02x05 - Radioactive Rocks

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] Previously on
Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch.

-There it is.
-Come on.

-Hey, stop!
-Duane.

It's [bleep] broken.

We can't pull it out now,
it's too unstable.

I think I may have missed
something here.

These are images from the box.

The rocks inside the box
are completely different

than any other rocks
around here.

We need to get in there.

-Here at the box.
-If that box is full of gold
bearing ore.

It could be worth millions.

[laughs]

This is years of work
that's gone into this moment.

They came from somewhere else.

These were put there
by humans.

This has to be gold ore.

When you have ore,
the real moment of truth

is when you break
that thing open.

-What is this?
-...we got something
really weird here.

Oh, my God. What the hell?

I can definitively say
that this material is gallium.

We know for a fact that
this box was over


Gallium didn't even
exist then.

This project just keeps
getting weirder.

There are some places on Earth
that just don't seem...

right.

The land feels different.

It acts different.

And this here is one
of those places.

Some say the land is trying
to hold on to something.

Don't go in the [bleep] cave.

Aztec treasure.

Holy [bleep].

-Caverns of gold.
-Look at that.

-Mormon riches.
-It'd be million dollars here.

Some even say there's
a buried space ship.

Hell, yeah.

Me? I never cared much about
the stories.

I just care about finding
whatever the hell's
in the ground.

What's the matter?

-Gallium.
-Yes.

Gallium?

So, does this rule out
the Aztecs?

No, hell no, it couldn't.

The Aztecs knew what
the hell they were doing

and they were
clearly advanced.

And they might've discovered
the metal 300 years

before nobody else
even knew about it.

Well, yeah, I tend to agree.

I mean, we know that
the Aztecs were really
efficient metal workers.

But, what the hell
did they use it for?

It's a mystery for sure.

Where do we go from here?

I mean, we only really have
one option.

We got to get back
into that cave.

We got to figure out a way in.

You know, there could be tons
of that stuff down there.

Hidden in the bunch of those
rocks down that cavern.

Yeah.

We need to round up the troops
on this.

Oh, boy. Hey, fellas.

Well, we got some news
for you.

Wait till you hear this.

-...you know that metal
we found in the rocks?
-Yeah.

We put it through a bunch
of tests, a lot of tests.

And we're 100% sure
that it is the metal
called gallium.

And, man, I'll tell you
it's, it's some weird stuff.

It was morphing into
different shapes,

-and saying...
-pulsating.

it was beating,
it was moving around.

Discovered by a French chemist
in 1875,

Gallium is a soft, silvery
metal with a melting point

of 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is a byproduct of aluminum
and zinc production,

but can also be created
by smelting.

Ideal for carrying
high voltages,

gallium is commonly used
in electronic circuits...

semiconductors and LED panels.

Its military applications
include communications, radar,

and electronic warfare.

But it is most sought after
for incredibly efficient,

high tech solar panels.

It's real strange, because
we've got this,
this paradox there.

Gallium was only discovered
in 1875

and we find it in
an Aztec aged
box underwater in a cave.

So, there's lots of questions
we got to answer.

I mean, the process they found
out in 1875,

didn't they have to smelt it?

-Yes, they--
-Didn't they have to work it
to get that--

Yes, they did.
Exactly. [bleep]

We're talking about 500
years ago.

So, they made
this stuff basically.

-They had to.
-That's what Eric's
talking about.

They had to have some use
for it or else

-it wouldn't have
been down there.
-Exactly, but why though?

-Yeah.
-That's the question.

Yeah.

And who? Was it the Aztecs?

Well, they had to be
fairly valuable to them

because they went to a lot
of trouble to hide it.

I would think so. Yeah.

Yeah, there's no doubt
something's going on there.

How much more of that stuff
is in there?

Oh, there's rocks after...

-tons of rocks.
-All the rocks we broke open
had it in 'em.

I don't know where
this is gonna lead us.

But I got a feeling
it's right back
into that cavern.

I don't know if anybody
got any rest last night.

It's been quite
a roller coaster,
that's for sure.

-Yeah.
-We know that
the rocks themselves,

they're an ore.

