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00:00When one of history's greatest inventors dies,
00:03some of his prized archives are lost under peculiar circumstances.
00:08Tesla was found dead in his New York hotel room in 1943.
00:12His personal books, notes, and diagrams were sealed in a total of 80 trunks,
00:16which were shipped back to Tesla's native Yugoslavia.
00:19But only 60 trunks arrived.
00:21So where did those missing 20 trunks go?
00:24A plane carrying one of America's greatest musicians
00:26mysteriously disappears over the English Channel.
00:30Glenn Miller was a cultural phenomenon.
00:33His hits were anthems of a generation.
00:35The timing of Miller's flight couldn't have been worse.
00:39What happened to the flight carrying Glenn Miller toward the front lines?
00:44An ancient civilization responsible for creating one of the seven wonders of the world vanishes.
00:50For centuries, the Nabataeans had thrived.
00:52However, by the 7th century, Petra had faded into obscurity.
00:57How did such a prosperous civilization vanish so dramatically?
01:02The chain of history has many missing links.
01:06Prominent people, priceless treasures, extraordinary artifacts.
01:12Their locations still unknown.
01:15Lost to the fog of time.
01:17What happens when stories of the past become vanished history?
01:26September 1940.
01:42As World War II raged, the legendary physicist Nikola Tesla told a news reporter
01:48that he developed a teleforce, a powerful ion beam capable of disabling any military aircraft
01:54up to 250 miles away.
01:57Tesla intended to take his invention to the U.S. government and stop the war.
02:02Tesla hated war and wanted to make war machines impractical.
02:07But others saw his teleforce for its potential as an awe-inspiring weapon, a death beam.
02:15The Nazis wanted it.
02:16The Soviets wanted it.
02:18And while the technology sounds so incredible it's hard to believe, Tesla had such an impressive
02:23track record that if he said he could do something, people tended to believe him.
02:29Tesla was found dead in his New York hotel room one day in 1943.
02:32And various people and agencies swooped in.
02:35His personal books, notes, and diagrams were sealed in a total of 80 trunks, which were
02:40carefully labeled, accounted for, and ultimately shipped back to Tesla's native Yugoslavia.
02:45But overseas, only 60 trunks arrived.
02:49The contents of those documents, if they could be found, might still impact our world, for
02:54better or worse.
02:56So where did those missing 20 trunks go?
02:59And who took them?
03:00Tesla was born in 1856 in the Austrian Empire, now Croatia.
03:07As a university student, he was shown a Gram Dynamo, an impressive new device that could
03:13work as both a direct current motor and generator, and felt it would be simpler and more efficient
03:18if it could be made to work with alternating current.
03:22After graduation, when Tesla was only 24, he was walking along reciting lines from Goethe's
03:28Faust to himself, when the solution came to him.
03:31And just like that, he'd invented the induction motor that's now used to generate power all
03:37over the world.
03:39By 1887, Tesla, still in his early 30s, had filed seven patents related to power transmission
03:48and motors that ran on AC power.
03:51So Westinghouse bought his patents during what became known as the War of the Currents against
03:57Thomas Edison, who championed the use of DC power, direct current.
04:02Less than a decade later, more than 80% of all appliances were running on alternating current,
04:10AC.
04:10Tesla spent his patent money, and more, on building specialized laboratories, a 20-story
04:18tower in Colorado that generated 135-foot-long lightning bolts, and an even taller one on
04:23Long Island that he planned to use for wireless transatlantic communications to one day transmit
04:28wireless power all over the world.
04:30Tesla seemed to envision every one of his inventions benefiting humanity in some way.
04:34Wanting to ensure his peace beam got built, Tesla sent a paper with diagrams to many of
04:41the allies.
04:42The paper declared that his teleforce would shoot out a super-narrow concentrated stream
04:48of particles at 270,000 miles per hour.
04:52This is what is referred to today as a charged particle beam weapon.
04:57Tesla said his beam could take down a fleet of 10,000 warplanes up to 250 miles away.
05:04Thus making war impossible.
