In Search of Aliens

Ever since Plato wrote about it

in the 4th century BC, Atlantis has captured the imagination

of adventurers and academics alike,

obsessed with finding out its location.

But what if this classic story is nothing like anyone expects?

What if the accounts of Atlantis having incredible, advanced technology

and then mysteriously disappearing is actually a description

of an extraterrestrial culture that existed here on Earth

thousands of years ago?

I've come to the Mediterranean

to investigate one of mankind's most enduring and baffling mysteries,

and to examine some startling new evidence and potential leads.

I'm in search of Atlantis.

My name is Giorgio Tsoukalos.

I explore the world that exists

between reality and speculation,

the known and the unknown.

What we've been taught by mainstream scholars

is not the whole picture.

But I'm convinced that every day we are one step closer to the truth.

The lost continent of Atlantis

has sparked the imaginations of scholars and explorers for over 2,000 years.

The Greek philosopher Plato wrote about Atlantis

in two of his dialogues, Timaeus and Critias, around 360 BC.

In his account, Atlantis' capital city was a marvel of architecture and engineering

and its people possessed highly advanced military capabilities.

And then one day, Atlantis mysteriously vanished in,

as Plato describes it, "One unbearable day and night."

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So the big question is, if Atlantis really did exist,

where was it located?

And what really happened to it?

Like many others before me, I've always been fascinated

with Atlantis and my love affair with her began as a little kid

when I dared to dream that one day I might even find this lost city.

Because Plato's descriptions are so vivid and detailed,

I've always thought that they must have been describing

a real geographical place.

So I'm starting my investigation here in Athens,

where the story was written, back in the homeland of my Greek ancestors.

Where I've arranged to meet Plato expert Dr. Sandy MacGillivray,

a professor of classics and archaeology.

- Professor MacGillivray? - Yeah.

I'm Giorgio. Pleasure to meet you.

- Hi. Good to meet you. - How's it going?

All these tourists, I barely found you,

but this was a great place where to meet.

Welcome to Athens.

Yes.

So tell me about Atlantis.

How did Plato describe it and what do you think

are some of the clues that we should look at?

He's describing the one city that was founded by Poseidon.

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the seas.

While most people today consider the Greek gods to be mythological figures,

the ancient Greeks themselves did not.

They thought that they were real.

When Poseidon comes down and he mates with an Earth woman

and he has five sets of twin sons,

which to me sounds a lot like genetic engineering.

So, you actually have ten kingdoms for Atlantis.

The one central kingdom is the one where the firstborn, Atlas,

sets up his kingdom.

What you get a description of is the city that's built around a mountain.

There's a huge temple of Poseidon built up there.

You've got a first ring and then you've got fields beyond that,

then you've got a second ring,

fields beyond that, and then you've got a third ring.

So, basically it's moats.

Think of like a medieval castle where you got a moat around the castle.

Later on, they start cutting channels through wide enough

to bring, Plato says, a trireme,

the great huge three-level warships that the Greeks were sailing

all the way through into the central core.

If Atlantis is a mere myth, then why are Plato's descriptions of it

so incredibly detailed right down to the exact measurements?

But if it existed, then where was it?

People have surmised that Atlantis might've perhaps been

some type of an empire that stretched a large, vast geographical location.

So, are there any other places that you would recommend

I should go check out?

You have to start where Plato sends you,

and that's beyond the pillars of Hercules.

The pillars of Hercules in Greek mythology

represented the gateway to the unknown.

But modern scholars now believe that the pillars

were a reference to the large land masses on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar,

the gateway to the Atlantic Ocean, and beyond.

Sandy, thank you very much. I appreciate that.

- Happy travels. - Until next time. Thank you.

Okay, man.

Wow. I can't believe this.

Dr. MacGillivray, an accomplished archaeologist,

actually suggested that the story of Poseidon fathering five sets of male twins

suggests evidence of genetic engineering in the ancient past.

