NARRATOR: Ancient cities...
lost for centuries.
Dozens of people have risked
their lives trying to find
where Paititi is.
NARRATOR: Treasures...
hidden deep underwater.
The local people have told me
not simply that the ships fly
over the lake, but they
actually enter the lake.
NARRATOR: And secret
chambers...
buried under the
great Egyptian Sphinx.
Gold was the flesh of the
gods.
Egypt had probably the best
supply of gold anywhere in the
ancient world.
NARRATOR: Since the dawn of
time, humans have been obsessed
with legends of hidden gold.
But what if our desire for this
precious metal is about
something more than riches?
It almost seems as if we're
genetically programmed to
love gold.
Ultimately, gold represents
our connection with the stars.
A number of researchers have
suggested that ancient aliens
have come to Earth primarily to
mine gold.
NARRATOR: Millions of people
around the world believe we have
been visited in the past by
extraterrestrial beings.
What if it were true?
Did ancient aliens really help
to shape our history?
And if so, might they have come
here in search of gold?
♪♪
NARRATOR: Lake Guatavita,
Colombia.
Believed to be the site of an
ancient meteor crater, this
circular-shaped mountain lake is
at the center of one of
mankind's greatest searches...
the search for El Dorado,
the Lost City of Gold.
Since the 16th century, El
Dorado has been the "holy grail"
for fortune hunters.
Legends abound about a place
full of untold riches somewhere
in South America.
Yet to this day, the mythical
city remains undiscovered.
But if such a magnificent place
does exist, how has it eluded
explorers for centuries?
Some believe the answer lies
within this mysterious lake.
GREGORY DEYERMENJIAN: The
story of El Dorado developed
from the Lake Guatavita that
was within the territory of the
Muisca, or the Chibcha, people,
which was a chiefdom... not
quite as high a civilization as
the Incas or as the Aztecs, but
a chiefdom with civilization
itself that had a lot of gold.
The ruler in the southern half
of the Muisca territory was
known as the Zipa, but the
Conquistadores who arrived there
in the 16th century called him
El Dorado, Spanish for
"The Golden One."
They gave him this name after
observing the Muisca's most
sacred ritual... the Zipa would
float out on a royal barge to
the middle of Lake Guatavita to
make offerings of gold to a god
believed to live at the bottom
of the lake.
DEYERMENJIAN: it was said
that the chief, adorned with
resin and then adorned with
gold dust, would jump into the
water in order to wash the gold
dust off, and then this gold
would accumulate in that lake,
and that golden objects as
sacrifices would be thrown into
that particular lake.
And from that came the belief of
El Dorado around Colombia.
NARRATOR: In 1912, an
excavation of Lake Guatavita was
led by British engineer Hartley
Knowles.
Knowles reported that he had
recovered around $20,000 worth
of treasure...
including golden artifacts.
But he also believed much more
lay beneath the hardened
lake bed.
Could Knowles' find be evidence
that the story of the Muisca
chief is based on truth?
If so, just who... or what...
was the so-called god who
dwelled at the bottom of the
lake?
DAVID CHILDRESS: A number of
researchers have suggested that
ancient aliens have come to
Earth primarily to mine gold.
Zecharia Sitchin suggested
that these extraterrestrials
needed gold to suspend in their
atmosphere and preserve their
planet.
DERRICK PITTS: ls gold
something that's really
important to space exploration
and to astronomy?
Well, it actually is... very
important... and the reason why
is because gold is an
inert material.
It doesn't react with anything.
The other thing that's very
important about it is that it is
a wonderful conductor of
electricity.
And last but not least is the
fact that gold is a perfect
reflector of infrared energy.
You can use gold blankets to
protect spacecraft against the
intense heat of a star or any
sort of heat source.
CHILDRESS: Gold is a very
rare and valuable element
throughout the universe.
(whooshing)
NARRATOR: Aliens... coming to
Earth searching for gold.
Could such a thing be possible?
According to ancient astronaut
theorists, it is not only
possible, but they claim the
proof exists in the numerous
texts and legends of the ancient
world.
Like that of the legendary Incan
city of Paititi, thought to be
located near the southeastern
area of Peru.
