineers,

have been highly advanced tools of otherworldly technology?

While the truth may remain hidden in the past,

ancient astronaut theorists believe

that, today, obelisks may still provide a connection

to our alien ancestors.

NARRATOR: Washington, D.C.

December 6, 1884.

The final stone is placed

at the top of the Washington Monument,

an Egyptian-style obelisk

dedicated to the first president of the United States:

George Washington.

HENRY: The Washington Monument

is considered the tallest obelisk in the world.

It’s 555 feet tall.

TSOUKALOS: It’s fascinating that the largest obelisk

currently exists in Washington, D.C.

And you have to ask the question, why?

Because, worldwide, there has been a fascination

that goes back into deep antiquity

about these standing stones.

The Vatican, ancient Egypt,

in New York City,

Aksum, in Ethiopia,

all over the world you have these obelisks,

these markers that point to the sky.

NARRATOR: Since the decline of the Egyptian empire

approximately 2,000 years ago,

nearly 30 obelisks have been moved

from their original locations to sites across the globe.

But why?

NEWMAN: There may have been something more magical at play.

Because I believe these ancient cultures

had mastered things we are only just starting to understand.

And perhaps the power of these obelisks has been kept

for multiple generations in secret.

In fact, the symbol of the obelisk

became part of many secret societies.

It became part of the Masonic founding of Washington, D.C.

And where they’re placed around the world

is also very interesting,

because they’re not placed in just random positions.

They’re placed geodetically,

often linked with ancient Egypt.

CARTER: What is it about the obelisks

that attracts us, that resonates with us?

Well, number one is

humanity’s always striving.

We’re always reaching up to the stars.

Because, I think, in some cellular memory,

we get it: that that’s really where we come from.

Even if we don’t realize

that what we’re probably doing is

commemorating our extraterrestrial origins.

TSOUKALOS: I think the evidence is right in front of our eyes.

These standing stones are pointing to the stars.

Why? Because that is where we came from.

HENRY: In Washington, D.C., they put the reflecting pool

beside the obelisk.

This draws our eye into the heavens,

because we see the reflections of the stars

and the heavens in that reflecting pool.

And we instantly connect that the obelisk and the heavens--

and D.C., in fact-- are all connected.

NARRATOR: Could the towering stone obelisks

of ancient Egypt represent an advanced technology

that existed on Earth thousands of years ago?

Have we placed them in important locations

all around the world

because of our innate awareness of their profound power?

While the original function

of the obelisks may be lost to time,

perhaps they now serve a new purpose:

to stand as a testament

to the enduring connection

between humanity and our alien creators.

CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS