All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S01E04.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

Narrator: eyes in the sky
Watching us from space --

Hundreds of satellites
Showing us the world

Like we've never seen it before,

Capturing images which
Are breathtaking but bizarre,

Objects and phenomena
Which defy explanation.

What is that?

Narrator: a pyramid surrounded
By geometric shapes

In the egyptian desert.

This pyramid looks nothing like
What we've seen before.

Narrator:
Archaeologists get excited,

But military analysts fear
Something sinister.

What worries the world right now
Is that a very radical group

Is taking control
Of the egyptian government.

Narrator:
A ring in solid ice

Three miles wide on the oldest,
Deepest lake on earth.

I think it's quite likely

That there are species living
In the depths of this lake

That have
Not yet been discovered.

Narrator:
And have satellites discovered

God's wrath in action?

I think there should be no doubt

About the identification
Of tall el-hammam

As biblical sodom.

Narrator: baffling objects seen
From space.

What on earth are they?

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

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

[ satellite pings ]

Flying over the middle east,
A satellite takes this picture

Of the area
North of the dead sea.

Analysts see
Nothing out of the ordinary --

Just an uninhabited clearing
In the barren desert rock.

But one archaeologist spots
Something others have missed.

Dr. Steven collins is drawn

To this ridge of mountains
Encircling a flat plain of land.

He thinks
This unremarkable-looking disk

Is the last piece of the puzzle

In his search
For two lost biblical cities...

...The ancient cities of sin,
Sodom and gomorrah.

Dr. Collins:
Sodom and gomorrah were cities

That had completely disavowed
Morality

Or the desire to take care
Of their fellow man,

And god put an end to it.

[ people screaming ]

Narrator:
The old testament describes

The fierce anger of god --

A storm of fire and brimstone

Raining down
On sodom and gomorrah...

...Leaving nothing but
A wasteland of salt and sulfur.

[ people screaming ]

Dr. Collins: there
Is no more graphic description

Of the wrath of god

Than the destruction
Of sodom and gomorrah.

Narrator: but could it all
Just have been a fable,

A terrifying cautionary tale?

Neither sodom nor gomorrah
Has been discovered.

[ beeping ]

Archaeologists have searched
The holy land

In various areas
Around the dead sea.

But dr. Collins thinks they've
Been looking in the wrong place.

He claims the flat plain circled
By mountain ridges

Seen in the satellite image

Is the clue everyone has missed.

Collins' theory is based on
References in the old testament.

According to biblical scholars,

The city of sodom was built
On a fertile flat plain

By the river jordan
Called "Kikar."

This kikar
Has never been discovered.

However, in hebrew,

The word "Kikar"
Also means "A flat disk."

Dr. Collins:
When you put the biblical
Description of the kikar,

The circle
Of the jordan together

And compare that
With the satellite image,

You know that you're looking
At exactly the same thing.

Narrator:
If dr. Collins is right

And this is the disk-like plain

Referred to
In the old testament,

He may be zeroing in on sodom.

It's a controversial theory.

There are many clues
As to where sodom's located.

Most of them don't point
To this place

Where dr. Collins is looking.

Narrator: but dr. Collins has
Another piece of evidence --

A 6th-century mosaic map
Of the ancient holy land

Found on the floor of a church
In the town of madaba.

Look at this.
This is very interesting.

Here
Are two city representations

Northeast of the dead sea,

But we don't have
The captions to the cities.

Narrator: on the map is marked
The city of zoar,

To which lot and his daughters
Fled to escape god's wrath.

[ people screaming ]

But it's the two unnamed cities
That intrigue collins.

If zoar is on the map,

Why wouldn't we have
Sodom and gomorrah?

Of course we would have
Sodom and gomorrah,

And I think
That's what these are.

Narrator: by taking the map
And reorienting it

To the satellite image
Of the area today,

These two unnamed ancient cities
Are found to sit

In the middle
Of the circular plain

To the north of the dead sea...

...The area collins believes
Is the disk-like kikar.

Dr. Collins:
There isn't anything else

That could possibly be
On that location

Except for sodom and gomorrah.

Narrator: but if the kinds
Of events described in the bible

Did actually happen,

You would expect
To find some evidence of them

Down on the ground.