CHILDRESS: The Conquistadors
became obsessed with finding
this mysterious city of gold
that they heard was in the
jungles of Eastern Peru
somewhere.
They called it Paititi, the
Golden City.
Stories of Paititi and El Dorado
ultimately led to the
exploration of the Amazon
jungle.
DEYERMENJIAN: El Dorado
and Paititi are frequently
confused.
I see El Dorado as being that
particular gold-producing site
that was in northern South
America, and Paititi having
been another civilization
contemporaneous with the Incas
in the area of Peru, Bolivia,
that has yet to be definitively
found.
And that's what part of my quest
has been over these last 25
years.
NARRATOR: Since 1984,
American explorer Gregory
Deyermenjian, and his Peruvian
counterpart Paulino Mamani, have
staged more than 15
expeditions in search of this
mythical city of gold.
DEYERMENJIAN: There was an
Incan road of stone leading
towards what is supposed to be,
as legend would have it,
Paititi... that's what
we've been following.
They say that Pachamama,
the earth goddess, covers
these areas with such
difficulty... the moss, the
jungle, the rivers... that some
things could be hidden there
forever.
NARRATOR: Their search began
in Cusco at the Incan holy
place of Coricancha, which means
"Golden Courtyard."
In 1559, Spanish Conquistadors
tore down Coricancha to
construct the Cathedral of Santo
Domingo, and it still sits in
the center of Cusco today,
surrounded by the ruins of the
ancient Incan temple.
The cathedral features an
enormous altar covered in gold.
But according to the records of
the Conquistadors, it pales in
comparison to the magnificent
Coricancha, which was not only
filled with gold statues but
was also covered in sheets of
solid gold.
FOERSTER: Gold was important
to the Inca because it was the
sweat of the sun.
The sun was the highest deity of
the Inca, and therefore the
sweat of the sun represented the
most sacred possession
imaginable.
NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut
theorists believe a golden sun
idol called the Punchau that
once resided in Coricancha may
provide evidence that
extraterrestrials had contact
with the Inca.
GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: The
Coricancha was famous for its
gigantic golden disc that the
ancient Inca worshipped, that
was a symbol of a giant golden
disc that allegedly landed from
the sky in front of the Inca
ruler Atahuallpa, and he had
direct contact, according to the
legends, with the sky gods.
NARRATOR: Could the giant
golden disc that once resided
inside Coricancha have been made
to honor an alien visitor?
And if extraterrestrials did
come to mine gold, might this
also provide evidence that
Paititi is nearby?
In 1533 the Spanish overtook the
city of Cusco and plundered the
temple of Coricancha in search
of Incan gold.
But according to local legend,
the gold had already been moved
20 miles northwest of the city
and deposited at the bottom
of a nearby lake.
FOERSTER: Before the entire
group of Spanish were able to
get into Cusco, the priests
found out about it and they had
all of the gold from all of the
temples brought up to Lake Puray
and thrown into the center.
None of it has been found,
to this day.
The amount of gold at today's
prices would be in the billions.
NARRATOR: Perhaps even more
mysterious are the frequent
reports of unusual sightings in
the skies over the area...
sightings that have been
reported for hundreds of years.
FOERSTER: The local people of
this area have told me not
simply that the ships fly over
the lake, but they actually
enter the lake.
The stories go that there's a
little vortex that opens up just
about the size of the spaceship,
perhaps 20 feet across.
The spaceship enters the lake,
the vortex closes.
Later, the vortex opens and the
ship leaves again.
NARRATOR: if, as the local
inhabitants claim, strange...
possibly alien... spacecraft
really do come to this area,
might there be a connection
between the visitations and the
legends of gold hidden at the
bottom of Lake Puray?
COPPENS: Dozens of people
have risked their lives, in some
cases actually have died, trying
to find where Paititi is.
You have the standard treasure
hunter who just goes to it for
the monetary value, you have
certain people who go to it
because they know that their
name will be immortalized
forever after, but you also have
people who go in search of this
because they know that if you
find the treasure, you will
literally prove that a legend is
factual.
NARRATOR: Perhaps the greater
mystery is not if or where the
mythical cities of El Dorado and
Paititi may be discovered...
but what might be revealed once
they are located.
NARRATOR: Tokyo imperial
University, March 1924.