But what is this gallium
doing in the rocks?

It had to have some value
to them back then

-Yeah.
-in order to go to that
much trouble.

-There's no telling
what else is in here.
-Yeah.

So, we know
from carbon dating,
the box is over 500 years old.

We know that contains rocks.

The rocks are used as vessels
to hold the gallium.

Gallium's a rare metal.

You know, the Aztecs held
their treasure in a cave

that had seven caverns.

Which is exactly what we have
on this property.

So, yes, me.

You know, I want to know
what else is down there.

We have two miles
of these caves

and we haven't seen 1%
of what the hell
is in these cave systems.

We've got to fully explore
this entire cave system.

-Oh, absolutely.
-Because we don't know what
is hidden in there still.

We need to be able to look
at every point in that cavern

to find treasure.

We've been working on
this project for about
two years now

and so we've got some
good data we've already done.

GPR, LiDAR, you name it.

But there's a lot more
we can do.

We got to find that
dry entrance

and we've got to...
Yep.

So, last year, we spent months
looking for a dry entrance

to the cavern.

-Come on, baby.
-Where we could hypothetically

just walk in and not have
to deal with diving.

Oh, yeah.

So, we're going to see
what we can do to find

dry cavern under there.

And we'll drill our own hole,
basically, creating
our own entrance.

So, when we get the dry part,
we'll be able to explore
so much faster

and find out
what's down there.

I think we can do it.

Ultimately, finding
this dry entrance

is going to be a result
of science.

I've got a lot of tools
at my disposal

that will allow me to identify
a dry entrance

to the cave system
on the ranch.

-Okay, all right, let's do it.
-Oh, absolutely.

But, we really need
to be certain that

we're above a dry cavern
before we start drilling.

Because every time Duane
calls in a rathole rig,

it costs them another 10 to 20
grand depending on how deep
that hole is.

The first thing I want to do
is see what those rocks

can tell me.

When you're a geologist,
you spend a lot of time
talking to rocks.

Sometimes, they talk back.

Yeah.

All right, today, I took
the rocks out that Chad
pulled from the box

and I noticed what's called
a sucrosic texture
to the rock.

And that's a fancy word
for sugary, sort of.

I haven't seen anything
like this around here.

This is a metamorphic rock
called quartzite.

It was once a sandstone,
but then it was subjected

to heat and pressure.

And it sort of just
melted it all together.

So, it's highly mineralized.

Great thing about rocks
with a sucrosic texture

is the pores in these rocks
pick up a lot of things

that are around them.

And so, one of the easiest
things to look for
is radiation.

Geiger counter measures
radioactivity,

and that might be
in the rocks.

This is a type of rock
called quartzite.

And so, quartzite itself
doesn't have any
radioactive characteristics.

If the Geiger counter
picks up radiation,

it means that the radiation
is coming from
the cavern itself.

So, if these rocks had been
sitting in that cave
for over 500 years,

they're going to pick up
that radioactivity.

And so that will tell us
a lot about the cave system.

Almost...

Yeah.

[Geiger counter beeps]

We're getting
a little bit there.

Seems to be on the outside
of this rock, sort of.

You can see the remnants
of the gallium right there.

And there's nothing there.

When I put it to
this rock again.

[Geiger counter beeps]

That's definitely
radioactivity.

I think that could
be significant.

I'm going to call in Duane.

Uh, Duane, do you copy, over?

[Duane] Hey, what's going on?

-So, I took out some
of these rocks.
-All right.

And I got the Geiger
counter out.

Hear that?

[Duane] It's picking something
up in it.

It's picking up trace amounts
of radioactivity.

-Wow.
-It certainly isn't enough
to harm you

from a health standpoint.

-Right.
-You know, I don't know
if I'd want to be carrying

that around in my pocket
for the rest of my life.

-But, uh...
-Yeah, yeah.

Now, when we try it on
the gallium...

...there's nothing.

It's coming from the rock.

So, think of it this way.
You take a rock that

has absolutely
no radiation in it.

You take it and you stick it
next to a nuclear reactor

such as Chernobyl.

So, when you pick up
that rock, it'll have

all sorts of radioactivity
in it.