At the circular clearing

Where the unnamed cities
Are located on the map,

There is an ancient ruin
Known as tall el-hammam.

Collins heads up

The archaeological excavation
Of the site.

What he discovers

Is the foundations
Of immense fortifications

Covering 250 acres,

And artifacts that dated back
4œ thousand years,

To before the bronze age.

But there is something strange.

There are no significant
Standing structures

Of the thick city walls
And ramparts --

Only the jagged foundations
Remain.

Silvia: there are
No standing super structures

Anywhere on that site,

And it's not just because
Of time and tide

That has eroded them away.

They were literally blown off
Of their foundations.

Narrator:
There is also evidence

Of some catastrophic,
Destructive event.

Dr. Collins: when we first began
Excavating at tall el-hammam,

One of the things we noticed was
A massive destruction layer...

...An ash layer
And a debris layer

That is over a meter in
Thickness over the whole site.

Narrator:
In that ash layer,

They found objects, like
Pottery, melted by immense heat.

[ explosion ]

We're talking
About something more powerful

Than
Many, many atomic explosions.

Silvia:
The energy released

Was equivalent to 68 atomic
Bombs going off all at once.

Dr. Collins:
The pottery is smashed to bits.

Human beings
Are smashed to bits.

Everything is burned to a crisp.

[ rumbling ]

Narrator:
Is this evidence of god's wrath?

A sinful people punished

By devouring fire and brimstone
From on high?

Collins searches for an
Alternative natural explanation.

Dr. Collins:
The only natural event

That could produce the effect
That the bible describes

In the destruction
Of sodom and gomorrah

Is a cosmic air burst event.

Narrator:
In a cosmic air burst,

A meteor or large comet fragment
Explodes

As it comes into contact
With earth's atmosphere.

Silvia:
It literally obliterates,

Incinerates,
Atomizes everything else.

Narrator:
The three-foot layer of ash

Does suggest
Some devastating event.

Collins believes there is
Only one reasonable conclusion.

I think there should be no doubt
About the identification

Of tall el-hammam
As biblical sodom.

[ beeping, static crackling ]

Narrator:
A bizarre ring three miles wide

On the surface of the oldest,
Deepest lake on earth.

There are thousands of species

That have evolved
To live in this lake

That live nowhere else
In the world.

[ growls ]

Narrator:
Is some ancient life form

Waiting to be discovered

In the freezing waters
Of siberia?

Dr. Lester:
We don't know much

About what exists
Deep underneath lake baikal.

[ satellite pinging ]

Narrator:
April 23, 2009.

The international space station
Is passing over

The freezing-cold wilderness
Of siberia.

From 220 miles up,

An astronaut photographs
Lake baikal,

The oldest lake on earth.

His camera scans
The 25 million-year-old lake,

Grabbing snapshots

Across 12,000 square miles
Of icy water.

[ beeping ]

When he sends the images
Back to earth,

Something bizarre is revealed...

...A massive, almost perfectly
Circular dark ring

On the surface.

Back on earth,

Astronaut mike barratt tries to
Make sense of what he witnessed.

I saw
A very large ring structure

That looked like
A fracture pattern almost.

It looked like somebody had
Taken a very large soda straw

And just pushed on the ice.

I had never seen anything
Like this.

Narrator: analysis shows
That the ring is huge,

Measuring approximately
Three miles across.

Also, whatever or whoever
Created this ring

Has cut or melted
Through four feet of solid ice.

What forces could lead

To a circular fracture pattern
Like that?

It could be that there is
Some kind of thermal upwelling,

And it heats the water.

As that warm water rises,
It hits the ice underneath.

It starts to generate
This ring structure.

Narrator:
But for this natural explanation

Of the rings to be true,

There would need to be
A massive source of heat

At the bottom of the lake.

Could there be
A volcano down there?

Experts know of none,

And there are no other telltale
Signs of volcanic activity.

Scientists search again
For some natural explanation.

It's the biggest
Freshwater lake,

The deepest freshwater lake,

The oldest freshwater lake
At 25 million years old.

You compare that
To the great lakes

In the united states --

They formed
Around 15,000 years ago.

Narrator: could the weird ring
Possibly be a sign of age?

This is the oldest, deepest lake
In the world.