In an early experiment with
nuclear energy, Professor
Hantaro Nagaoka directs 150,000
volts of electricity at a
mercury isotope under a
dielectric layer of paraffin oil
for four hours.
The purpose... to strike out a
hydrogen proton from the nucleus
of the mercury and produce
a new element...
gold.
The experiment is a success.
Professor Nagaoka has solved a
mystery that has eluded
scientists for centuries... the
mystery of the philosopher's
stone.
A.J. SHAKA: The philosopher's
stone was an idea that you could
have a magic kind of material
that would turn lead or some
very inexpensive metal into
gold.
The thought that one could do
that is attractive in and
of itself.
NARRATOR: For thousands of
years, kings sought out this
mythical device... one that could
create gold out of common metal.
Scientists and alchemists spent
centuries trying to invent one.
Even Sir lsaac Newton obsessed
over the mystery of the
philosopher's stone in the 17th
century, although the English
Crown, fearing the potential
devaluation of gold, had made
the practice of alchemy
punishable by death.
By the time of Professor
Nagaoka's experiment in 1924,
most of the scientific community
had declared the process of
producing gold from another
metal impossible.
But that quickly changed once
they knew where to look.
The secret of alchemy lies in
the stars.
MICHAEL DENNIN: When you
think about how gold is made
naturally, gold is formed,
basically, in the nuclear
reactions in a sun and then it's
spread throughout the universe
when a supernova occurs and the
sun explodes and sends all of
the products out.
Because we now can do controlled
nuclear reactions, we have the
ability, finally, to essentially
manufacture gold from other
elements.
NARRATOR: Here, at the
University of California,
Irvine, Dr. A.J. Shaka conducts
experiments in alchemy nearly
every day.
SHAKA: We put mercury into
one of these tubes, and mercury
has a minor isotope of.15%...
mercury 196 it's called... and
that isotope will actually pick
up a neutron and, in about
23 hours, turn into gold.
NARRATOR: To bring the
reactor to full capacity, Dr.
Shaka removes the control rods
that absorb neutrons and keep
them from reacting with other
atoms.
This generates power at a
staggering rate.
SHAKA: In terms of the amount
of power, including electrical
energy, that you can generate
from a given mass of material,
nuclear is about ten to 20
million times better than
anything else.
NARRATOR: After 24 hours, the
experiment has been a success
and yields gold, a real-life
philosopher's stone at work in
the basement of a small
university building.
The discovery of alchemy has
been invaluable to science, but
ironically it has not produced
untold riches.
SHAKA: if you irradiate for
about a day in our reactor, you
make three-tenths of a cent
worth of gold.
Since we charge $200 an hour to
operate the reactor, you're
pretty far in the hole.
NARRATOR: But while modern-
day alchemy is considered far
too inefficient to create vast
new caches of gold, ancient
astronaut theorists believe a
much greater technology than our
own may have been at work
thousands of years ago,
in ancient Egypt... another place
where gold was linked to
the gods.
ROBERT BAUVAL: The idea of
gold being some sort of divine
metal, divine element, is very
much ingrained in the ancient
Egyptian systems of belief.
AIDAN DODSON: Gold was the
flesh of the gods...
so, therefore, of very great
significance.
Egypt had probably the best
supply of gold anywhere in the
ancient world.
And we find that in some of the
letters which survived between
kings of Babylon, Assyria and
others and Egypt, a lot of them
are begging letters, basically
saying to the Egyptian king, you
know, "Oh, my brother, the
pharaoh, please send me gold,
lots of gold, because gold is
as dust in the land of my
brother, the pharaoh."
NARRATOR: But just how did
gold come to be so much more
abundant in ancient Egypt than
in neighboring lands?
And why did the Egyptians view
the metal as something not of
this world?
According to ancient astronaut
theorists, it is entirely
possible that the Egyptians
were capable of actually
manufacturing gold...
and may have received
otherworldly help to do so.
If alchemical transmutations can
be performed in a modest
facility like the one at the
University of California,
Irvine, what might be possible
with a larger reactor?
A reactor, perhaps, the size of
the Great Pyramid at Giza.
