04x06 - Disaster at the Bead Site

[bunniefuu]

[narrator reading]

Here he comes.

[narrator] On their quest to
dig into the keyhole chamber

below the bead site...

This could be a
game-changer, Charlie boy.

It looks like some
type of crematorium.

[narrator] ...the team uncovered
what appears to be an ancient altar.

- Is that more bone?
- Yeah.

Now you're talking.

[narrator] While Chad
and Eric trek to north,

following the fault line
from the South Cave...

That's what we're
looking for, brother.

[narrator] ...they unearth
an abandoned mine,

which might be connected
to the cavern system...

[Eric] This is what
we've been looking for.

[narrator] ...and uncover
a vein of gold ore...

- [both laughing]
- That's it.

[narrator] ...which puts the team
closer than ever to the Aztec treasure.

We got gold, boys. [laughs]

Whoo! [laughing]

[narrator] Legends
of ancient treasures...

This has to be
hundreds of years back.

[narrator] ...and
unexplained phenomena...

- What the hell is that?
- [narrator] ...meet at a 160-acre property

in northeast Utah,

known as Blind Frog Ranch,

where Duane Olinger
and his team are digging

in search of
long-lost Aztec gold.

[man] Did the Aztecs
have discovered this?

[narrator] But the
closer they get...

I finally get to hold
[bleep] gold my hand.

[narrator] ...the more
the land fights back.

- I'm gonna ask...
- Oh, my [bleep] God!

Now Duane will move heaven...

There you go.

- [narrator] ...and earth...
- Final.

[narrator] ...until he gets to
the bottom of this mystery...

We've started this whole deal
and we're sure as hell gonna face it.

[narrator] ...and solves
what's lurking below.

Holy [bleep]! There's
something in there! [bleep]

God!

[narrator] ...at
Blind Frog Ranch.

[Duane] Drill, drill.

[narrator] In an attempt to find an
open entrance into the keyhole chamber,

Duane and the team are excavating
at the base of the bead site.

[Charlie] Hey, Duane,

we've got a void here.

Let's chase this and
see where it goes.

Copy that. That's
what we're looking for.

[Charlie] If it's part of
the chimney system,

it's gotta be going
in the cavern then.

- That could be an entrance in.
- Yeah.

Yeah, he's gotta dig us down.

[narrator] Prior to
digging at this rock face,

Duane and his team
attempted to excavate

at a different vent hole
beneath the bead site

and made a shocking discovery.

This is some type
of sacrificial altar.

There's this skull right there.

[narrator] So the team
shifted their excavation 20 feet

to the east of the altar.

And have been digging at the
base of a different chimney vent.

[Josh] There he
goes! There he goes!

Let's open this baby up!

[Josh] Charlie saw that there was
a void there, right in the hard rock.

It doesn't make a lot of sense and
God only knows what it could be.

Let the dust clear.

I mean, that could
be the key to get us in.

[Charlie] Hey, Josh.

Come over here and look at this.

What do you got?

Yeah, let's see.

Man, I've got this void here.

I can't tell if it's a
man-made chimney,

or just a gap here in the rock.

I'd like to get James up
here and let him look at this.

James!

[James] What's going on?

[Josh] We need
you up here, buddy.

[James] You know, that doesn't
look like it goes anywhere, does it?

[Charlie] I agree with
James. This isn't a chimney.

Yeah, this is kind of maybe
not what we thought it was.

You know, we tried to drill down
below the second chimney vent,

but it just dead ends
into this small hollow.

Let's get Duane's opinion and
see where he wants to go from here.

[James] Yeah, absolutely.

[Josh] Hey, Duane.

What do you think?

Well, that void's there,
but it doesn't look like

it's an entrance into the
larger cave system below.

Yeah, you can tell that rock
wall keeps going straight down.

Ah, we don't really know
where to go from here.

You know, guys, we could...

We could go in
the side of this still

until the cows come home
and we won't find nothing.

We could be a foot
away from them.

But we know from the smoke
pit that there's a chimney.

That runs right up to
the top of the bead site.

I think what we need to do
is go up top and start drilling

and see if we don't
drop into a void.