That means it has
A huge amount of sediment.

It has incredibly thick layers
Of sediment in its bottom --

Upwards of seven kilometers
Thick of sediment,

As compared to maybe
A few tens of meters of sediment

In a typical lake.

Narrator: lake baikal is teeming
With animal and plant life.

Over millions of years,

Every living thing in the lake
Ends up dead and decaying

On the lake bed.

The remains
Of countless trillions

Of plants and creatures
Form thick sediment

Like nothing else on the planet.

Could the ring on the surface

Be the result of some strange
Chemistry occurring

Far below in the lake bed?

Dr. Lester: it's been noticed
In other parts of the lake

That methane gas has been rising
From the sediments.

Narrator: but a vast amount
Of methane would be needed

To melt a ring three miles
In diameter

Through four feet of solid ice.

Searching for further clues,

Scientists study more satellite
Images of the lake

Going back in time.

They discover
More of the mysterious rings,

Varying in size and
In different parts of the lake.

As they form and dissipate
In different years,

They seem to occur
In different spots on the lake,

And that, again,
Is a bit of a mystery.

Narrator: whatever is causing
These rings, it's moving.

Could
Some unknown living creature

In the depths of the lake

Be responsible
For the ring on the surface?

For the last 25 million years,
There are thousands of species

That have evolved
To live in this lake,

And there are now
At least 1,000 species

That live nowhere else
In the world.

Narrator: isolated
From the rest of the world,

The unknown species
In this giant lake

Have followed
Their own evolutionary path.

We can only guess
Where it's led.

Whatever is causing these rings,

It appears to be generating
Incredible heat...

[ ice cracking ]

...Enough to melt thick ice and
Form a ring three miles wide.

No creature known on earth
Can do this.

Scientists searching
These isolated waters

Have discovered strange
Alien-like plants and animals,

Creatures with bizarre
Evolutionary traits,

Creatures that glow
Or are transparent.

But the great bulk
Of this vast lake

Remains unexplored
And uncharted.

[ growls ]

This lake actually has
A very unique characteristic

In that it is highly oxygenated.

Because there's so much oxygen
Mixed into the water,

It's able to support
These giant amphipods,

These giant flesh-eating
Crustaceans.

There are species living
In the depths of this lake

That have not yet been
Discovered.

Narrator: if bizarre reports
From the russian military

Are to be believed,

These unknown creatures are
Of the most extraordinary kind.

There was this encounter
Deep in the lake

Where russian divers came across
These strange humanoid figures.

[ roars ]

Narrator: three russian divers
Lost their lives

In the incident.

Four others were injured.

The survivors all claim
To have been attacked by beings

Which they described
As silvery and humanoid.

Now, these figures

Were apparently wearing helmets
Of some sort,

And the clear implication

Is that we're dealing
With intelligent life here.

Narrator:
The encounter was documented

In an official
Russian military report

And reported
In the russian press.

To this day, no one is sure
What the divers saw.

Could there be other animals
Living deep down in this lake?

Well, most certainly, there are.

But humanoid ones?
I'm not so sure.

Narrator:
Lake baikal is like

A giant isolated
Evolutionary experiment.

Its secrets are buried deep.

We don't know much

About what exists
Deep underneath lake baikal.

Narrator: the images caught
By satellite remain unexplained.

Whatever is creating
The weird rings

On the surface of lake baikal

Is still down there.

[ roars ]

[ beeping, static crackling ]

Narrator: a menacing
Cloud-shaped plume 35 miles wide

Appears over new mexico.

Pope: what do we see
In the exact same area?

One of the biggest
Secret weapons testing sites

In the united states.

Narrator: it sends the internet
Into overdrive.

Douglass:
Some people were even saying

That we should evacuate parts
Of the state.

Narrator: march 2014.

A weather radar detects
A vast cloud-like plume

Traveling northeast
Across new mexico.

It appears in an instant...

With no warning.

Some blame radar error,

But the u.S. Weather service
Confirms

The reading is accurate.

They've just no idea
Where the plume has come from.

Until it appeared,
The skies had been clear.

There's no storm,
No clouds, no rain.

When I see something that I can
Say, "No, this isn't a storm,"

I look
For other possible explanation.

