All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.S19E13.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR:
A tropical paradise

believed to be
a gateway to the stars.

A remote landmass

home to enormous stone statues.

And a mysterious man-made island

that defies explanation.

For more than a decade,
Ancient Aliens has traveled

the globe to explore
some of the most isolated

and enigmatic islands
in the world.

Now, we're going
to take a look back

at the top ten
mysterious islands

we've investigated.

Islands that just may hold
the proof

that Earth has been visited
by extraterrestrials.

♪

Some of the most
mysterious places

on the planet
happen to be remote islands.

And that is because
many of them are home

to stories and legends
that extraterrestrials

may have visited Earth
in the distant past.

Like the first location
on our list,

where the native people say
that their ancestors

came from the stars.

Number ten on our countdown
of the top ten

mysterious islands:
the Big Island of Hawaii.

NARRATOR:
Hawaii's Big Island.

This landmass is the largest
island in the United States,

covering an area
of 4,000 square miles.

To tourists,
it is a paradise on Earth.

But to the people
that have inhabited this island

for centuries,
and who carry with them

the traditions
of their ancestors,

Hawaii is something
very different.

For many, like tribal leader
Kimokeo Kapahulehua,

it is the place
where so-called "star people"

came to Earth centuries ago
and created humans.

NARRATOR:
Each autumn, when
the Pleiades star system appears

on the horizon, practitioners
of the old native Hawaiian faith

gather to celebrate the harvest
and honor Lono,

the god of rain and peace

who descended to the island
in a canoe.

The Hawaiians believed
that their people

originated in the Pleiades.

(vocalizing)

HENRY:
During the festival,
the kahunas would chant

the epic of creation,
the Kumulipo chant,

in which they would tell
the story of the descent of Lono

on a rainbow.

(singing in Native language)

HENRY:
And it's thought
that Lono descended

from the Pleiades,
it also makes sense

that he could've returned
to the Pleiades as well.

NARRATOR:
Did extraterrestrials visit
Hawaii in the distant past?

And if so, for what purpose?

GEORGE NOORY:
I've always said that Earth
is a planet of experimentation.

I keep thinking of
the Island of Doctor Moreau,

where you're sequestered
in a certain area,

and you can conduct your work
in quiet and in privacy.

LINDA MOULTON HOWE:
What if the planet itself

has been an experimental lab?

Extraterrestrials
would use islands

for one experiment,

tops of mountains
for another experiment.

But they would control
what they were doing

by keeping
their different experiments

separated from each other.

DAVID CHILDRESS :
If I were an extraterrestrial

looking for
the perfect laboratory,

I would look no further
than the Hawaiian Islands.

Before the arrival of Europeans,

there were no reptiles,
no mosquitoes, no rats.

It was as pure a place
as any on our planet.

And in many ways, it was the
perfect spot for a laboratory.

Hawaii isn't the only island
where there are stories

of visitors who descended
from the sky.

Off the coast of Great Britain
is a tiny landmass

that the locals say
was once populated by beings

who arrived in what
they described as "cloud ships."

At number nine on our countdown

of mysterious islands:
the Isle of Man.

NARRATOR:
The Irish Sea.

Located just off
the eastern shore

of Ireland lies the Isle of Man.

Home to approximately
80,000 people,

this small island nation

is roughly half the size
of Los Angeles,

stretching 32 miles long
and just 14 miles across.

But according to folklore,
the Isle of Man

was once home to
a god-like race of beings

called the Tuatha Dé Danann.

TOK THOMPSON:
The Tuatha Dé Danann

are probably the most important
tribe or figures

that show up in Irish mythology.

"Tuatha" means tribe.

"Dé" means gods or divine,
so "divine tribes."

"Gods of the divine."

JENNY BUTLER:
There is a description
in the mythological material

in the early Irish literature

of the Tuatha Dé Danann arriving
in, uh, cloud ships

and landing on a mountain.