[narrator] For the past week,

Duane was focused on excavating

under the bead site to try and
reach the keyhole chamber.

So far, he and his team have
uncovered what they believe

is an altar and a small void
beneath it, but nothing else.

Now, Duane wants to try a
radically different approach

and try drilling into the
bead site from above,

following the path of
the highest vent shaft.

[Josh] I like it.

You think we can
get a drill rig up there?

Oh, hell yeah.

All right. We'll tack
it from another angle.

- Literally.
- Let's do it.

- I like it.
- Yeah. Let's drill.

[Duane] What do we
got goin' on, fellas?

Well, we went up to that anomaly

that I noticed on
the LiDAR scan.

- [Josh] Really?
- Yep.

Well, where's that at?

[Eric] Just a little
northwest of here.

[James] It's on that same fault
line where that South Cave is.

Yep. What we found seems
to be an abandoned mine.

[narrator] After the
collapse of the South Cave,

Eric used the LiDAR
scan to identify a fault line

that passes through
the South Cave

and continues eight miles north,

where he discovered
an abandoned pit mine.

This could mean the cavern
system under Blind Frog Ranch

extends all the way
up to the pit mine.

We separated out about
three or four samples.

I brought the samples back,
processed them, and we found this.

- There it is.
- [laughs]

Look at that.

[Charlie] Oh, my.

We got gold.

Really?

[Josh] Yeah, that is gold.

[Eric] So gold mineralization
in this type of geology

indicates that there could be
caverns and tunnels beneath this site.

And we found tunnels.

So if they're all on
the same fault line,

is that the cave system that we're
looking for here under this ranch?

Very possible. The world's
largest caves do follow fault lines.

Because it's a
weakness in the earth.

That's wild.

This is what I would
call a small open pit mine.

It's a series of small pits.

And we didn't see any indication
of a void going down into the earth.

Not now. There could
have been in the past.

And they could have
purposefully filled it in.

Oh, you can see
it ends right there.

- [Josh] Does it end right there?
- Yeah.

[Josh] Interesting.

[Eric] While these
tunnels are dead ends,

they're validating our theory.

There could be caves like these
anywhere along the fault line.

I think we may be better
off following that fault line.

Just trying to find
a new entrance.

[Duane] What are you thinking?

[Eric] So the other
end of the fault line

actually runs right across
the meteorite impact site.

[narrator] Last year...

They just hit
something hard, hard.

Because it's really
slow, he said, the drill.

[narrator] ...while attempting
to drill into the keyhole chamber

in an area known
as the Energy Zone,

the team learned there was an impenetrable
meteorite 110 feet below ground.

[man] We found iridium.

Well, iridium means
off earth, right?

It's not natural to this planet.

[narrator] But Eric
discovered that the fault line

that runs from the South
Cave to the open pit mine

crosses directly
through that meteor site.

Yeah, we literally
couldn't drill anymore.

It just kept on bouncing off that
hard layer and couldn't get through it.

It was just eating
up the drill bits.

[Eric] Actually,
I've got an idea

on how we can further
explore that meteor impact site.

I happen to know a
place in southern Ohio,

and I know a colleague of mine who
is an expert in meteor impact sites.

And so this site is called the
Serpent Mound Disturbance.

And it's a verified
meteor impact site.

It's huge.

At the Serpent Mound Disturbance,
we also have a cultural site.

It's a burial mound in
the form of a serpent.

What I'd like to do,

with your blessing of course,

is go there, get some
baseline measurements,

and compare them
with our meteorite here.

So if we can determine the
size and the angle of impact,

we can make a
plan to get past it

into the keyhole chamber below.

I think that's a good
idea, Eric. Let's do that.

I like it.

[Chad] I gotta admit,
Eric is onto something.

But the meteor isn't the only
site that sits on this fault line.

When I came back
from the open pit mine,

I was looking at the
map and I realized

that the collapsed mine was
also on the same fault line.

[narrator] Last year,

Chad and James discovered
a collapsed pit mine...

[Chad] This is definitely a
mine shaft of some kind, 100%.

[narrator] ...that sits
on the same fault line

as the meteor impact
that is at the Energy Zone,

the South Cave and
the open pit mine.