05:07That got attentional, right, abroad and at home.
05:09The United States government became extremely concerned about Tesla's research falling into
05:15enemy hands.
05:17Tesla lived in hotels throughout much of his life as an American citizen.
05:22In 1943, he'd been residing on the 33rd floor of a hotel near Penn Station.
05:27One day, a member of the staff discovered him lying face down in his room, dead, and wearing
05:34only a pair of socks.
05:36The FBI quickly arrived on the scene, even though there was no sign Tesla's death was suspicious.
05:43He was 86 and not in the best health.
05:46They were there for Tesla's papers, which they then managed to keep to themselves for almost
05:51a decade.
05:52In 1952, the court ordered that Tesla's personal effects, including his papers and diagrams,
05:58be released and allowed to be sent to Belgrade under the care of the Nikola Tesla Museum.
06:03That means it was sometime between leaving Tesla's hotel room in 1943 and reaching the
06:07museum in 1952 that those 20 suitcases disappeared.
06:11If having a strong motivation, access, and Apple opportunity to remove the files are considered,
06:17one needn't go far to find a possible suspect.
06:22The United States government, especially in the midst of World War II, had plenty of urgent
06:27reasons to remove the most significant files from Tesla's trove of plans and documents.
06:32Whether to use his teleforce or wireless power transmission for their military applications,
06:37or simply to make sure the Nazis couldn't get their hands on them, they may simply have felt
06:42they had no choice.
06:43Tesla's nephew, Saba Kosanovic, showed up at the hotel the morning after he found out
06:49about Tesla's death.
06:51But when he got there, Tesla's body had already been removed.
06:55Not only that, he claimed some of his uncle's technical papers were missing, as was a notebook
07:00Tesla kept.
07:02Two days after Tesla's death, a government department called the Office of Alien Property
07:08Custodian, seized the rest of his possessions from the hotel room, including those 80 trunks.
07:15That department was created to control enemy property confiscated in the U.S.
07:20But Tesla was an American citizen, so they probably had no legal right to do it, and just did it
07:27anyway.
07:28Three weeks later, the government called an expert in high-voltage physics from MIT to examine
07:32and assess Tesla's papers, a Dr. John Trump.
07:36That's right, that Trump.
07:38President Donald Trump's uncle, as it happens.
07:42Dr. Trump's report to the government said Tesla's work over the last decade and a half
07:45of his life was mostly speculative, not new, not sound.
07:50But not everybody agreed with John Trump's assessment.
07:54There were people with pull and experience that felt otherwise.
07:58After World War II was over, and while the OAP was still holding onto Tesla's papers, the
08:05Air Technical Service Command requested photostack copies of his papers on beam weaponry, and
08:11never returned them.
08:13And by 1958, DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, started a top-secret project,
08:21Seesaw, with the aim of developing a charged particle beam weapon.
08:25The FBI faced questions and accusations of cover-ups for decades after Tesla's death, to
08:32the extent that, finally in 2016, they released over 250 pages of heavily redacted documents
08:39about Tesla's papers, many of which had been signed personally by Edgar Hoover, the director
08:46of the FBI.
08:48The released documents didn't disprove anyone's suspicions.
08:51In fact, they showed just how intensely interested in Tesla's files the FBI had been.
09:00Some believe that the only files the United States government actually saw were just leftovers,
09:06either duplicates or documents of lesser importance that the people who took the 20 suitcases of
09:11files didn't bother taking.
09:13Nazi Germany would have had real interest in Tesla's death rate and his wireless transmission
09:20of energy.
09:21So they could add those inventions to their growing collection of Wunderwaffen, wonder weapons.
09:29But it wasn't just Nazi Germany.
09:31The Soviets, America's ally at the time, had paid Tesla $25,000 for the rights to some of
09:37his patents on wireless power transmission in 1920.
09:39They also paid him $250,000 in 1939, after running a successful test on one phase of
09:45his peace beam.
09:47So it's entirely possible that Tesla's files ended up in foreign hands, the Soviets or the
09:52Nazis.