NARRATOR:
According to the
ancient stories,

after the arrival of
the Tuatha Dé Danann in Ireland,

the Isle of Man became ruled
by a king named Manannán mac Lir

and served as a home to many
of these visitors from the sky.

SABINA MAGLIOCCO:
Manannán mac Lir was one
of the Tuatha Dé Danann,

and he was a god
for the Celtic peoples.

He also had many magical powers.

For example, he was known
to be a sorcerer

and to be able
to change his shape

into that of anything
that he wished.

HENRY:
The Tuatha Dé Danann
had an arsenal

of very
technological-sounding weaponry

and circles of light they used
to travel around Ireland upon.

The ancient astronaut theory
tries to look at ancient stories

in which magic happens

from a modern perspective
and determine

if that so-called magic really
was some type of technology.

Then one has to wonder, where
did that technology come from?

Well, there's
only one answer to this,

and that is extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR:
Could the legends of the
Tuatha Dé Danann be describing

otherworldly beings that once
inhabited the Isle of Man?

Perhaps further clues can be
found by examining UFO sightings

that have been reported
on the island for centuries.

ANDREW COLLINS:
There have been reports
of UFOs on the Isle of Man

for a very long time.

The peoples there, uh,
still believe in them today.

They still see them
on a regular basis.

And the common type of report
is that strange lights

move about for a period of time
and then disappear.

CHILDRESS:
So you have to think really
that Isle of Man

was some kind of island that was
chosen by the extraterrestrials.

They would land
their UFOs there.

And, in fact, legends about UFOs

and extraterrestrials continue
on the island even to this day.

If you travel just 450 miles
west of the Isle of Man,

you will come upon the site
of another mysterious island,

but this one can't be visited

because it reportedly vanished
beneath the ocean.

Number eight on our list:
Hy-Brasil.

NARRATOR:
The North Atlantic Ocean.

200 miles off
the western coast of Ireland

lie open waters as far
as the eye can see.

But according to 14th century
maps of the area,

this is the location
of a so-called phantom island

known as Hy-Brasil.

MAGLIOCCO:
Hy-Brasil allegedly appeared and
disappeared behind the mists.

It could never
definitively be found.

Although, the...
its putative location

is marked on some
of these early maps.

NARRATOR:
Hy-Brasil was first recorded

by the Italian-Majorcan
cartographer

Angelino de Dalorto in 1325,

who described the island as
being "a strikingly round form."

Then in 1497,
Italian explorer John Cabot

reported reaching Hy-Brasil.

Other explorers of the time
returned from the island

with accounts of meeting
beautiful, glowing people.

TIM SWARTZ:
Like a lot of other mythologies,
such as Atlantis,

Hy-Brasil was thought to be
the source of, uh, civilization.

And these people originated
from the stars.

They are the people that, uh,
the human race descended from.

NARRATOR:
Might Hy-Brasil
have been a place

where otherworldly beings
landed on planet Earth

and jump-started civilization?

And if so, what could explain

its mysterious disappearance
and reappearance over the years?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe a clue can be found

within tales of vanishing
islands from Greek mythology.

TSOUKALOS:
In Ancient Greece,
there are these stories of

a type of moveable island
that the ancient Greeks

referred to as Asteria.

Asteria means
"stars falling from the sky."

And in certain instances,
these stars landed in the water,

and then they were able to move
around under its own propulsion.

So, what if Hy-Brasil
was nothing else

but a glorified
extraterrestrial craft.

In the Mediterranean Sea,

there's an island rich
with history and culture

that spans thousands of years.

But perhaps
what's most intriguing

are the mysterious megalithic
structures found there,

structures that are believed
to have been built by giants.

Number seven on our countdown
of the top ten

mysterious islands: Sardinia.

NARRATOR:
Sardinia, Italy.

Located 116 miles west
of the Italian peninsula,

this picturesque island
in the Mediterranean

boasts rugged mountains,

arid grasslands,
and white-sand beaches.