And that's what's
happened here.

This could be huge for us
finding a better way
to explore that cavern.

Oftentimes, in cave systems,
caves follow faults.

It's a weakness in the Earth's
crust, basically.

And radioactivity tends
to find that weak zone.

Radionuclides will follow
fault zones.

-Oh, really?
-Yeah.

So, the idea here is
if we find the radioactivity

that's seeping
from the ground,
we find the fault

and, potentially,
the dry entrance
to the cave system.

That's a heck...
heck of a plan there.

-That's good.
-It's worth a shot, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Wow.

Our ace in the hole is Eric.

If Eric can narrow down
this search to just
a few acres,

it's huge.

We don't want to tear
this whole place up.

We just need to find a way
to detect the dry part

of the cavern.

And then drill a hole
and make an entrance

to the cavern, so that
we can explore it.

And you can bet your a*s
we'll use every trick
in the book to find it.

[Chad] I was over
on the other side
of the ranch.

Got a call from my dad.

Said Eric had some maybe,
some good ideas

how we can find
this dry entrance.

I mean, there's still
a few things I think
we need to work out,

but, scope, basically...

they may have something here.

-Tell us...
-We need some
good news, brother.

-What's happening?
-Charlie.

So, um, I was looking at
some of those rocks

that you pulled from
the box there.

And I decided to run
a Geiger counter over it.

And sure enough,
we did find some
radioactivity in it.

The rock itself
was radioactive.

Was, like, last year,
we found the radiation...

-Yeah, yeah.
-inside the cave though.

Exactly.

So...

the idea is if we can use
a Geiger counter

to find the radioactivity,
maybe we can find

the dry entrance to the cave.

I think Eric's definitely
onto something.

I mean, since radioactivity
underground can be detected

above the ground.

If we find the radiation,
we'll find new entrances
to the cavern.

I'm thinking of putting
together a system

using an unmanned
aerial vehicle.

If we can equip that
with a radioactive detector,

the Geiger counter in essence.

Fly it low.

Maybe, we can plot
what comes up.

Yeah. And then you
zigzag back and forth
and you could find your...

-Yeah.
-cave system.

So, you find
the radioactivity, you find
the cave system.

I think this may really
help us narrow down
our search.

We have to narrow it down
in some matter,

the ranch is just too big.

Sounds like a hell
of a plan, anyway.

Yeah, I'm gonna make
a few phone calls

and see if we can line up
a UAV with
a radioactive detector on it.

Oh, let's do that.
That sounds awesome.

-Sounds fine, too.
-Good deal.

That's a good plan, Eric.

Now, let's get out
of your hair and you make
your phone calls

and see what
we can get coming.

All right. Will do.

-Good idea.
-Let's do it.

If we can determine where
that radiation is leaking out

of the side of the mountain
or something,

then that gives us
a possible target
that we can go dig at.

Hey Dad, you're around?

Where we going?

Okay.

I got the documents here
to prove... system.

You can't be doing
this [bleep] without me...

If you're taping this,
you better tape it good.

I'm just, I'm just telling
Chad, you're going
to be served officially

with the lawsuit and we can do
this hard way or the easy way.

My advice to you, get counsel
and we'll settle it.

Are you [bleep] kidding me?

Well, I'm the new co-owner.

I've worked like a son
of a g*n for everything
in my life.

I guess you can say
it gives me a short fuse
for freeloaders.

I kept this mother [bleep]
going.

-Oh... it's all...
-[bleeping]

You don't tell me
a [bleep] thing about this.

We worked our a*s off
for this whole deal.

And you show up whenever
things start going good.

Call me a liar.

Because you want some
kind of [bleep].

You're gonna sneak up...
[bleep]

That's what we're gonna do?

You long hair looking
mother [bleep].
Come on, pull your g*n.

Pull it.

Let's do this [bleep].

You know, it's really rare
my dad gets heated like that,

but, uh...

he did.

Hey, Duane. Duane.

Just go, man.
What are you doing here still?

We got your stupid a*s
papers. Go.

We'll see you in court.

Well, the judge
will say stop

'cause the attorneys that
I hire don't lose.