This is very much the basis for the ancient astronaut theory

and it's surprising to hear that this is coming from a mainstream scholar.

Ever since Plato wrote about Atlantis,

many locations around the world have been identified with the lost city.

Theories range from Ireland to the Bahamas, the Americas and even Antarctica.

But all Plato says is, "beyond the pillars of Hercules."

I'm in Silves, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal,

where I'm about to meet with Peter Daughtrey,

a former advertising executive from London.

For the past 20 years, he has investigated what some say

are 100 clues that Plato left behind about Atlantis.

And he's convinced that Silves is the center of Atlantis.

I've got a few questions I'd like to ask you.

How did you get started in your research?

I was doing some research for an article

in a local magazine on an event here that happened in 1755.

It's called the Great Lisbon Earthquake, and it was about nine on the Richter scale.

They had tsunamis here on this coast up to 100 feet high.

Lisbon was virtually destroyed.

And that event set me first thinking.

Plato said that Atlantis was destroyed by earthquakes and floods.

I'd often wondered why this area didn't have an old civilization.

And then suddenly it was obvious that if there was one,

it would've been destroyed.

Geologists had done research on the seabed, back in the bay,

and found that there was one particular big event

at about 11,600 years ago, which ties in exactly with Plato's dates

that he gave us.

And that would coincide with the whole idea

where Plato said that the story of Atlantis might've happened

around 9,000 years before the Greeks.

Pretty well the same.

I then went back to reading Plato again and extracted

about 100 clues that I thought would help us identify

where he was talking about.

This area matches to 60 of Plato's clues.

Peter is absolutely convinced that Atlantis

was once located right where we are

in Southern Portugal.

And Silves, he believes, was the capital.

But if that's true, then where is the evidence

of what Plato described as the three concentric rings of moats

and the Temple of Poseidon?

In your opinion what do you think are some of the most compelling clues?

Well, there's one that is, that's certainly interesting.

I can't say it is necessarily from Atlantis,

but I think the indications are that it could be.

When I first came here I met an elderly couple

who collected antiques and interested in history,

and he told me about, um, this huge stone egg

that he'd seen laying on the side of the road

not far from Silves in fact, and this was...

Did you say a giant egg?

Yes, it's about six foot long.

The World Egg, or Cosmic Egg,

is a mythological motif found in ancient creation stories

from all around the world.

It is used to explain the beginnings of life on Earth,

because many of the ancients believed that the gods themselves

sent the Cosmic Egg and mankind hatched from it.

That to me is very fascinating,

so the fact that there's one here, I would like to see it.

This egg has got something on it that also ties up with creation

that is fascinating.

Let's do it, perfect.

I'm in Southern Portugal with author Peter Daughtrey.

He firmly believes the town of Silves matches more than half

of the clues given by Plato about Atlantis

and its mysterious location.

I brought you here because this is one

of Plato's most specific clues on top of all the rest,

probably the most important one.

You see the black, white, and red rock?

Plato said it was quarried from this one small hill,

and they built the town from it, and you can do this here.

So we're actually standing on a clue right now.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, there are not many places in the world where you can do that,

particularly in one small hill.

That's pretty amazing.

I haven't yet forgotten about that egg.

I bet you haven't.

So how far is the egg and can we go check it out?

Come on, I'll take you there.

Yeah, just down here on the right.

All right.

There you go.

Fascinating entrance.

Even though it is now in the Lagos Museum,

the stone egg once stood near the area where Peter believes Atlantis existed.

I mean, this is like a labyrinth!

Where is this thing?

Yes, it's a... it's a great little museum.

There it is.

Wow.

This is it.

Man, this is great.

What a payoff to come here and see this.

How does this museum classify this stone?

They classified it with- with all the other standing stones

as a "menhir," which are, you will know I'm sure,

all the way up the west coast of Portugal, Spain, into the west coast of France,

Brittany, and all the Celtic countries.

A menhir refers to one of more than 50,000 monoliths

or standing stones deliberately placed by ancient humans.