It is also home
to many mysterious

ancient stone structures

built by the
Nuragic civilization,

that was believed to have
inhabited the island

nearly 4,000 years ago.

Sardinia is probably
best known for its abundance

of structures called "nuraghe."

And these are conical towers,
usually truncated at the top,

so that there's a flat base.

There are approximately
7,000 nuraghe that scholars

have uncovered on Sardinia,

though that number could be
as high as 20,000 or more.

CHILDRESS:
These nuraghe are made
out of huge basalt boulders.

They're stacked up
into towers and walls

and beehive chambers.

Archaeologists do not know
how they were all built.

They assume that huge ramps

were built to move
all of this material.

Throughout Sardinia,
there are stories of-of giants,

and you have to wonder
if whoever was building

these structures were giants.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that Sardinia

was once home
to a population of giants?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes

and point to several
stone statues

found on the island known
as the "Giants of Mont'e Prama."

So, the Giants of Mont'e Prama
are very tall stone giants that

were found on the, uh, western
coast of Sardinia back in 1974.

Since then, there's been
numerous excavations,

and over 40
of these stone giants

over eight feet tall
have now been reconstructed

from pieces
that were found there.

TSOUKALOS:
For all intents and purposes,

the face looks like a replica

of C-3PO, the robot.

And the fact
that archaeologists suggest

that these are the replicas
of the local population,

and they even call them
the Giants of Mont'e Prama,

you have to wonder
is it possible that Sardinia,

at some point, was visited
by extraterrestrials?

And I think the answer is yes.

The ancient statues
of giants on Sardinia

are truly extraordinary.

But there is another island
near Australia

that has stories of giant beings

that are said to actually be
living there today.

Number six on our countdown
of the top ten

mysterious islands: Guadalcanal.

NARRATOR:
Almost 2,000 miles
northeast of Australia

lie the Solomon Islands.

While this chain
contains more than 900 islands,

the most well-known
is Guadalcanal,

which served as a strategic
military base

during World War II.

Today, a series
of mysterious events

have convinced locals
the island is home

to enormous otherworldly beings.

There are mysterious legends
all over the Solomons, actually.

A lot of the stories
from Guadalcanal

tend to talk about giants.

The relationship
between people and giants.

Giants are often portrayed
in different ways.

Sometimes, they are benevolent
giants. They help people.

They look after people.

But there are stories
about giants

killing people
and taking over things.

There are legends and stories
that go way back that suggest

that giants actually still live
on the Solomon Islands.

Some say they're kind of
hairy beast kind of beings.

Others say
they're more humanoid.

And some say they even relate

and kind of mate
with the human population.

People talk about it that giants
actually do exist.

They existed in the past.

Today, with all kinds
of developments taking place,

they shifted
further into the mountains.

They really do exist.

It's not just a mythology
to scare children.

NARRATOR:
According to one report,
in 1998,

workers in
a gold-mining operation

witnessed what they believed
might be evidence of some type

of giant humanoid when one
of their bulldozers broke down.

The workers claimed
they removed the ten-ton blade

from the machine to make
overnight repairs,

but when they returned to
the dig site the next morning,

they were shocked
by what they found.

The blade itself had
been moved quite a distance

and they found footprints
of giants in the mud.

So they could
only assume that these

famous giants
of the Solomon Islands

had been there and moved
the bulldozer blade.

NARRATOR:
Is Guadalcanal
really home to giants?

And if so,
where did they come from?

Some researchers believe
the answer can be found

in eyewitness accounts of
mysterious objects in the sky.

CHILDRESS:
The Australian author, Boirayon,

believed that incidents of
the giants that he'd been told

about by the natives
were related to UFO activity.

And from what
he could put together,

there was some kind of UFO base
deep in the mountains

of Central Guadalcanal,
and it involved these giants.

The Solomon Islands
has been a hotbed

of UFO activity for centuries.