[Chad] I'd like to go up
there and check that out.

How far up is this
collapsed mine?

[Chad] It's a good
half-day's hike.

The way to get there, we just
take game trails the whole way.

It's too narrow for us
side-by-side to go through there.

Well, we need to take
equipment up there,

uh, to really do a
good assessment.

- Can horses get through there?
- Yeah, good idea.

I like it. Let's do it.

Josh, before you leave,

I'd like you to give me
a hand at the beachside.

And, Eric, go find out about
that deal and take first class.

But if you don't find
nothing, take a bus back.

All right, we got
a plan, fellas.

Let's move forward.

- Let's do it.
- [Josh] Yeah, good luck, Eric.

[Eric] I'll let you
all know what I find.

[Charlie] This way, Duane.

Here he comes.

[narrator] In order to bring a
drill to the top of the bead site,

fifty feet in elevation,

Duane will need to clear a
mile-long path with the excavator.

- You in?
- I'm in.

Here we go.

[narrator] Josh and
Charlie will help guide the rig

through the rough,
uneven terrain.

[Duane] Y'all go first and
give me the one that's fast.

[Josh] Okay.

[Charlie] Uh, Duane,
you got a tree ahead.

[Duane] Copy that.

Yeah, just head for
that tree with the U in it.

[Duane] All right, got it.

There's an operator who
knows what he's doing.

[Charlie] Here we go.

Uh, I would say
here's the fence.

- [Josh] Oh, yeah, right here?
- Yeah.

This is what I got
to take out right here.

Radio Duane. Let him know.

We got to cut this fence
and get it back out of the way.

[Charlie] All right, Duane.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[Josh] You just don't want
barbed wire spinning around tracks.

It could really hurt
somebody bad.

Certainly don't want that.

- You got your cutters, too?
- [Charlie] Yeah.

[Josh] Radio Duane.

[Josh] Hole 'em right there.

Duane, right here, Duane.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa. [bleep] Whoa.

[Josh] Radio Duane.

We gotta cut this fence
and get it back out of the way.

[narrator] Duane
is clearing a path

to the top of the bead
site for the vertical drill rig.

But a comms malfunction has
the team on a collision course.

- [Josh] Hold him!
- [Charlie] All right, Duane.

[Josh] Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa!

We got wire right here, Duane!

[bleep] right in front of you.

- You got your radio on, right?
- Yeah.

I couldn't hear nothing.

[Charlie] You know, things
have always gone haywire here.

Equipment quitting, everything.

We'll just chalk it up
as Blind Frog Ranch.

I think we're clear.

We're clear, Duane, go for it!

Copy that.

[Josh] We have to get into this
cave system underneath here,

and we think that this is a
location that that can be done.

So we're gonna
bring in a drill rig,

and we're gonna drill vertical.

And I think we're gonna get there
quicker and find more answers.

We're currently
looking around, Charlie.

[Josh] I'm gonna get out
in front of him, Charlie.

All I can say is
this place is...

It's a place that I just don't
have a lot of answers for.

I don't know.

[Charlie] We're close
to a landing down here.

[Josh] But what I do know
is that this spot up here

is gonna be our best bet to
access the cave system beneath us.

And some new tech might be
the thing that finally gets us there.

[Charlie] I think we're clear.

I think we can get that drill rig
in here. It ain't gonna be bad.

[Charlie] Yeah,
good job. Good work.

- [Chad] Got it all packed up, Josh?
- [Josh] Almost. Yeah.

This is the last strap,
and we're good to go.

[narrator] With the bead side
excavation on hold until the drill arrives,

Chad and Josh are traveling
north to the end of the fault line,

where last year they
found a collapsed mine.

[Chad] We're going horseback
because it is rough terrain.

And we have a lot of tools
that we're bringing, too.

We're bringing metal detectors.

Besides, it's fun
to ride horses, too.

[Josh] Boy, what
a beautiful canyon!

[Chad] Isn't it great, man?

[Josh] It's just fantastic.

I want to show you what we
think is some kind of entrance,

but we don't know
exactly what it is.

[Chad] Well, if it's a
mine, I'll be able to tell you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Come on! Yeah, boy. Yeah.