CHILDRESS: Christopher Dunne
has suggested that the Giza
Pyramid is some kind of giant
machine, and that some kind of
chemical reaction was taking
place inside the pyramid.
It's possible that the Giza
Pyramid was actually being used
to transmute other elements into
gold.
DUNN: Looking into the
blueprints of the internal
arrangement of passageways,
chambers and shafts, the
appearance of it, to me, did not
resemble anything that would be
used as a tomb.
The precision with which it was
built, the precision of the
stones that go into building
the queen's chamber,
the grand gallery,
and then, also, thousands and
thousands of tons of granite
that were brought down the Nile
500 miles to build the king's
chamber.
These are the features that
really shout out and say:
There's something going on here,
there's something different.
It was built like a machine,
perhaps it functioned like
a machine.
NARRATOR: Could it be that
the Great Pyramid was the
original philosopher's stone?
If so, how could an ancient
civilization have constructed
the equivalent of a nuclear
reactor?
Might the centuries-old search
for the philosopher's stone
represent more than just a
desire for gold and riches?
Could it represent... as ancient
astronaut theorists suggest...
the search for lost technology?
Perhaps the key to that
knowledge still lies hidden
somewhere here on Earth and
can be found in areas still
containing vast amounts of
hidden treasure.
NARRATOR: 1936.
The Giza Plateau, Egypt.
For more than 3,000 years, the
body of the Great Sphinx had
been buried beneath the sand.
But after 11 years of work,
Egyptian archaeologists uncover
the entire monument for the
first time since antiquity.
At 241 feet long and 66 feet
high, it is the largest... and
oldest... monolithic statue in
the world.
Even more incredible is its
shape.
The Sphinx has the head of a man
and the body of a lion.
Although Egyptologists date the
construction of The Great Sphinx
to the reign of the Pharaoh
Khafra, in approximately
2500 B.C.
Others claim its construction
could be much, much older.
BAUVAL: The orthodox date
of about 2500 B.C. tagged on
these monuments has been
challenged by a group of
researchers, including myself,
who have argued that the erosion
of the Sphinx suggests a much,
much older Sphinx.
NARRATOR: Although
Egyptologists have found no
agreement as to when... or why...
this strange monument was built,
ancient astronaut theorists
believe it may offer proof of
extraterrestrials being
present in ancient Egypt.
JASON MARTELL: We see in many
ancient Sumerian and Egyptian
inscriptions of sphinxes, half
man, uh, half animal of some
kind, and a variance to a degree
of different combinations of
animals and human beings.
We have to wonder, why would
they be doing this?
And, logically, it starts to
make more sense when we realize
a lot of these ancient texts
explain that extraterrestrials
came here and created us in
their image and after their
likeness.
GEORGE NOORY: if you believe
the work of the late
Zecharia Sitchin, where he
believes that the Annunaki came
from a planet that is somewhere
out in our solar system, and
that they came here to mine for
gold, but they figured they're
not gonna do the work
themselves, so they decided to
take what creatures were on this
planet at the time, genetically
alter them, and make mankind.
MARTELL: if that's the case,
it's very possible that they
could be using genetic
alterations to experiment with
not only just humanity but a
mixing of other species with
humanity.
NARRATOR: Could the Great
Sphinx be evidence of genetic
engineering by ancient aliens?
And if, as Zecharia Sitchin
proposed, extraterrestrials were
genetically altering humans and
animals for the purpose of
mining gold, might this enormous
structure have, at one point,
been a repository for that gold?
Is it possible that when
Egyptian archaeologists began
excavating the Great Sphinx,
what they were really searching
for was gold?
Over the centuries, secret
chambers, shafts and elaborate
tunnel systems have indeed been
discovered all around the Giza
Plateau.
BAUVAL: A shaft was
discovered called the Ozerian
Shaft, which led under the Giza
Plateau behind the Sphinx.
Now, in that shaft are various
passageways that lead seemingly
nowhere.
NARRATOR: In recent years,
Ground Penetrating Radar... or
GPR scans... have been conducted,
which reveal evidence of
numerous underground cavities
located not only around the
Sphinx but underneath it as
well.
BAUVAL: From a scientific
point of view... I'm not talking
about speculation and theories
and legends and so forth...
that was the very first time
that some strong indication
that there might be these hidden
tunnels and chambers under
the Sphinx.