There are numerous accounts
of abductions.

People who disappear
after coming into contact,

uh, with these UFOs.

Never to be seen again.

CHILDRESS:
You have to wonder
if these famous giants

of Guadalcanal were,
in fact, extraterrestrials.

We're coming up
on the halfway point

in our countdown of
the top ten mysterious islands.

The South Pacific is home
to some of the most remote

islands on Earth, and
the history of this region

is filled with stories
of otherworldly visitors.

Like the next entry on our list,
number five: Nuku Hiva.

NARRATOR:
The South Pacific.

3,000 miles west of Mexico

lies a rocky volcanic island
known as Nuku Hiva.

Nuka Hiva is the largest
of the Polynesian islands,

and it's in the northerly part
of the group. It is the capital.

NARRATOR:
According to local legend,

Nuku Hiva was built by the god
of creation, Ono, for his wife.

Once it was complete,

their offspring
populated the area.

In 2018,
ancient astronaut theorists

Giorgio Tsoukalos
and David Childress

traveled to Nuku Hiva
and met with local guide,

Aniata Kimitete, to investigate
the stories about the arrival

of the gods, as well as
the statuary depicting them.

TSOUKALOS:
Oh, wow. Okay.

Is this considered a tiki?

Yes, this tikis represent
the population.

So w-what is a tiki?

A tiki, at first,
was the representation

of our god of magic and sorcery.

He was one of the only god

in French Polynesia
that has the face of a man.

NARRATOR:
To the people of Nuku Hiva,
the word "tiki" refers to both

an ancestral figure that came
to the islands in ancient times,

as well as the statues
that represent him.

They are variously carved
in both wood and stone,

and often depict a being
with large, goggle-like eyes.

The lore has it that Tiki
was the primary ancestor

and was created
in the image of the sky god.

The local people
made statues in honor

of their creator god, Tiki,
and used them in worship.

And this is what Tiki
looks like, uh, as god?

Yes, because they-they say
in the legend that,

when Tiki left the Earth,
they made the sculpture

of how he looked like
just to have something

to remember from Tiki.

There are multiple
other versions of the exact

same motif worldwide
with people with

elongated skulls
and giant goggle eyes,

like, uh, what comes to mind
immediately is in-in Peru.

-CHILDRESS: Yeah, at Tiwanaku
and Puma Punku.
-TSOUKALOS: Yes.

CHILDRESS: You have the same
goggle-headed eye people.

You have it in Mexico, too,
with the Olmec statues.

TSOUKALOS:
Yes. These may be depictions

of actual extraterrestrials
who visited

the Earth
thousands of years ago.

I still get goose bumps
thinking about my trip

to Nuku Hiva and seeing
the carvings of the Tiki.

But another mysterious island
in the South Pacific

has something
even more astounding,

hundreds of massive
stone statues.

The number four site
on our countdown: Easter Island.

NARRATOR:
More than 2,000 miles
southeast of Nuku Hiva

is one of the most isolated
places on the planet,

Easter Island.

Today, some 5,000 people
make their home there,

most of whom are the descendants

of Easter Island's original
inhabitants, the Rapa Nui.

But the island's
most famous residents

are the hundreds of massive,
ancient stone statues

known as moai that are scattered
across its grassy cliffs.

Most are between
15 to 20 feet tall,

but the tallest
stands over 70 feet,

and the heaviest weighs
approximately 165 tons.

PAUL BAHN:
The statues on Easter Island,
which we call moai,

are one of the great
archeological wonders

of the world. They are unique.

And we believe that,
overall, they carved

something like a thousand
of these moai

over some centuries, maybe
even over a thousand years.

ED BARNHART:
For the Rapa Nui,
the moai are statues

of once living ancestors,
that they passed away,

that they moved
to the other world,

but that they can
still communicate

with their living descendants

through the statues
that are the images of them.