[grunting]

I think this is a
good place to stop.

It gets a little too rugged
for the horses past here.

Last year, we came
up along this creek.

There's a little game
trail we can follow.

- All right. I think I'm following you, then.
- Yeah.

We'll cross the creek here,
and it's about another mile hike.

Chad, I'm starting to second-guess
that idea you leaving the horses behind.

It would have been rough going for the
horses, though, huh? What do you think?

- It would have been a rough go for us.
- Yeah, it's true.

It's just right around
this bend, I believe.

Josh, it's right here, man.

[Josh] Coming.

Here we go. Here's
the mine. [laughs]

Awesome.

Finally here, brother.

[Chad] What is going
on with this place?

[Josh] Man, this ranch
is full of surprises.

Chad is showing me this giant
collapsed cavern in the middle of nowhere.

There's no roads
here. There's no trails.

I mean, if you didn't
know to look for this place,

you wouldn't find
it in a million years.

What do you think?

There's something going on here,

because all of this
was dug out below.

This is not natural.

Somebody has been
in here messing around,

but I don't know if it
was originally a cave

- and then somebody came in here and did more work...
- Right.

Or if it's actually
a mineral deposit

that somebody was
working as a mine.

[Chad] So you do think that
this is a cave, though, right?

[Chad] Absolutely.
There's no question.

That's why I'm so excited about
this find you have here, Chad.

[Chad] Hell yeah.

[Josh] We got more
exploration to do.

We need to look in
every nook and cranny.

[Chad] Yep.

[narrator] Over 1,500
miles away in southern Ohio,

Eric has arrived at the
Serpent Mound Disturbance,

a nine-mile-wide meteor crater
formed over 250 million years ago.

It is one of only 28 known
impact craters in the U.S.

- [Eric] Mark Baranoski.
- [Mark] Eric.

I could tell it was a geologist

'cause you have all
your rocks out here.

I had to bring a couple
samples for you to see.

Nice. Thank you for coming
out and talking with us here.

- It's all about education for me.
- Yeah.

I'm really excited
to meet with Mark.

He was one of the
original scientists

who figured out that this
was a meteor impact site.

I asked him to show me
the evidence that they used

to assess the meteor
impact here in Ohio

so I can use the same techniques

at our meteor site back
at Blind Frog Ranch.

All that will allow us to
drill around the meteorite

and get us down into
the keyhole chamber.

What have we got here?

[Mark] Well, this one is
kind of a rare shatter cone,

- but if you look...
- I can see it.

Can you see the edges there?

This is the first
time I've ever seen,

actually seen a
shatter cone in real life.

[narrator] A shatter cone
is a rare geological feature

with a ripple pattern

formed by intense pressure

and heat strong enough
to instantly liquefy rocks.

Only two forces are
known to create them,

an underground nuclear
detonation or a meteor attack.

It was the presence
of shatter cones

that convinced
scientists it was a meteor

that caused the Serpent
Mound Disturbance.

Think about this. It's
on the edge of the crater.

The energy came
in from the middle

and then shot out horizontally
by the time I got here.

[Eric] This one,
you can really see it,

the cone, like, sort of radiating
out from the middle there.

Shatter cones are
one of the check boxes

that we use to determine
if it's an impact or not.

These shatter cones
are literally pointers

pointing back to the very center

of where this meteorite crashed.

We can infer from
the surrounding strata,

number one, the
angle it came in,

and number two,
where exactly it hit.

What's another check
box that we can look at?

It's actually just up the
ridge. Lemme show you.

- Let's go.
- All right.

[Eric] All right.

We're right in the
crater zone there, right?

[Mark] Yes. Here we are.

[Eric] Nice.

[Mark] When that meteorite
came in to hit this part of the world,

it just busted everything
up tremendously.

There was fracturing,
shatter cones.

The geomagnetic survey indicated that
it was altered most likely by the impact.

So what you're telling me is
that this impact was so powerful

that it actually
changed the magnetism,

changed the polarity of the
rocks beneath the impact.

- Is that correct?
- That's correct.

Wow.

[narrator] All rocks
have a magnetic polarity

running north and south,
much like a magnet.