And according to this, they
found very strong evidence
of what looked like
artificial chambers.
COPPENS: it is not a question
as to whether or not there is
a secret underground passage
underneath the Giza Plateau.
The question is, can we get
access to this?
And, of course, the
all-important question is, is
there something there of
extraordinary value?
Maybe even something which
defies science, which might even
be of an extraterrestrial
nature.
NARRATOR: if the alleged
cavities under the Sphinx
contain not only gold, but gold
mined by ancient alien beings,
might they also contain
something more than just
material treasure?
NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut
theorists believe an elaborate
secret repository is located
under the Sphinx's paws... known
as the Hall of Records.
The Hall of Records dates back
to the fall of Atlantis, which,
according to ancient texts, is
said to have occurred nearly
12,000 years ago.
They also claim that there were
extraterrestrials living in
Atlantis and that they needed a
repository to house all of their
accumulated knowledge.
ERICH VON DANIKEN: The Hall
of Records... it was made by us
but with the tools and the
knowledge of extraterrestrials.
BAUVAL: it is speculated that
a group of survivors of Atlantis
came to Egypt at about 10,500
B.C., brought along with them
their records, their knowledge,
and built this storeroom
somewhere at Giza.
NARRATOR: if archaeologists
do someday unearth secret
chambers below the Sphinx, what
will they find... gold, a library
of ancient extraterrestrial
knowledge, or might they perhaps
find both?
HENRY: My personal view is
that it would be loaded with
gold technology... technology
that once belonged to the gods.
It would help us to answer who
built the pyramids, how they
built it, and likely there is a
portal or a gateway that leads
into the stars within this Hall
of Records.
NARRATOR: if the Hall of
Records really does exist, is it
possible that it contains
extraterrestrial knowledge not
on ancient scrolls but stored...
on gold?
DENNIN: Gold is a pretty
amazing metal.
Gold is one of the best
conductors of electricity we
have, which is obviously very
important in electronic
application.
Not only do you need a really
good conductor, but you need one
that won't corrode, and so
gold... when you really, really
need high-quality, long-lasting,
good electronics, it's really
the choice that you would make.
NARRATOR: ls ancient
knowledge... not only stored with
gold but stored on gold... really
the mysterious secret of this
precious metal?
Perhaps the answer lies hidden
1,800 miles away, deep beneath a
church in Rennes-le-Château,
France.
NARRATOR: The village of
Rennes-le-Château, France.
January 29, 1953.
Marie Dénarnaud, a frail 85-
year-old woman, lies on her
deathbed, promising to divulge
a long-held secret about a vast
treasure.
But a recent stroke has left her
unable to speak or write, and
her secret dies with her.
KATHLEEN McGOWAN: Before
Marie's death, she had promised
to tell someone the secret.
"I will tell you the secret and
you will be rich beyond your
wildest dreams."
And what she said was, the
people of this village walk on
enough gold to make them wealthy
for 100 years, and they have no
idea.
And the secret... she was never
able to speak it after she had
her stroke.
So what was Marie talking
about?
NARRATOR: Legends of a vast
gold treasure hidden at
Rennes-le-Château date all the
way back to the fifth century...
...when, after sacking Rome in
410 A.D., Germanic warriors
known as the Visigoths made
their way to the area with all
the stolen treasure they could
carry.
But when they abandoned
the region some 200 years later,
they reportedly left some of
their ill-gotten wealth behind.
McGOWAN: The Visigoths were
known to have buried treasure
with their dead, so
Rennes-le-Château became
significant because of this idea
that there might be gold buried
there.
NARRATOR: For hundreds of
years, the rumors of buried
treasure persisted, although no
tangible evidence of it was
ever found.
But then, in 1891, a young
parish priest named Bérenger
Saunière was restoring the local
church when, according to
popular legend, he discovered
something that turned him into
an extremely wealthy man almost
overnight.
CHILDRESS: This wealth that
he had was part of a vast golden
treasure that was kept
underground in this church
in a weird series of catacombs.
These catacombs at
Rennes-le-Château were ancient.
They had been there long before
the church had been built, and
here is an area that's known to
have these caves that were used
by the Visigoths.