HENRY:
The thing about these moai
is that they have these

very strange faces,
very elongated.

They don't look quite human.
They're humanoid,

but they're somehow different
than ordinary humans.

They look almost alien
in appearance.

And you have to wonder, what
do they ultimately represent?

NARRATOR:
The moai were carved
from volcanic rock

quarried at the center
of the island.

But just how the ancient
Rapa Nui were able to transport

these giant statues
remains a mystery.

According to the legends
of the Rapa Nui,

their ancestors used
a type of energy, known as

"mana," to levitate
the giant sculptures into place.

The king was given
the gift of mana

from the great
creator god, Makemake.

Mana is a magical energy,

and it seemed to be capable
of extraordinary feats.

The king used the power of mana

to command that the great
stone statues walk.

TSOUKALOS:
One has to wonder,
well, either they all

were off their rockers, uh,
describing these things,

or they witnessed something.

And I'm leaning more
in the direction

that they witnessed something

because there had to have been
a spark of inspiration.

And so, in my opinion,
mana was some type

of extraterrestrial technology
that allowed

these stones
to be levitated into place.

Some of the most
compelling evidence

for the ancient astronaut theory
can be found

on a chain of islands
just off the coast of France.

Thousands of years ago,
the people there were compelled

to build hundreds
of mysterious stone structures

that confound researchers
to this very day.

Number three on our countdown:
the British Isles.

NARRATOR:
The North Atlantic.

Consisting of more than
6,000 islands,

including Great Britain
and Ireland,

the British Isles are home
to more than 72 million people.

But these islands are also home
to some of the most

mysterious megaliths on Earth:
the stone circles.

The British Isles
is the only ancient culture

to have built stone circles
on a large scale.

And it all began
around 5,100 years ago

off the north coast of Scotland.

And then, over a period
of about another hundred years,

the stone circle building
tradition spread pretty rapidly

throughout the rest
of the British Isles,

through England,
Scotland, Wales, Ireland.

NEWMAN:
Stonehenge is the most
magnificent stone circle

in the British Isles.

It's unique,
it's unlike any stone circle

anywhere on the planet.

It's perfectly circular.
It has astronomical alignments.

NARRATOR:
According to
mainstream archaeology,

stone circles like Stonehenge

were constructed
as elaborate calendars.

But ancient astronaut theorists
believe they served

a more profound purpose.

It is true that-that
Stonehenge can be used,

or was used as a calendar.

There is no doubt about it.

However,
in order to create a calendar,

there was absolutely
zero need to build

a megalithic structure
as gigantic as Stonehenge

'cause you could've recreated
the entire same thing

by essentially placing
ordinary sticks in the ground.

And that was not the case.
So, what was it?

NARRATOR:
In 2019,

authors Andrew Collins
and Graham Phillips

set out to investigate

some of the most mysterious
stone circles

of the British Isles, on
the Orkney Islands of Scotland.

This small island chain
is home to Skara Brae,

an ancient settlement
that is over 5,000 years old.

Now known
as the Scottish Pompeii,

it was discovered in 1850
after a storm

revealed the ancient ruins.

COLLINS:
Just look at this place.
I mean, it's just extraordinary.

PHILLIPS:
It's pretty sophisticated.
I mean, these walls here

are really quite advanced
for 5,000 years ago,

when everybody else
in the country

was living in, well,
mud huts, basically.

I know. And-and the
incredible thing about this

is that the descendants
of these people end up creating

all of the stone circles
around Britain.

NARRATOR:
Experts believe that
the descendants of Skara Brae

began building stone circles
throughout Great Britain,

including Stonehenge.

But what compelled them
to do so?

Andrew believes the answer can
be found at a stone circle near

Skara Brae called
the Ring of Brodgar

and its connection
to mysterious lights in the sky.

PHILLIPS: We're here
at the Ring of Brodgar.

It is a henge circle,
so all around the outside

of it is a ditch, an embankment.