This polarity stays the same
unless the rock encounters

extremely high heat
or a violent impact.

In that case, a polarity
change can occur

and can even affect instruments.

[Charlie] That's west, but my
compass is telling me that's north.

[narrator] At Blind Frog
Ranch, this type of interference

is often encountered
at the Energy Zone.

[Eric] Wow.

When I get back,
I'd like to check

for the magnetic polarity
at Blind Frog Ranch.

But I also wanna
check for shatter cones.

That way, we can see exactly
where it landed and how big it is.

[Eric] And how big it is.

Where do we go next?

[Mark] Well, let's head up to
the northeast side of the crater.

Hopefully, we'll get a better
view as to what's in that crater.

[Eric] Okay.

[Chad] Put your hand in there.

[Josh] Oh, yeah.

[Chad] When we were in here last
year, we moved some rocks around

and there was, like, cool
air pushing in and out.

That's amazing. That's a
lotta airflow coming out of there.

This thing's breathing.

I want to run the metal
detector around this hole

and see if I can find any
clues on how to get in here.

[Chad] All right.

[Josh] See, if we
can find some objects,

steel objects that people
were actually in here working...

-Oh, like, mining equipment
kind of thing, or... -Yeah, exactly.

There we go.

- [metal detector beeps]
- [Josh] Here we go.

[metal detector beeping]

[Josh] So, I don't
know what that is.

[Chad] What the hell is that?

[Josh] I don't know.

[Chad] No, I don't either.

- [Josh] I sure as hell want to find it.
- [metal detector beeping]

[Chad] What is that?

- [metal detector beeping]
- [Josh] I don't know what that is.

[narrator] After following the
fault line north, Chad and Josh

have begun investigating a possible
entrance to the collapsed mine.

[metal detector beeping]

[narrator] And something below the
opening has set off Josh's metal detector.

[Chad] What is that?

- [Josh] I'm definitely picking up on something.
- [metal detector beeping]

[Chad] Let me see if I can
get a camera down in there.

[grunts]

Oh, it's just so [bleep] tight.

[Josh] How far can
you get in there?

[Chad] Uh, that's about it.
Well, I can go a little more.

Uh, I mean, it looks like it
could go way down here.

[grunts] I can't get it
in there any further.

I don't know if we're
gonna be able to

get to what your metal
detector was picking up in there.

[Josh] Let's start
taking some samples.

- Check this out, Chad.
- [Chad] What's that?

[Josh] This one right
here. Look at this.

[Chad] What is it?

[Josh] This is limestone.

That's exactly what
I needed to see.

That's a brachiopod.

So it's a fossilized clamshell.

- That is not found in sandstone.
- Ah.

This is limestone. And it is so
important that you have it here.

Because limestone equals caves.

Nice. Good find, man.

When in caves, this is what
you want to find, right here.

[narrator] Limestone caves
are formed over the course

of millions of years

when acidic rainwater dissolves

the calcium carbonate
that makes up limestone.

Over time, small cracks
become massive fissures,

which can become
mile-long cave systems.

[Josh] Now I know we can
possibly get underground.

- [Chad] Yeah.
- I wasn't sure until this moment.

- [Chad] Hell, yeah.
- [Josh] I'm just freaking excited

that you have limestone,

which means that you
could have a huge complex

of a cave system
underneath your property.

I'm glad you got to see this,

to make sure we're [bleep]
telling you some truth here,

that you can see what
we're talking about.

I see what you're talking
about, but I'm gonna tell you,

riding up here today,

- I didn't expect to find limestone.
- Right.

Not at all. And we get here,
sure enough, here's this

[bleep] limestone hidden
underneath the sandstone.

This site checks a lot of boxes.

We've got limestone,
we've got airflow.

And just like the open
pit mine south of here,

it sits right on the fault line.

Obviously, we're standing
at the entrance of the cave.

A natural-forming cave.

Definitely. A natural cave
that somebody was working on,

- maybe to mine, maybe to hide something.
- [Chad] Yeah.

[Josh exhales]

We've gotta find a way in.

The only problem
is, we've got to move

all these big boulders
out of the way.

All this stuff up here. That's
just held up by imagination.