09:55Whoever it was that got the 20 missing suitcases would have needed an operative with access to
10:01do so.
10:01Tesla's nephew, the one that showed up at the hotel promptly after his body was found,
10:07was also a Yugoslavian politician and Yugoslavia's ambassador to the United States, who happened
10:14to be stationed in New York City during Tesla's final years.
10:19Apparently, when Kasanovic arrived at the hotel that day, he hired a locksmith to get into Tesla's
10:25room and then open his uncle's safe.
10:27There was a memorial book from Tesla's 75th birthday inside.
10:31Kasanovic took that, then had the combination changed and left.
10:36The U.S. authorities flat out thought Kasanovic might be a spy, who could sell Tesla's secrets to
10:41the Nazis or the Soviets.
10:43And they considered arresting him, but didn't.
10:47Sava Kasanovic was the administrator of Tesla's estate from the time the inventor died until his own
10:54death in 1956.
10:55He's the one who successfully got the courts to release the trunks.
10:59He had them sent to Belgrade in 1952.
11:03So all through the 1950s, Soviet scientists were able to access the archive through the
11:09Tesla Museum in communist Yugoslavia, while Western scientists would have had a much harder
11:15time.
11:16After decades of fruitlessly searching for Tesla's missing files, many scientists have
11:23decided his idea for a peace beam just isn't feasible.
11:28In fact, charged particle beam weapons that both the United States and the Soviet Union
11:32tried to develop during the Cold War were a striking similarity to Tesla's descriptions
11:36of his peace beam, his teleforce.
11:39The United States tried again in the 1980s.
11:44Ronald Reagan called this new version of the program Star Wars and gave it an annual budget
11:50bigger than NASA's.
11:52But they still couldn't get it to work.
11:54One decorated physicist who refused to help was John Trump.
11:57Like Tesla, he was only interested in using science for the betterment of humanity.
12:04The nephew of Dr. John Trump established the Space Force during his first term as president
12:10with a mission to secure America's interests in, from, and to space and to limit opposition
12:17from adversaries.
12:19You've got to wonder what the scientists working for Space Force would do with Tesla's research
12:23if they were ever to find it.
12:25Nikola Tesla seems to have successfully taken his knowledge about directed energy and particle
12:32beam devices with him when he died.
12:35One can only hope that if his secrets are ever discovered, they might be used to build weapons
12:40of peace as he'd intended.
12:42Carved into crimson sandstone cliffs in modern-day Jordan, Petra was once the dazzling heart
13:01of the Nabataean kingdom.
13:02Renowned as master traders and desert tacticians, the Nabataeans dominated the crossroads of Africa,
13:09Asia, Asia, and Europe.
13:12The Nabataeans emerged around 400 BCE as nomadic tribes in the Negev and Arabian deserts, and
13:18they settled in Petra by 200 BCE.
13:20Their mastery of the incense roots, transporting luxury goods like frankincense, myrrh, and spices,
13:25brought them immense wealth.
13:28Petra was a vibrant metropolis with fountains, lush gardens, and grand structures like the
13:33great temple complex.
13:34Influences from Persia, Greece, Rome, and Egypt converged in its architecture, while alliances
13:41forged by King Artas elevated Petra to a cosmopolitan hub of trade and culture.
13:48Their towering rock-cut tombs and lavish villas spoke of a civilization unmatched in creativity
13:56and resilience.
13:57But by the 7th century, the Nabataeans had abandoned Petra and seemingly disappeared.
14:04So the question remains, how did a civilization that cherished the boundless freedom of the
14:11desert above all else meet its ultimate downfall?
14:16Known to the Nabataeans as Rakhmu, Petra was far more than a red rock outpost.
14:22Early European explorers thought Petra was little more than an acropolis filled with tombs.
14:29But that all changed in 1812, when a Swiss adventurer was led to Petra by his guides and
14:36became the first European to document the site in centuries, awed by the vast series of towering
14:43facades, hidden passages, and sprawling temples.
14:47The Nabataeans also demonstrated advanced agricultural innovation.