Narrator: alarmingly, the smoke,
Or whatever it is,

Grows rapidly
To 35 miles in diameter.

It moves over texas,

Then dissipates
Over western oklahoma.

[ keys clacking ]
Meteorologists can't explain it.

The plume seemed to burst
From nowhere,

Like the result
Of a great explosion.

[ volcano rumbling ]

It resembles something
From a volcano.

There has been recent volcanic
Activity in new mexico,

But it's 25 miles east of the
Point where the plume appeared.

The image finds its way
Onto the internet,

Where investigative reporter
Steve douglass

Picks up the story.

Douglass:
I have a reputation

Of looking into the odd
And the unexplained,

And I was intrigued.

I was very intrigued by it.

Narrator: steve starts
Investigating the mystery

With his contacts online

When he notices
A rumor spreading.

People suggest
That the smoke-like cloud

Is coming from a facility
Used to store nuclear waste.

Douglass:
People were blogging about this.

Some people were even saying

That we should evacuate parts
Of the state.

Narrator:
But douglass is a reporter.

He knows better than to take
Rumors at face value,

And he knows
The plume can't be radiation.

A radiation cloud
Wouldn't be seen on radar.

Dr. Capps:
Fallout is not visible.

In fact, the folks
Who used to go try to find

Fallout clouds in planes --

The only way they'd know if they
Were flying through a cloud

Was with a geiger counter.

It certainly wouldn't show up
On radar.

Narrator: but though fallout
Is not visible,

A nuclear detonation would be.

Douglass works back
Through the available data,

Aiming to reveal
Where the plume first appeared.

Douglass: using the data from
The national weather service

And also radars
From cannon air force base,

We're able
To pin down the location.

Pope: what do we see
In the exact same area?

One of the biggest
Secret weapons testing sites

In the united states...

Where the first atomic bombs
Were tested.

Narrator: this is
The white sands missile range,

Where, on july 16, 1945,

Scientists working
On the manhattan project

Detonated the world's
First atomic weapon...

[ explosion ]

...A 20-kiloton plutonium bomb.

The site is still used
By the u.S. Government

For weapons testing.

Douglass: and I called
The white sands missile range,

And they did not know
What it was, either --

At least officially,
They did not know what it was.

Narrator:
Given the nature of the base,

Douglass wonders if they're
Trying to hide something

And whether this is smoke,

The result of a secret
Underground nuclear test

That went wrong.

Douglass: I went looking
For seismic activity,

But the ground wasn't shaking --
The earth wasn't moving.

Narrator: the u.S.
Has not officially tested

Any atomic weapons since 1992.

Could the plume be linked
To other activity at the base?

The opportunity to begin
Eliminating the nuclear threat

Is within reach.

Narrator: in 1983,
President ronald reagan

Ordered military scientists

To work on a strategic defense
Initiative --

A futuristic weapons project

That became known
As "Star wars."

Ronald reagan was able
To get the funds

To pour billions into making
Nuclear missiles obsolete.

Narrator:
The plan was to build weapons

That could destroy the missiles

Before they hit the u.S.

The program became
Increasingly secretive.

[ radio chatter ]

[ beeping ]

So, could this plume
Be the result

Of some advanced weapon
Being tested at white sands?

[ tone's pitch rising
And falling ]

Researching the weapon theory,

Douglass studies
Multi-frequency recordings

From the moment
The plume appeared,

And he makes
A strange discovery.

[ tone's pitch rising
And falling ]

Douglass: I recorded what
Sounded like just white noise,

And I realized it had a pitch
That rose and fell,

Which is indicative
Of a satellite.

It started out low, became high,
And went low,

And then was abruptly cut off.

Dr. Capps: there were
Some satellite traffic signals

At that time,

And one of them
Was flying by that area,

Giving off a signal,

And went dead
Right at the same time.

Narrator: has the u.S. Military
Used an exotic weapon

To shoot down a satellite?

[ explosion ]

The plume of smoke 35 miles wide
Is hard to keep secret,

But maybe it wasn't meant to be.

Relations between russia
And the west

Are worse than they've been
Since the cold war,

And senior figures in russia

Have once again raised
The specter of nuclear conflict.

Pope:
Was this the americans' way

Of saying to other governments,

"Hey, look what we've got"?