JOSEF DOBLER: I lived here
16 years, and we know here is a
tunnel under this garden.
It comes along this way from the
castle, uh, until to the church
and it runs this... in this way.
COPPENS: There have been
people who have been coming here
since the 1950s in search of
gold, and some have found it.
The question is whether finding
gold is everything there is to
this mystery or whether it's
just the first step along many
steps to go before we actually
uncover the real mystery of
Rennes-le-Château.
NARRATOR: Although Father
Saunière claimed to have come
upon this vast wealth by chance,
many believe he actively
searched for the Visigoth gold
and that much more still lies
hidden in the catacombs beneath
the church.
But even more mysterious than
the priest's possible discovery
of gold was his strange behavior
afterwards, a behavior that
became reflected in the design
of the church itself.
COPPENS: Bérenger Saunière is
a guy who goes in search of
ancient documents, who goes in
search of certain specific
knowledge in alchemical circles.
So what we have found in an
awful lot of alchemical
processes is the importance
of gold.
What happens next is that he
begins to build a church.
He builds it according to a
plan.
This plan is to make contact
with the divine, and so I think
Saunière realized that certain
metals could be transformed into
something which truly made it a
spiritual experience.
NARRATOR: Might the golden
treasure Father Saunière
supposedly unearthed have
contained more than just
monetary value?
Could it have held some
otherworldly knowledge?
The priest confided in only one
other person as to the origin of
this mysterious wealth... his
housekeeper Marie Dénarnaud.
But what was the secret that
they shared?
Ancient astronaut theorists
believe a clue may lie in the
inscription found over the door
of the church.
MCGOWAN: Bérenger Saunière
placed an inscription over the
door that people have been
talking about for 100 years.
The inscription says "Terribilis
est locus iste."
it's mistakenly translated most
often as "This place is
terrible," but, in fact, the
inscription comes from the Old
Testament, from the Book of
Genesis.
Jacob has a dream about a ladder
that connects Heaven to Earth,
where humans could connect to
the divine.
So when you look at the Old
Testament translation, what it
really says is "This place is
awesome."
NARRATOR: Is this inscription
from the Old Testament of the
Hebrew Bible a reference to
something divine, or might it
point to an extraterrestrial
connection?
HENRY: I believe
Rennes-le-Château could be a
star gate or another world.
This is based on the inscription
placed above the entrance to the
church by Bérenger Saunière.
Why would this priest put this
inscription there unless he's
indicating that this awesome and
tremendously powerful place,
Rennes-le-Château, is a gateway
to the stars?
HENRY: Rennes-le-Château, to
me, is one of the spookiest
and most powerful places I've
ever been.
The ground there is
oozing mystery.
COPPENS: We know that people
have said that Rennes-le-Château
is a place for UFOs.
We know people have reported
time slips.
And people have said that they
have had encounters with the
Devil.
So there is definitely something
about that area which suggests
that, for centuries, very
strange and bizarre things
happened.
NARRATOR: Could this tiny
village be a gateway to an
extraterrestrial past...
or even another dimension?
Perhaps the answer lies buried
with Marie Denarnaud.
Or, as some believe, the secrets
of Rennes-le-Château might
still be revealed...
and the answer may lie not
in France...
but just to the north,
in Scotland.
NARRATOR: Rosslyn Chapel,
Scotland.
Perched atop a hill overlooking
the village of Roslin, seven
miles south of Edinburgh, sits
this medieval 15th century
church.
Some say that, hidden on the
grounds, in secret chambers
within the church, are some of
the world's greatest lost
relics...
including the treasure of the
Knights Templar.
This elite band of warrior
monks...
(sword slashes)
...had been based at the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem during the
Christian Crusades.
They were also rumored to have
been in possession of many
valuable religious artifacts...
including the most valuable
golden relic of all...
the Holy Grail...
the cup used by Jesus during
the Last Supper.
CHILDRESS: When the
Knights Templar began excavating
at Solomon's Temple, it is said
that they discovered secret
caverns which held a huge horde
of gold artifacts.
At the time of the sacking of
Solomon's Temple, the treasure
there suddenly vanished.
They then took this treasure
to Scotland and buried it at
Rosslyn Chapel.