They don't lose. Bottom line.

Well...

he's not part of the ownership
of the land

and that's, that's as simple
as it gets.

There's people just coming out
of the woodworks

that think they're kind
of entitled to something
like this.

We just gotta move forward.

Chad's right, there's not much
we can do about freeloaders.

But, we have to do something
about the trespassers.

That's, that's as simple
as it gets.

[engine revving]

You know, I got Charlie
putting more cameras up.

Problem with the camera
is they don't stop anyone.

I think we need a few yards
of fence here.

Guide people to the river here
and the rocks there.

They're like, like dead ends.

-[helicopter flying overhead]
-You hear that?

Holy [bleep], man.

Hey!

What the hell was that about?

I don't know, man.
They were flying low
as [bleep].

They weren't even 100 foot
above that mountain
right there.

I mean, legal limits
are 500 foot at least.

-Y'all get that?
-We did.

Those were Apache
attack helicopters.

Four of them flying
in formation.

Those were attack helicopters.

You know, a good friend
of mine was an air captain

in the Marine Corps.

He told me that flying
in a formation of four

is no more than just a decoy.

If they're moving people
or supplies.

They'll fly in formation
of four like that as a decoy

and, really, what's going on
is a mile or two away.

No bull [bleep].

[man speaking]

We're the first ones in.

We didn't touch anything
because it's obviously a mess,

but...

[sighs]

I don't know what's
going on here.

Hey, Josh, have you seen
the situation in here?

Oh, my [bleep].

What happened?

I don't know, we found it
like this when we rolled in.

-[bleep]
-I mean, do you think wind
could have done this?

No. No.

That's, that's not wind.

No way. No way.

Did we have food in here?

We did. I mean, the food
is over here.

-This is an event that didn't.
-That didn't...

So, if it was an animal,
they would have gotten
into that, right?

Yeah.

It's a mess.

Anything looks like
it's missing.

Yeah, we're gonna do that.

We might get some
more trail cams
and just keep them in here.

-Okay.
-You know.

Those damn helicopters,
they were [bleep] decoys.

Someone came in here
looking for something
in the crew's tent.

Maybe the footage of
what's in the cavern.

Who knows?

Whoever did this tossed
the whole tent around.

They didn't care if we knew
they were there,

they were looking
for something.

No question about that one.

-Hey, Jamie.
-Hey.

Chad sent me the pictures.

What the [bleep] is going on?

Well, we had a little wreck
up there at the tent.

It's got [bleep] everywhere.

They threw stuff all round,
dumped tables over,

and what are the...
what are they looking for?

I think they think
we know something.

You know when I first
got here,

I thought I could find
a simple explanation
for all of it.

But, it's clear this isn't
your run of the mill place

with your run of
the mill problems.

These guys are
under surveillance.

I mean, the spy cameras
they found.

The helicopters and now
someone's getting into

all their equipment.

Who is it?

I want to help them find out
to the best of my abilities.

I did talk to a guy
by the name of Dave Miller.

You got all kinds of different
government activity
that's out here.

Just down the road, you have
Skinwalker Ranch

which at one point was
an actual science lab.

I can give you a number
of somebody who I know

was involved at the time
on the property.

-Just don't tell him
you got it from me.
-No, I appreciate that.

He gave me a name of a guy
that used to work
for Skinwalker Ranch

and he was a security guard.

And I'm gonna see if he can
put some light on this

because I'm sure, you know,
as somebody surveilling
this area.

They might have been doing
at Skinwalker too.

Yeah, could have. Could have.

He may know something
or have an idea

or leads to, if some people
are watching us.

The good thing is
if they're watching us

this close, we must be doing
something right.

And I like every bit of that.

Yeah.

Eric's got his aerial drone
coming in with a high tech
Geiger counter.

But, I don't want to just
stand around here watch him
do that,

so I'm gonna go old school.

So, we're looking for
a new entrance to the dry part

of the cavern from the sky.

[engine revs]

You can cover a hell of
a lot more ground

and see a lot more things.

And I haven't done
an aerial survey in a year
and a half,

so that's the plan.

Maybe we get lucky.