[Chad] Yeah.

[Josh] This is way
too dangerous of a site.

We'd have to shore all this up
before we even start working here.

And we haven't even
started digging yet.

[Chad] Yeah, that's true.

- We're talking a big process.
- A big process.

This is... Right now, this is a
dangerous site that can't be worked.

- Yeah.
- I mean, we're literally

at the bottom of a rock fall.

[Chad] This cave here is
too dangerous to excavate.

But the pattern that we're
seeing here is a huge discovery.

We've now found two sets of
limestone tunnels along this fault line.

Here, and at the open pit mine.

And both of them have
signs of mineral deposits.

And that could mean that
these limestone tunnels

could lead all the way back
down to the South Cave.

And the way in could
be anywhere in between.

All right, let's head out.

- You think you can carry me out of here, Chad?
- [chuckles]

[Josh] I think you
could, honestly.

- [Chad] We're just halfway home.
- [chuckles]

We're following Mark
here to the, uh, cemetery,

and the reason we're
going to a cemetery

is because it's an elevated
spot so we can get a good view

of the entirety of
the disturbance.

[narrator] Eric is
in Southern Ohio,

where he is examining a location

called the Serpent
Mound disturbance,

a massive meteor impact zone.

So, Mark, what I'm gonna do

- is I'm gonna go from the east edge of the crater...
- Okay.

To the west. We're gonna
take a bunch of just still shots.

- Okay.
- We're gonna take it up a little bit higher.

[Mark] Get that bird's-eye
view of the crater.

- [Eric] Here we go.
- [Mark] Awesome.

- Up, up and away.
- [Eric] Here.

Climb?

[narrator] Eric is using a
drone to map the impact zone.

He can then use the
topographical data

as a reference when examining

the meteor impact at Blind Frog.

This will allow the team
to determine exactly where

the impenetrable meteor ends

and where they
can begin digging.

[Eric] I'd like to try to scan
the entire crater, if possible.

So let's start with
the northern edge.

Nice.

The north side shows
nicely from up here.

[Mark] Yeah, it's a great view.

[Eric] Okay, let's shift west.

The western part of the rim
should be right about there.

So we're going to
keep turning south.

[Mark] Right in here.

[Eric] Last but not
least, the eastern rim.

Done.

[Mark] Good deal.

So honestly, there
aren't a whole lot

of documented meteor impact
sites in the United States,

especially that are
this well researched.

So, I'm really
excited that I was able

to get this
topographical data today.

I'm really excited to show
this to Duane and the guys.

[man] Here it comes.

[narrator] A new
day at the ranch

comes with some new equipment.

[Josh] Chad and I got a big
win in finding that limestone

up at the collapsed mine.

It's proof this cavern system

stretches for miles,
even beyond Blind Frog.

And today, with this new
rig, we might be able to drill

into the heart of that
system at the Bead Site.

That's a good-looking rig.

Duane Ollinger.

- [Denzel] Nice to meet you.
- I'm Josh.

- Denzel. Nice to meet you.
- Pleasure.

Our pleasure. Pleasure.

- Denzel or Denzelle?
- Denzel.

- Denzel.
- Yeah.

I picked up on it. It sounded
different, so I wasn't...

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

He got all the money,
looks, the fortune and fame.

And I come from the
foothills of the Appalachians.

- Hell, yeah.
- Yeah.

It looks like one
hell of a good rig.

Yeah, I've never been
around one like this.

[Josh] This year,
Duane's up in the game.

He's bringing
in his sonic drill,

and that thing is gonna
drill faster and deeper

than he ever has before.

[narrator] Unlike
traditional drills

that use pressure
to crush and grind

through rock, sonic drills
use high-frequency vibrations,

and can reach depths
of over 600 feet.

This make it up the
road okay so far?

- Yeah, yeah.
- [Josh] Yeah.

The road gets a little
primitive from here,

and so we'll just take the
lead, and just follow us in.

- All right.
- [Duane] You ready?

- Come on.
- Yeah.

- [Josh] All right.
- All right.

- [Josh] Here we go.
- [Duane] Hell, yeah.

- All right.
- [Josh] It's gonna get dangerous as [bleep].