COLLINS:
One of the things
that's been repeatedly found

in connection
with stone circles is that

virtually every location

is also somewhere associated
with the appearance

of mysterious lights,

what we'd call UFOs.

We're talking about Stonehenge,

Avebury,

the Isle of Anglesey in Wales.

All of these locations,

mysterious lights appear
and then disappear.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that
the mysterious stone circles

found on the British Isles

were once used to signal
otherworldly beings?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

and point to the fact

that the stones used
to build the ancient circles

contained
large amounts of quartz.

Quartz crystal can hold
frequency or vibration.

It can store energy,
in other words.

That opens the possibility
that it has

a technological application.

We use crystals in computers
and in radios and lasers,

digital watches.

All kinds of technology
is based on quartz crystal.

CHILDRESS:
It's been documented
in the U.K. that

a lot of these stone circles
are associated

with-with strange lights

and UFO activities.

Then we have to wonder
about the energy there.

So, it may well be that,
in some cases, there's some kind

of electronic, magnetic
signature that they put out

that are beacons for UFOs.

NARRATOR:
Could it be that
extraterrestrial beings

have been visiting
the British Isles

for thousands of years?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes

and suggest further evidence

that ancient islanders
were influenced

by otherworldly beings
can be found

on a mysterious isle
off the coast of Italy,

where archaeologists
have uncovered

very curious human-like remains.

The next location on our list

has more than two dozen
incredible prehistoric temples

that defy
conventional explanation.

But perhaps the most mysterious
and intriguing place

on the island
can be found underground.

Number two
on our countdown: Malta.

NARRATOR:
In the center of
the Mediterranean Sea,

between Italy and Africa,
lies a three-island archipelago

that makes up
the Republic of Malta.

PICKNETT: Malta is this
really small island nation

just south of Sicily,
and it's so small,

it's only 122 square miles
in its entirety.

But because it's dead center
of the Mediterranean Sea,

Malta really
packs a punch historically.

What Malta
is most well-known for,

historically,
is the incredible series

of megalithic complexes there

created around 3000-4000 BC.

They involve places
like Tarxien,

Hagar Qim,

and a quite fantastic

megalithic structure
known as Ggantija.

Now, this essentially means
"the place of the giantess."

And the fascinating thing

is beliefs on Malta

that all of these structures
are made by giants.

NARRATOR:
For centuries,
visitors to Malta marveled

at the island nation's
ancient megalithic structures,

but what no one knew
until the 20th century

was that Malta's
most extraordinary construction

lied hidden beneath the ground.

In 1902, construction workers

uncovered a massive
underground complex

carved out of the bedrock.

Now known as the
Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni,

it is considered
the greatest engineering feat

of the Neolithic age.

The jewel
in the archeological crown

of Malta has to be
the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni.

This is a remarkable structure,

particularly when
you bear in mind

they didn't have metal tools.

It's just mind-boggling.

COLLINS:
Archaeologists realized
that this was

a huge underground network

of chambers and corridors.

You enter down into it,
and there are a series

of three different levels.

All of them are interconnected
with corridors

and flow into chambers.

NARRATOR:
Soon after the discovery
of the Hypogeum,

archaeologists excavating
the subterranean chambers

found more than 7,000 skeletons.

Strangely, a great many of them

had skulls that were
noticeably elongated.

It was found
that some of the skulls

were actually elongated.

They were almost like
the head going backwards

rather than upwards.

Does that represent
the fact that they were

doing head binding?

They were pressed into shape
when these people were babies?

NARRATOR:
Head binding has been a practice

of numerous primitive cultures
around the world.

It involves tightly wrapping
the heads of infants

before their skulls
fully harden,

resulting in an elongated shape.

TSOUKALOS:
In my opinion, the smoking gun

of this whole
extraterrestrial question is

the elongated skull phenomenon.

Worldwide, in different museums,
you find these skulls...