You have to assume you've got
A russian photo interpreter

Hunched over,
Probably, a 1970s-era desk.

[ laughs ]

Yeah, with an old ring phone.

Picks it up, cranks it up,
And calls the kremlin

And says, "I got a plume
Of smoke over white sands."

Narrator: steve douglass
Certainly believes

This plume of smoke
Was meant to be seen --

That it's an intentional play

In a political game
Of show-and-tell

Between the u.S. And russia.

Douglass:
We had a general idea

That this is a very subtle
Message to vladimir putin that,

"You may still have
Cold war era nuclear weapons.

We've moved way beyond that."

[ explosion ]

[ wind rushing ]

[ beeping, static crackling ]

Narrator: huge stone geometric
Shapes on the earth's surface,

And in the center,
A mysterious pyramid.

This is a strange one.

Narrator: is this
A forgotten ancient structure...

This pyramid looks nothing like
What we've seen before.

Narrator:
...Or something more sinister?

Pope: this thing
isn't a lost pyramid --

it's a secret pyramid.

Narrator: june 2010.

The high-resolution earth
Observation satellite quickbird

Is flying 280 miles
Over the egyptian desert

When it captures this image...

...A large diamond shape almost
2,200 feet across the diagonal.

Inside the diamond is a circle
With a diameter of 300 feet.

Inside the circle is a cross,

And at its intersection,
A smaller object.

It appears to be a pyramid.

If something looks
Very much like a pyramid

And it's in egypt,

It's probably a pyramid.

Narrator:
Satellites flying over egypt

Have revealed no fewer than
17 previously unknown pyramids.

But this one is located
In egypt's western desert,

Miles from the nearest
Ancient egyptian settlement.

And unlike other pyramids,

It's surrounded
By large geometric shapes.

This thing is quite mysterious.

This could be
A very important ancient site.

Narrator:
The base of the pyramid

Measures just 16 feet wide

And is at the center of a cross,

Which looks like
It's made of stone.

Finding a pyramid
We didn't know about in egypt,

Of course that's exciting.

But this pyramid looks nothing
Like what we've seen before.

Narrator:
But if the ancient egyptians

Didn't build
This strange structure,

Who did?

We know, for instance, there
Are small pyramids in nubia,

This ancient kingdom
South of egypt,

Which did sort of imitate egypt
And built pyramids,

But usually much smaller scale.

Narrator: this is the same size
And shape as a nubian pyramid,

But it's in the wrong place.

The territory of the nubians
Was much further south.

And this pyramid is also too far
From the river nile,

The nearest source of water.

Large ancient building projects
Needed many workers,

And workers need water.

Dr. Altaweel: there's no
Evidence for any kind of river.

I mean, how could you have

People living in the middle
Of a desert

Without any access to water?

Narrator: further analysis
Of the satellite image reveals

Other strange features
At the site.

Surrounding the pyramid
And geometric shapes

Are a series of pock marks.
[ camera whirring ]

And close to the pock marks
Are zigzagging lines,

Which look like tire tracks.

But if this
Is a modern structure,

The egypt authorities
Refuse to acknowledge it exists.

Pope: when you put
All this together --

The secrecy, the remote
Location, the tire tracks --

What it all begins to look like

Is a secretive
Military facility.

The circles -- they
Are probably from explosives,

Ordnance dropped
From an aircraft.

What this looks like
Is a bombing range

Where combat pilots can practice
Their bombing and strafing

On stationary targets.

Narrator: it could perhaps be
A bombing target,

But there's something
That doesn't quite fit.

Why build a pyramid right
At the center of this structure?

Narrator: it's that pyramid

Which analysts
Are struggling to explain.

One potentially
Intriguing connection here

Is that the only other
Military facility in the world

That has
A similar pyramid structure

Is the infamous area 51.

Narrator: america's top-secret
Military facility

Commonly known as area 51

Is the subject
Of much speculation.

The exact nature and purpose

Of the small pyramid
Which has been seen here

Is a mystery.

Could satellites have captured
Egypt's own version of area 51?

Or perhaps
There's another reason

Egyptian officials refuse
To admit the site exists --

They may not know it's there.

What worries the world right now
Is that a very radical group

Is taking control
Of the egyptian government.