[indistinct chatter on radio]

So, I got this Cessna 182
right here.

It has bubble windows in it,
so you can actually look
over the side.

Perfect for sighting things
and it's a high wing airplane,

so you can fly slow
and low.

All right, we'll be over
the ranch in five minutes.

So, part of the challenge here
is this ranch
is absolutely massive.

And the cave system
is about, you know,
two miles long

and 1000 feet across.

So, that's over 200 square
acres to look for

a dry entrance point.

Since, we know that the cavern
has radiation in it,

we find a seep at surface,
we'll know exactly where
to punch a hole.

There we go.

You know, that's got to be
about the biggest drone
I've ever saw.

That's great...

This thing costs
a pretty penny.

So, we know that caves often
form along fault lines.

Oftentimes, radiation
is associated with faults.

So, I'm going to start
by flying that drone along
the fault

hoping to find some radiation.

We got a radiation detector
we're gonna fix to this.

We're gonna fly it along
the fault and test
for radiation.

Those will be the most likely
spots to have dry pockets.

Beats the hell out of walking
with a Geiger counter
in my hand.

But, there's something else
that this Geiger counter

might be able to tell us.

It can tell us not only
about radiation,
a dry entrance,

but also about gold.

So, there's actually a theory
called the Auger effect.

And it basically says
radioactivity can be
amplified in gold.

Now, we're in business.

So, gold would absorb more
radioactivity than
other materials.

So, the idea here is
if we detect
significant amounts

of radioactivity
at the surface,

there could potentially be
the dry entrance filled with

what I think is significant
amounts of gold.

That's reading background
radiation,

so that's working.

You see where the outcrop
meets the valley floor there.

Yeah, that should be about
the start of the fault area.

Okay.

Perfect.

Start going sweeping
across it.

That's perfect.

So, just get an ambient...

not getting any spikes.

But, we're covering a lot
of ground with this.

Come on, man,
I want to see a spike.

Brian, could you possibly fly
a little bit lower?

The lower you can get,
the better.

Yeah, yeah. That's perfect.

[exhales]

Come on, man.

Wait a minute. There's a hit.

There's a hit right there.
Brian, keep, keep doing

the same as you've been doing.

-There's another one.
There's another one.
-[counter beeps]

This is good.

So, what's this mean, Eric?
Are we on top of it or what?

We could be.

We've got a good target
to move on.

There's another one
right there.

So, it's a big spike.

And that could mean either one
of two things,

either excess or access.

It could be an excess amount
of gold which could be

amping up the radioactivity.

Or it could just be a big,
dry cavity underground

that's collecting
the radioactivity.

Which would give us
our access point.

-Yeah.
-Awesome.

We got our target, boys.

That's some good stuff.

The deal that Eric set up,
it's, it's amazing.

Technology is helping
this whole deal move
forward faster

than I could ever imagine.

Hey... camera crew
right there.

How cool.

Hold on, man, you see that?

Doesn't that look like
an opening in
the ground right there?

Look at that, looks like
a cave right there.

Just along that ridge.

Barely see it.

I'll steer it back,
we'll fly right over it.

All right, sweet,
just be right up in there.

Trying to look here.

There it is, there's
the hole right there.

When I was flying over
the ranch, I saw
this big hole there.

That looked like there was
an entrance,

a cavern maybe?

-[laughs]
-I don't know.

So, I'm gonna haul a*s
to the ranch and check it out.

Hell yeah.

All right, guys, we're gonna
head over to that spot

where we got the hit
on the radiation
from the drone.

Let's do it.

So, I found a nice big seep
of radiation on one spot

on the ranch.

So, that to me indicates
there could either be

a large case of gold
down there

amplifying the radiation
or a dry entrance
to the cavern.

Hopefully, it's both.

I got the Geiger counter,
I got field notes.

Sample bags, shovel.

Okay, all right. Good deal.

Hey, I think I saw something
on the airplane

way over there.

There's a big cave
looking thing.

I flew over a few times
and I can see this, like,

hole going in the ground.

I think we need
to go check it out.

-You got some landmarks?
-Yeah, yeah.