14:53The engineers created a revolutionary water management system of aqueducts, dams, and reservoirs
14:59that sustained life and agriculture in the harsh desert.
15:03These innovations enabled the cultivation of fruit trees, wheat, and vineyards.
15:08And by the 1st century CE, the city supported over 20,000 residents.
15:13But even as the Nabataeans reached their zenith, external pressures began to mount, threatening
15:19the stability of their desert empire.
15:21Shifting trade routes, natural upheavals, and changing economies chipped away at their
15:25dominance.
15:27For centuries, the Nabataeans had thrived by adapting to shifting geopolitics and environmental
15:33challenges.
15:34However, by the 7th century, Petra and the Nabataeans who had built it had faded into obscurity.
15:40The stunning city had been abandoned by all except local Bedouins from the area.
15:46How did such a prosperous civilization vanish so dramatically?
15:51Some trace Petra's decline to a moment of transformation, a turning point that redefined
15:57the Nabataeans' identity and their place in history.
16:01In 106 CE, Emperor Trajan annexed the Nabataean kingdom following the death of King Rabal Soter
16:08II, transforming it into the Roman province of Arabia Patria.
16:14Roman accounts portray this transition as a seamless and peaceful incorporation, with
16:20the Nabataeans depicted as willing participants in the empire's expansion.
16:27This theory suggests that the Nabataeans' independent identity simply faded into the folds
16:34of imperial history.
16:36According to the Roman stories, Petra initially flourished as a provincial hub, despite the
16:43upheaval.
16:44Roman engineers built the Via Nova Trajana, a major road linking Aqaba on the Red Sea in
16:51Jordan, to Bostra in southern Syria.
16:54They expanded farming terraces, put up watchtowers, renovated parks and pools, all signs that Rome
17:01was determined to integrate Petra into its empire.
17:06Beneath the surface of this seemingly harmonious transition, recent discoveries point to a more
17:12turbulent reality.
17:15Ancient carvings in the deserts of northern Arabia tell a story at odds with official Roman accounts.
17:21One text describes a, quote, war of the Nabataeans and a king named Malacos, smiting 3,000 Roman soldiers.
17:29These inscriptions may confirm that the Nabataeans resisted Rome more forcefully than the empire
17:35admitted.
17:36Some suggest that Rabel Soter II may have left behind two heirs who refused to yield the kingdom
17:45without a fight.
17:48It's possible Rome named the new province Arabia Patria to erase the Nabataean identity from the
17:55land and bury any record of protracted conflict.
17:59Ultimately, Patria's decline may have involved far more than conquest.
18:07Rome's annexation was likely just one chapter in a deeper story of resilience and resistance,
18:14raising questions about whether it was truly the beginning of the end or merely part of a
18:20larger story.
18:23Patria and its people would face another, far greater challenge, one that struck without
18:28warning and placed its future on precarious ground.
18:33Another factor in the Nabataeans' disappearance that often gets mentioned is a catastrophic
18:38earthquake that struck the region on May 19th, 363 CE, during the reign of the Emperor Julian.
18:46Contemporary observers said it was one of the most devastating seismic events of the late
18:51Roman period.
18:53Experts say it might have been somewhere between 6.5 to 7 on the Richter scale.
18:58Excavations in Petra revealed collapsed columns at the Temple of the Winged Lions, the Great
19:04Temple, and elsewhere, consistent with intense shaking.
19:07Further damage came from the failure of anti-flash flood systems, causing thick layers of sediment
19:12and rubble to bury certain areas of the city.
19:14With their homes destroyed and water channels compromised, many residents could have fled to nearby
19:21agricultural sites such as Beda and Wadi Musa, where springs and less damaged landscapes offered
19:27greater stability.
19:29And though some rebuilding efforts were attempted in Petra, they were small-scale and often used
19:34salvaged materials, resulting in crude, makeshift designs.
19:38But here's the catch.
19:42Despite the devastation caused by the earthquake, Petra endured for almost 300 more years, which
19:50forces us to explore alternative theories.