[ shouting in native language ]

This area is so remote,

It's exactly where
You might try to gather together

A secret army.

This thing
isn't a lost pyramid --

it's a secret pyramid.

[ gunfire ]

Narrator:
Whether a bombing target,

A terrorist training site,

Or whatever else,

This egyptian pyramid
Is no longer secret.

Whatever happens here,

The eyes in the sky
Are watching.

[ beeping, static crackling ]

[ satellite pings ]

Narrator: a satellite
Captures an island city

Packed with buildings
But devoid of life.

Dr. Pavelec: what was once
A bustling city and community

Is completely desolate
And empty now.

Narrator:
What on earth happened here?

It's eerie.
It's like a ghost town.

[ satellite pings ]

Narrator:
A satellite is orbiting

High above the east china sea.

It captures this curious image.

An island
Off the coast of japan,

Nine miles from nagasaki.

[ camera whirrs ]

It measures
1,600 feet by 500 feet --

The same size
As liberty island in new york.

But liberty island has
Just one house on it.

This island has around
30 massive tenement blocks --

Enough to house
Over 5,000 people.

That would make this

The most densely crowded area
On the planet.

People were quite literally
Living on top of each other.

Narrator:
But what's most intriguing

Is that, on the satellite image,
There are no humans.

Not a single person can be seen.

There's no movement.

When the island is captured
On satellite camera at night,

There are no lights.

This place was once teeming
With people.

Where have they gone?

Journalist max maconachy

Is taking a boat to the island
To investigate further.

Japanese fishermen
Call it "Gunkanjima,"

Which means "Battleship island,"

And a battleship
Is just what it looks like.

The real name of this island
Is hashima.

Oh, what is this place?

Look at these walls.

[ door creaking ]

Oh, my god.

It's unbelievable.

Narrator:
Packed onto this tiny island

Is block after block
Of cramped tenement housing.

The buildings look
Like they've been attacked,

But they haven't been
Demolished.

Each crumbling building

Must have contained
Almost 200 people.

And the island looks like
It was abandoned in a hurry.

People left their tv,
Their phone.

It's like someone was there
An hour ago, two hours ago.

Narrator: these aren't
The only possessions

People have abandoned.

There are desks
And chairs in a classroom...

Sets of teeth left behind
At a dentist's.

Everywhere, there are people's
Possessions scattered,

From shoes to kettles.

Maconachy:
There's children's toys, even.

Narrator: until 2009,

This island was off-limits
To the public.

Now witnesses to what happened
Here are coming forward.

The story of this island
Is like a nightmare,

And the nightmare begins when
Japan attacks china in 1937.

[ people screaming ]

[ speaking japanese ]

Narrator:
The invasion of china

Was followed by japan's entry
Into world war ii.

To fuel its war machine,
Japan desperately needed coal.

Hashima island sits above rich
Deposits of high-grade coal.

There had been
A mining operation here

Since the late 19th century.

Now the island was to be turned

Into a terrifying
Forced-labor camp.

Laborers were moved
To the island by the hundreds.

To get to the coal, the slave
Laborers dug deeper and deeper,

Over half a mile underground,

Working long shifts with barely
Enough food to keep them alive.

For some, it was too much.

Their only escape was death.

Maconachy: oh, my god.

You couldn't jump this
And make it.

[ dr. Takazane
Speaking japanese ]

Narrator:
Incredibly, after the war,

The island mine
Was not closed down.

So hungry, impoverished,
And desperate

Were people in postwar japan

That men and their families
Moved to the island

To work in the mine.

One of them was tomoji kobata.

[ speaking japanese ]

Narrator: but in april 1974,
Hashima was evacuated.

Everyone on the island
Was quickly taken off.

The official reason is that
The coal mine was closing.

But what remains a mystery
Is why it happened so suddenly.

Maconachy:
It happened very quickly,

And the only reason that happens
Is a bad reason.

Maybe there was a disaster.

Maybe somebody deemed the island
Unsafe, and they had to leave.

I think it was quick, and it
Might have even been violent.

Narrator: for 35 years, this
Has been a forbidden island.

What was once the most densely
Populated place on the planet...

And the scene of unspeakable
Cruelty and torture

Is now a ghost island.