HENRY: Rosslyn Chapel is
one the most fascinating
possible recreations of
Solomon's Temple.
It literally is a Holy Grail
temple that was constructed by
William St. Clair and is
designed to be a repository of
Holy Grail secrets.
When it was created, it had the
most wonderful and fantastic
symbolism perhaps anywhere in
the world.
NARRATOR: Could Rosslyn
Chapel really have been built
to house the Holy Grail?
Some believe the architecture of
the chapel is adorned with
mysterious messages and symbols
that reveal the secret
whereabouts of the Cup of
Christ.
RITCHIE: And here we are...
this is Rosslyn Chapel.
William St. Clair was
responsible for building the
chapel.
He was a very rich individual.
He was the Chancellor of
Scotland at the time.
McGOWAN: We see this
extraordinary, gifted,
brilliant man collecting the
wisdom traditions from around
the world and instilling all of
those into Rosslyn Chapel.
NARRATOR: Among the many
carvings found in the walls of
Rosslyn Chapel are faces called
"The Green Men"... pagan deities
that represent growth and
rebirth.
Some believe these strange faces
provide a clue that the chapel
truly does hold the Holy Grail.
RITCHIE: The carvings
themselves have a dual meaning:,
they always have had a dual
meaning.
McGOWAN: The Green Man
appears in over 110 different
locations.
As you watch the progression of
the Green Man from east to west,
that progression represents the
passing of time.
JOHN RITCHIE: So all the
youngest of all the Green Man
carvings are on the eastern
wall, and towards the west
they become older.
HENRY: This symbolizes
the ultimate secrets of nature,
and it makes one wonder if,
in fact, the Grail is connected
with these secrets and the
presence of the Green Man in
this Holy Grail chapel.
(Gregorian chanting)
NARRATOR: But if the Holy
Grail truly does reside in
Rosslyn Chapel, where might it
be hidden?
Some believe it lies within an
ornate pillar called the
Apprentice Pillar... and at least
one person has actually
attempted to retrieve it.
COPPENS: We actually have
a story, which is known to
be factual.
A person came into the chapel
with an ax, who was going to be
intent on hacking down the
Apprentice Pillar because he was
convinced that the Grail was
actually inside.
RITCHIE: What is the Grail?
What if I was to say the Grail
is your DNA, because it is your
past and it is your future?
And the very interesting thing
is, when you look at that
pillar, you see there is
actually the DNA column.
NARRATOR: Might all these
mysterious carvings that have
been linked to the Holy Grail
indicate that the chalice used
by Jesus at the Last Supper was
something more than just
a drinking vessel?
TSOUKALOS: The whole story
is very fascinating to the
ancient astronaut theory.
Wolfram von Eschenbach, for
example, suggests that the
Holy Grail arrived from the
stars.
And the question is, what did he
mean by that?
It is often described as this
vessel that had blinking red
lights.
Were the Templar in possession
of some technological device?
NARRATOR: Could the Holy
Grail really be an ancient link
between Jesus and some spiritual
or otherworldly power?
And might finding it provide
proof of a link between
ourselves and an
extraterrestrial origin?
If so, might this mysterious
church, like other so-called
"temples of gold" in Peru...
Egypt...
and France...
contain treasure far more
valuable than mere
monetary wealth?
COPPENS: Whether we are
in Rosslyn Chapel, whether we
are in Rennes-le-Château,
we always go back underneath
the earth, where there might not
just be spiritual treasure to be
found, but also
physical treasure.
HENRY: Gold has been one of
the most important quests of all
ancient and sacred traditions.
Gold symbolizes wealth.
It symbolizes power.
But ultimately, gold represents
our connection with the stars.
CHILDRESS: Cultures all over
the world value gold more than
anything else, and it seems that
they knew something about gold
that we are yet to discover.
NARRATOR: Could gold actually
be the ultimate link between
humans and otherworldly beings,
a tangible connection to
extraterrestrial ancestors that
came to Earth thousands of
years ago?
Perhaps.
But if the search for gold
really is one of the reasons why
ancient aliens traveled to the
third planet from the sun,
one more question remains:
Will they return for more?
Captioning sponsored by
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Captioned by
Media Access Group at WGBH
access.wgbh.org