...that clearly have
an elongated cranium,

and the mainstream
explanation is

that our ancestors

did this to mimic
their gods of worship.

And right there is where
it becomes interesting.

Because, if they mimic someone,

well, you have to have
seen someone.

So, is it possible that
whoever visited our ancestors

back in the day
had these elongated skulls?

And my answer to that
is a resounding yes.

We're just moments away

from the most mysterious island
on our list.

And we've definitely saved
the best for last

because this location contains,
what I believe to be

undeniable proof that it was
built with the help

of extraterrestrial technology.

In the middle
of the Pacific Ocean is a site

that absolutely blows my mind.

The locals say that
this artificial island

was built thousands of years ago

with the technology of the gods.

At number one on our countdown:
the island of Nan Madol.

NARRATOR:
Pohnpei, Micronesia.

Located roughly 2,500 miles
northeast of Australia,

this remote island is home
to some of the oldest and most

astounding ruins
of the ancient world, Nan Madol.

It is an 11-square-mile complex

consisting of more than
100 man-made islets,

standing atop
a submerged coral reef.

Archaeologists estimate that,
to construct the site,

the builders used
250 million tons of basalt,

some blocks weighing
upwards of 50 tons.

Nan Madol is this
amazing construction.

It's-it's a full-on city.

When pilots during World War II

would fly over that part
of the Pacific,

they would look out their
windows, and they would see

what essentially was described
as the Venice of the Pacific.

So, that became
one of its nicknames.

NARRATOR:
In 2019,

ancient astronaut theorists

Giorgio Tsoukalos
and David Childress

traveled to the remote island

to try and understand
how Nan Madol was built.

TSOUKALOS:
This is exciting.

NARRATOR:
They were joined by Micronesia's
National Historic Preservation

Officer, Gus Kohler.

-All right, hello. Good morning.
-Hi, Gus.

-This is our guy.
-How are you, Gus?

-Welcome.
-Nice to see you.

NARRATOR:
And to get an expert opinion

on the megalithic complex...

-Follow me.
-NARRATOR: ...they enlisted

UCLA Professor of Structural
Engineering, Dr. Henry Burton.

TSOUKALOS:
Wow. Look at this.

-Amazing, huh?
-That's amazing.

CHILDRESS:
So, here is this huge wall here

full of prismatic basalt.

How would you
build that then today?

Well, you-you'd certainly
need cranes,

I can tell you that. Um...

Even for some of these
smaller blocks,

you're talking about
on the order of tens of tons.

So, how would you build this
if you didn't have any cranes?

It's a mystery to me.

I can't imagine how it could
be built without cranes.

CHILDRESS: So, Gus,
what is your tradition of

how they built these walls?

NARRATOR:
Recently, a growing number
of scientists have become

convinced that the basalt
used to construct Nan Modal

came from a volcanic outcropping

25 miles northeast
of the ancient site.

But how were
the massive stones transported

over such a long distance?

To investigate, the team
traveled to another site

on the island
that is said to have belonged

to Nan Madol's
original builders.

CHILDRESS:
So, Gus, what is then
the oral history

of moving this stone
on the island?

NARRATOR:
For generations,

the people of Pohnpei have told
the story that Nan Madol

was built by strange visitors
through a process of levitation.

NARRATOR:
According to the tale,
the basalt was carried

by what the natives
referred to as "a giant bird."

There's one story that says
that, at some point, there were

these giant roosters that lived
on top of that mountain.

And this rooster took
these basalt blocks

and flew them over to Nan Madol.

Now, monster roosters
do not exist.

So, my mind always goes
to misunderstood technology.

Machines that were provided
by the extraterrestrials.

Why is it that remote islands
all around the world

are home to so many
mysterious structures,

sightings, and legends
of otherworldly beings?

Well, perhaps these
secluded locations offered

the perfect outposts
for extraterrestrials

who came to Earth
thousands of years ago

and may still be visiting today.

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