- [Duane] Oh, yeah.
- [Josh laughs]

[man 1] This is a rough ride.

[narrator] At the northern
edge of Blind Frog Ranch...

[man 2] Yeehaw!

[narrator] ...the team's
new sonic drill rig

has begun its trek
to the Bead Site.

Once there, the
team will attempt

to drill down into a vent hole

and reach the keyhole
chamber below.

[Josh] Look at that.

All right, here he comes.

Just before we get to the
pad, it gets a little steep there.

[Josh] Not a bit.

Denzel knows what he's doing.

[man 3] It's coming all right.

[man 4] Charlie,
we're coming in.

[Charlie] Yee-haw!

It's here!

Well, let's get to it.

[machine whirring]

Look at this.

[narrator] As the
sonic drill bit descends,

it will collect long cylinders
of material called cores.

Each core will provide
samples of the Earth

from deep beneath the site.

If any material
associated with caves

appears, like dolomite

or limestone, the drill
could be entering a cave.

[Josh] I'm hoping
to see limestone.

That's what I want to see,
because this cave is underneath us,

and it's got to be
in the limestone,

and we're standing
on top of sandstone.

So if we get limestone,
then I'm gonna be ecstatic.

Drill, boy!

So I'm on my way to
meet the local expert

to learn more about
the cultural aspect

of the Serpent Mound effigy.

[narrator] The
Serpent Mound effigy

is a 1,300-foot-long
earthwork sculpture

built thousands
of years ago on top

of the meteorite impact
zone by the Adena.

The Adena were a
Native American culture

famed for constructing
massive ceremonial

and burial mounds
throughout the Midwest.

By the time the first Europeans

began investigating
the Serpent Mound,

the Adena had been
gone for centuries,

and they left behind
no records on why

they chose the interior
of a meteorite crater

as the location
for their mysterious

Serpent Mound effigy.

Eric is meeting
with Tom Johnson,

a local expert.

He has a lot of knowledge
on the indigenous people

and what different
cultures occupied the site.

It's a very, very old site.

And we'll see what Tom

has to say.

I'm really excited to see
if there's any similarities

to our cultural site
at Blind Frog Ranch.

Hey, Tom.

- Hey, Eric.
- How you doing?

- Glad you made it.
- Yeah, good to be here.

Look at this.

It's amazing
how intricate it is.

It's a burial mound.
Is that correct?

[Thomas] Yes.

The rear of the head

- on the right-hand side, that had three bodies in it.
- [Eric] Okay.

- But they didn't discover that until a few years ago.
- Okay.

Did it serve any other purpose?

They kept it as a calendar,
and there was actually

an alignment on the
winter solstice sunrise.

Wow.

[narrator] According to
Tom, each bend in the body

of the snake lines
up with the sun

during important
astronomical events,

such as solstices and equinoxes.

The most important alignment

is summer solstice,
sunrise or sunset.

This is the sunset alignment.

- The line going through like this?
- Right.

-[Eric] Okay -[Thomas] Yep.

- We're standing on a path across the way.
- [Eric] Okay.

- [Thomas] On the other side...
- [Eric] Okay.

You would be observing
the summer solstice sunrise.

[Eric] Okay.

So, I mean, this is fascinating.

According to Tom, if
you stand in this one spot,

look at this bend in the snake,

it'll line up exactly with
the summer solstice sunset.

This is ancient astronomy.

- Wow.
- It's some sort of a sun calendar.

[Eric] Yeah.

So obviously, they're
sun worshippers,

- because you can rely on the sun to grow your crops.
- Right.

Once you have agriculture
and you have things like art,

- and you have a sophisticated culture.
- [Thomas] Mmm-hmm.

So it has a lot of energy.

- [Eric] Okay.
- And I think a lot

of the Native Americans,

- they had to tap into that, they had to.
- [Eric] Yeah.

So there's more going on here
than just an archeological site.

[Thomas] Absolutely.

[Thomas] Let's go to
the underwater serpent.

[narrator] While visiting
the Serpent Mound effigy,

Tom offers to show
Eric another site nearby.

It's a naturally
occurring stone formation

he believes was sacred
to local Native Americans.

[Thomas] Here she is.