19:53Though the Nabataeans' heritage endured in subtle ways, the sands of time soon brought another
20:01transformation, one that would reshape Petra's identity and its place in history, leaving
20:06lingering questions about its ultimate fate.
20:10Archaeologists looking to explain the Nabataeans' disappearance have also been exploring the
20:15impact of Islamic conquests in the 600s.
20:18There's some evidence hinting that as Muslim armies expanded across the Arabian Peninsula,
20:25Petra, which had already declined from its days as a major trading hub, might have been
20:30integrated into the Islamic world.
20:34Petra's strategic location on key routes through South Jordan initially made it a focal point
20:38for these conquests.
20:40But eventually, the rise of cities like Ayla and Tabuk redirected commerce and military focus
20:44away from Petra.
20:45By 630 CE, treaties with local leaders signaled the growing influence of Islamic governance
20:50in the region.
20:53Excavations at Beda, a settlement near Petra, reveal a more complex narrative, stating from
21:00the 11th to 14th centuries and constructed atop Nabataean foundations, point to gradual integration
21:07rather than abrupt erasure.
21:09Based on the evidence, it's most likely the Islamic conquest did not erase the Nabataeans.
21:17Instead, Petra became a living tapestry of Nabataean, Byzantine, and Islamic influences, a testament
21:26to the resilience and adaptability of its people.
21:30From humble origins to its golden age, Petra and the Nabataeans who shaped it remains a testament
21:38to human ingenuity in one of the world's precious landscapes.
21:43Recent discoveries have only added to the wonders of Petra.
21:48A tomb recently uncovered beneath the famous treasury held not just 12 skeletons, but also
21:54hundreds of artifacts made of bronze and iron and ceramics.
21:59They're just another reminder that the people who lived at Petra had a society filled with
22:05refined customs and ceremonies.
22:09The Nabataeans' deep understanding of arid landscapes and their preference for mobility allowed their
22:13culture to outlast Petra's decline.
22:16Their ingenious water systems, thriving trade networks, and artistic achievements influenced
22:20civilizations long after the city was at its peak.
22:23The astounding city of Petra, carved into crimson cliffs, silently recounts a thousand-year saga
22:31of resilience, triumph, and reinvention.
22:34A legacy that continues to inspire awe in the shifting sands of the desert.
22:53December 15, 1944, when the Allied advance into Europe quickening, and morale a precious resource, a single-engine plane
23:03slipped into a dense, cold mist above England.
23:06On board was Major Glenn Miller, America's most celebrated bandleader, turned wartime morale officer,
23:13bound for a new stage and liberated Paris.
23:16By the mid-1940s, Glenn Miller was a cultural phenomenon.
23:22His hits like In the Mood and Moonlight Serenade were anthems of a generation.
23:29But at the height of his fame, Miller made a remarkable choice.
23:34He walked away from stardom and enlisted to serve his country.
23:40In war-torn Europe, Miller's music was more than entertainment.
23:44It was a lifeline.
23:45His broadcasts, carried by the BBC and the Allied Expeditionary Forces program, resonated in damp barracks,
23:52crowded field hospitals, and muddy foxholes.
23:56On December 15, 1944, Miller arrived at RAF Twinwood Farm near Bedford to board a flight to Paris,
24:02where his band planned to meet him.
24:04The city was still reeling from the grip of Nazi occupation,
24:06and Miller had prepared a Christmas concert to uplift Allied troops.
24:11The timing of Miller's flight couldn't have been worse.
24:15The very next morning, the Germans launched the attack that began the Battle of the Bulge.
24:21Allied command was plunged into chaos, so no one realized the Norsemen had disappeared.
24:27It was days before anyone realized the plane and its passengers were gone.
24:32And decades later, the question is still unanswered.
24:36What happened to the flight carrying Glenn Miller toward the front lines?
24:43December 1944 marked a pivotal moment in the war.
24:47The Allies, fresh from the liberation of Paris, were pressing toward the Rhine,
24:52while German forces prepared a devastating counterattack to stall their advance.