[ beeping, static crackling ]

An image of a radiating triangle
In the australian outback

Goes viral on the internet.

Pope: one
Of the most commonly seen ufos

Is a triangular-shaped craft.

Narrator: online communities
Find a controversial connection

With one of the strangest places
On earth.

Some people say that
There's a geometric relationship

Between these two areas.

Narrator:
Has a satellite discovered

Australia's
Own bermuda triangle?

[ camera whirrs ]

Narrator: february 2004.

The quickbird satellite
Is flying over western australia

When it captures this image.

Hill:
There's just this weird triangle

In the middle of the outback.

Not a lot of people live there,
Not a lot of activity going on.

What exactly is it?

Narrator: the image
Is published on the internet,

And it excites wild theories
Of alien or paranormal activity.

[ computer keys clacking ]

One of the most commonly seen
Ufos from all around the world

Is a triangular-shaped craft
With lights at each corner.

And now we see
Virtually the same thing

In the australian outback.

Narrator:
Among the more crazy conjecture,

There is genuine intrigue
From some investigators

As to what this triangle is.

One is karl gruber,

A seasoned science journalist
From latin america

Now living in western australia.

There's no way
It could be natural.

It's just too perfect.

Narrator:
The satellite image shows

The strange triangle has sides

That stretch
To around 350 feet in length.

In each corner and in the center
Is what appears to be

Glowing lights
That form a regular pattern.

Someone or something made it.

There's no doubt about it.

Narrator:
The only way to find out

Is to investigate the site
From the ground.

So gruber heads
Deep into the outback.

Satellite coordinates are
Leading me to this remote place.

This part of australia
Is really weird.

Not a whole lot of people
Come here.

All kinds of weird things are
Supposed to have happened here.

Narrator:
But as a reporter,

Gruber is interested in facts,
Not rumors.

Gruber:
I'm a science journalist.

I have to go to this spot
And see it for myself.

Narrator: what we do know

Is that pilots have reported
Strange events

Over this part of australia.

On october 7, 2008,
Qantas flight 72

Suffered a sudden and dramatic
Computer system malfunction.

The plane was plunged
Into a series of dives

That threw its passengers
Around the cabin,

Causing over 100 injuries.

[ people screaming ]

No one has been able
To fully explain this.

[ woman screams ]

The onboard aircraft systems
Are so tested to the limit

That can't help but speculate

That something external
Was involved.

Narrator: this and other strange
Events lead to wild speculation.

Gripped by the satellite image,

Online communities make
A remarkable observation.

This site
In the australian outback

Is on the direct opposite side
Of the planet

To the bermuda triangle.

[ beeping ]

Some people say that
There's a geometric relationship

Between these two areas.

Narrator: draw a line
Through the center of the earth,

And these two locations connect.

Could it be that there's
Something about the earth --

Maybe the magnetic field --
That does cause interference,

Which could lead to the loss
Of a ship or an aircraft?

Narrator:
If gruber can establish

What the outback triangle
Really is,

It might provide an answer.

It should be
In that field somewhere.

Narrator:
But first, he has to find it.

Whatever that was taken
With that photograph

Should be right here,
Right in front of me...

But there's nothing here.

Narrator:
The triangle captured from space

Is around 350 feet wide
And brightly lit.

So where has it gone?

The only thing
That's different now

Are those wind turbines
Over there.

Narrator:
Could people have mistaken

The construction of a wind farm

For this strange triangle?

[ birds chirping ]

There's no turbine

On the spot where gruber
Has been led to by his gps.

But armed
With this new information,

Satellite analyst
Amanda marchetti has a theory.

Marchetti:
I think they were using

Some sort of antenna
Or some sort of sensor to test

If this was an appropriate place
For a wind farm.

There's a very tall structure
Going up.

You can see the shadow
That it cast on the ground.

What I think the three portions
Of that triangle are,

Are the cables

That are just helping
To keep that pole steady.

Narrator:
Marchetti's analysis adds up.

The image and the proximity
To the wind farm

Confirmed by gruber
Support her theory.

There are many strange,
Unexplained events

In the australian outback,

But this satellite image
May not be as bizarre

As some internet communities
Believe.

From space,
It's an intriguing mystery.

On the ground, it's case closed
For karl gruber.