They call this the grotto.

- [Eric] Okay.
- [Thomas] It looks like the head of a serpent.

You could, if you wanted
to, you could climb up there.

[Eric] Yeah. How did
you find this place?

[Thomas] I have a
blueprint from 1939

from the University
of Cincinnati

that shows this very rock.

It actually shows it?
Wow. It's a carbonate.

And it seems similar to
limestone, a little bit different,

but, um, it's also
the type of rock

- you find in the big cave systems then, too.
- Mmm-hmm.

- [Eric] I might try to get up on top.
- [Thomas] Yeah.

[Eric] This is a cool spot.

I've had a lot of tribal
members stand down here,

and they're filled with emotion.

- Yeah.
- Because they see the spirits in the canoes.

[Eric] Yeah. It gives
you that feeling.

Now how the hell am I
gonna get down here?

[Thomas] Jump in the river.

[Eric] This is crazy.

[narrator] In Southern
Ohio, Eric is exploring

the mysterious
Serpent Mound effigy,

an earthen snake sculpture

built inside a
massive meteor crater,

hoping it can provide
insights into the impact site

at Blind Frog Ranch.

When you talk about energy,

are there any, like,
unexplained-type things

- that happen out here...
- A lot.

Or in the crater?

Yes. It serves a certain
amount of protection...

[thunder rumbling]

from storms, 'cause
I've been here 25 years,

and I've observed many storms

being deflected from the crater.

[Eric] Wow. Yeah.

You've got to wonder what's
going on with that. I mean...

I think it's just the
magnetic anomalies...

- [Eric] The anomalies. Yeah.
- Of the crater.

Yeah.

It's so interesting,
'cause we're seeing

the same type of
phenomenon out at the ranch.

We also have an
archeological site there.

They also had an
impact site there.

And you said there's a specific
area that the energy is most...

There is. It's up here by
the head of the serpent,

and that's where a
fault comes across it.

[Eric] You've got faults, too?

[Thomas] We have
two faults here.

This is really crazy.

There's a lot of parallels to
what we're seeing in Utah.

Talking to Tom,

we really have
something very similar

that's going on at Blind Frog
Ranch to what they have here.

We have ancient
peoples building structures

atop a meteor impact site,

and these are
sites that also exist

right on the fault line.

But the strangest thing is the
energy that Tom talked about.

I mean, we witnessed
the same thing at the ranch.

I've never seen my
compass act like this.

Is it related to the
meteor impact site?

Is it the reason people build

sacred sites at both locations?

All I know is whatever's
happening here,

it could be happening
at Blind Frog, too.

Yeah, it's a really special
site, I'll tell you that.

- It really is.
- I'm glad they preserved it.

- Yeah. I...
- I really am.

[narrator] At the
top of the Bead Site,

Duane and the sonic drill crew

have bored ten feet
below the surface...

[man 1] This is our
first core right here!

[narrator] ...as they drill
down towards the cavern

beneath the Bead Site.

[man 2] See what
it looks like at depth.

We got trace manganese,
iron, fine green sandstone.

- No sign of limestone.
- All right.

I'm keeping a log as we go down,

looking for any change in the
soil. Change is what we're after.

[machine whirring]

We just hit 50 foot,
and that puts us

right at the Bead Site below.

So we're on top of this rock.

So now we're at the
level of the Bead Site.

The next 50 feet to 100
feet, that's gonna be exciting.

[machine whirring]

[Josh] This is 65 feet
right here in the core.

- So we're way into the Bead Site right now.
- All right.

And look how gray it's
getting, It's getting dark.

- It's not brown.
- Exactly.

[Josh] I'm definitely seeing
some change in the cores.

They're getting darker and
grayer, and that's limestone.

And limestone is what
you need for cave systems.

We'll know more in a second,
right after this next sample.

All right, here it comes.

[imperceptible]

[Duane] Hell, yeah.

So we're about at


and hopefully, we'll drop into
that underground cavern soon.

- Yeah. We got it, Charlie.
- Yeah.

Wait, can you hear that?

- [man] Whoa.
- Everything good?

No, it's stopped.

Whoa!

[bleep]

What the hell is going on?