There's a rock ledge
and then there's
two big trees.

So, why don't you take
Charlie boy with you?

You guys go over there.

-And me and Eric go check out
the other deal.
-Yep, sounds good.

All right, let's do it.

So, Duane and I are heading
to the spot on the ranch

where I detected radiation.

And Chad has taken Charlie
to a spot on the ranch

where he detected something
from the airplane.

We've got two targets
right now and that's
a good thing.

Final step is putting boots
on the ground.

Right, Duane.

-You see it?
-Yeah, I think
we're pretty close

to where that drone detected
the radioactivity.

I think it should be back
in this direction here.

All right.

Let's grab the Geiger counter.

-Okay.
-And the GPS and then
the gravity meter with us too.

We're trying to pinpoint
a place and bring in
a rathole rig and drill down.

Hopefully, instead of drilling
down into the flooded part

of the cavern, we'll get in
to dry part of the cavern.

This way.

Then we can explore
the cave system,

see what else is hidden
down there.

You'll do your magic here.

Yeah, should be back in here.

All right.

So, this, let's, let's unpack
this machine,
maybe right here.

All right.

So, we know there's
radiation seeping from
a fault line in this area.

And that's a good indication
of a cave system.

But, we really need
to pinpoint the spot
on the ranch

where this void may be.

I want to make sure
that we're directly on top
of that cavern,

because if you bring in
that rathole rig.

You know, if we missed
that hole, even by
a foot or two,

it's gonna cost, like,


So, I'm going to use
a gravity meter to see

if I can detect an opening
under the ground.

Hit was right there.

So, I'm going to put it
as close as we can get...

...right in here.

So, a gravity meter
can tell you the difference

between dense soils
or rock and the cavity system.

When you have a dense object
or dense rock or soil,

you'll have a higher number
on the gravity meter.

Hollow spot underground
will have a lower
gravity field.

And will give you
a lower number on the meter.

Perfect.

Yeah, turn it on.

So it's on, it's doing
its thing,

and we've got a readout,
a digital readout.

That's 25.3.

So, I'm going to call
this G1.

All right.

Head it maybe over
in this direction.

Then we'll go over there
and we'll see what we got.

Okay.

So, to get the best results,
we're going to take a number

of readings in the area
and hopefully see something

that'll help us narrow down
the location of the cave.

See now, this one's given us
a little different reading.

So, this is generating
some good data, I think.

We're looking for a place
to drill a hole,

how close do you think
we're getting?

This in itself is not going
to tell us where to drill

and I know I want to get
to a spot.

I want to find that spot
and, so, it's just a matter
of, you know,

first, you identify the large
area and then as you do more

and more analyses,
you focus in more and more.

We're still looking at
the big picture here.

-Pretty wide spot.
-I'd love to be able
to tell you

this is the place to drill,
but we're not quite there yet.

-Okay.
-All right.

I just want to dig
and get in there.

You know, this is a big ranch
and we can't afford

to be drilling hundreds
of holes all over the place.

I don't like waiting,
but I feel like Eric can
get us into the cave.

And hope the process
pays off in the end.

[device beeps]

Wow, now, that's a lot lower.

That's significantly lower.
That's a 16.

So, what are we talking
about there?

So, what I'm seeing here
is a very low number

to negative deflection.

There could be
a cavity underneath us here.

Wow.

I'm really happy about
the results of
this gravity survey.

The instrument contains
a highly accurate spring

and when you pass it over
something of substantially
different density

than the surface,

it'll give you either
a positive
or negative deflection.

Wow, now that's a lot lower.

And so, in this case,
what we detected was an area

that's significantly more
dense than
the surrounding sandstone.

There could be a cavity
underneath us here.

Wow.

The whole idea here is to find
that cavern,

get into the cavern
and see what's in there.

Wait a minute, there's a hit.

So, at this point,
we've detected radiation

that's associated
with the fault.

We've got a good target
to move on.

Using science to find caves,
and hopefully find
the treasure.

Whatever it is,
that's down there.

It's good stuff.

Oh, there's Jamie right there.

-Hey, Jamie.
-Hey, Eric.

How's things going with you?

It's going good.
We just finished what
we've called a gravity survey

at the ranch.

And we came up with
an anomaly actually.

And so there's something
going on there.

That's really interesting.

A few weeks ago, I was led
to a place here close by

and that's exactly what
they were studying
was gravity anomalies.

This is what I brought you
out here to see, Jamie.

NASA?

The name of the location
was gravity base furnell.

Gravity based furnell.

-NASA's been doing something
here.
-Interesting.

-Yeah.
-Yeah, the survey I did,

it detects substantially
different densities
underground,

either heavier or lighter.

And we detected
a heavier anomaly.

So, there's something heavier
than the surrounding formation
down there.

-Yeah.
-I'll talk to you
about it more.

I'm going into town,
so we'll see you later.

-All right.
-We'll see you.

Flying over the ranch,
I saw a spot over there.

It looked like a freakin' hole

that went straight down.

Whoo-hoo!

Me and Charlie boy are gonna
go look at this hopeful,
dry entrance

and then we'll go meet up
with the other guys on
the other side of the ranch.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it is along this ridge
right over here.

Maybe one of these either.
Them or us will help us find

an opening into,
into the cavern.

I could see it right on top
right over here

when I was flying over.

Along those cliffs.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's right on the edge
of those cliffs.

That was one of the landmarks
right there.

That dead tree.

-Yeah.
-And it's right along
this ridge, right?

It should be right in here
somewhere.

-Right on top of it.
-Yeah.

So, if we can go down.

Right in there.

Is this it over here?

-No.
-No.

It looks like a cave system,
like, you could see dark area

-Yeah.
-right by it.

Yeah. Okay, here we go.
Here we go.

That's it right there.

Wow.

[bleep] I thought it
was a cave.
It ends right there though.

Look how black
all the rock is.

It looks burned.

Huh, look at this.

That's not a firepit, is it?

It looks... because
there's so much burnt here.

Look at this, it goes
all the way up there.

Yeah.

Yeah, all this charred,
everything...

all this rock is charred here.

-[bleep] that's slag.
-Yeah.

I see.

I wonder if we can age
any of this stuff,

or see how old some
of this [bleep] is.

You remember what Eric said
about that gallium?

I mean, the process they found
out in 1875,

then they have to smelt it.

-Then they have to work it
to get that way.
-Yes, yes, they did.

So, they made this stuff
basically?

That's what Eric's
talking about.

Ah, yeah.

They had to smelt that
to make it, right?

Could this be a smelter?

Yeah, they could have smelted
the gallium up here.

Yeah.

There's all kinds of slag
in here.

This just wasn't a bonfire.

Smelting is a process
that uses extreme heat

to extract metals from ore.

The first evidence
of smelting dates
to the Hittite civilization

in Turkey in 4000 BC.

Metals such as lead, copper,
bronze, iron, gold and silver

are commonly smelted.

And it's the only way
gallium can be created.

We've got this gallium
that's only made by smelting

and now we think we found
a smelter on the property.

Last year, we found a mine
right above the cave.

I mean, this could have been,
like, a full on mining
operation.

They're storing their stuff
in our cave.

I mean, we're literally
standing on top

of an ancient cache
of something.

Now, we just have to find out
what and we've got
to do it fast.

[narrator] Next time
on Mystery at
Blind Frog Ranch.

I think I found a smelter.

-Look at that.
-Oh, yeah.

The mine entrance could be
anywhere in here.

Oh, [bleep],
look at those bats.

They move in caves.

I've never seen my compass
act like this.

Is there an anomaly here?

Holy [bleep], look at this.

-Is that another one?
-We have four smelters.

Cave opening's has gotta be
somewhere right in here.

If he hits an anomaly,
you'll see a big spike.

-It's dropping, dropping.
-There we are.

Right there.

-We're right on top of it.
-This is the best news
we've had so far.

We're going to bring in
the rathole rig.

And we're gonna drill a hole
and get in there.

Where am I going
with the rig?

It's gonna be right up
on top of there.

If we miss it, it's just gonna
cost us a fortune.

-[thuds]
-Whoa.

Hey, let's shut
this deal down.1