24:57For soldiers on frozen battlefields, hope was as vital as ammunition.
25:03In 1942, Miller was turned away by the Navy due to his age.
25:08So, he presented the Army with a bold plan to modernize military bands and harness music as a morale booster.
25:19This vision led to the creation of the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band,
25:25which revolutionized entertainment for troops around the world.
25:30By 1943, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower recognized the need for familiar voices and music
25:38to lift the spirits of American troops stationed in England.
25:41The newly launched American Forces Network, filled with news, sports, and music from home,
25:47quickly boosted morale, and the results showed Eisenhower wanted more.
25:52He specifically requested that Glenn Miller be moved to the UK to keep spirits high among Allied troops.
25:57After Paris was liberated in August, Miller was eager to bring his music to GIs on leave in the city.
26:05But the AFN and BBC were reluctant to let him go,
26:08since they relied heavily on his band's recordings to fill their program.
26:11To secure their approval, Miller took on a grueling schedule,
26:14recording an astonishing 84 hours of programming over the course of three weeks.
26:19His efforts paid off, and the plan was announced.
26:21Glenn Miller was heading to Paris.
26:23At 1.55 p.m. on December 15th, Miller boarded a UC-64A Norseman,
26:30alongside Lieutenant Colonel Norman Bassell and Pilot John Morgan,
26:35and the men began their ill-fated journey across the English Channel to Villa-CoublΓ©, France.
26:42When Miller's band arrived in Paris three days later, December 18th,
26:46he was nowhere to be found.
26:49So they contacted the military authorities and discovered no one there even knew that he'd ever taken off in the first place.
26:56The Norseman had been reported as missing over the English Channel,
27:00but Miller was so impatient to get to France that he'd got it on the plane without official permission.
27:06So it was only the pilot who was listed as having been on board.
27:09All we know is Miller's plane flew within a few miles of Woodley Airfield at 2.12,
27:18before it turned south and vanished.
27:22This would mark the start of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the war.
27:30Despite exhaustive searches, no trace of Glenn Miller or the Norseman has ever been found.
27:36The English Channel, crisscrossed by bombers, transports, and reconnaissance claims,
27:42was an unforgiving corridor.
27:44And such volatile airspace, even the slightest miscalculation,
27:48could transform a routine flight into disaster.
27:51Glenn Miller's Norseman may have drifted into one of the most perilous areas above the Channel,
27:57a jettison zone.
27:58Returning Allied Lancasters, burdened with high-explosive payloads,
28:03would circle these 10-mile areas to safely offload their 500-pound bombs
28:08before landing in England.
28:10The practice was vital for safety on the ground,
28:12but for any aircraft flying below, the consequences were catastrophic.
28:15A single misstep into the zone could turn an ordinary flight into a fatal encounter,
28:19as tons of explosives rained down without warning.
28:22On the day Glenn Miller's plane vanished,
28:26a group of Lancaster bombers, nearly 140 of them,
28:31returned from an aborted air raid over Germany.
28:34The fighters, meant to escort them, had been grounded,
28:37so the mission was called off.
28:39And the bombers were full of more than 100,000 incendiary bombs,
28:44payloads too dangerous to land with.
28:47So the squadron set course for the South Jettison area,
28:51part of the English Channel that was designated as a dumping zone.
28:56Decades later, RAF navigator Fred Shaw recalled that as his Lancaster neared the South Jettison area,
29:04he spotted a small, high-wing aircraft below.
29:09Moments later, his squadron began releasing their payload of bombs,
29:14tumbling toward the sea.
29:16If Shaw's story is accurate,
29:19this tragic scenario might hold the answer to Glenn Miller's disappearance.
29:27Initial doubts about Shaw's account arose from discrepancies in the reported timelines.
29:33Some reports claimed the bombs were jettisoned at 1.40 p.m.
29:37But pilot John Morgan's flight log placed the Norseman an hour ahead of the bombers.
29:42Lancaster bombers also generally jettisoned their payloads from altitudes of 5,000 to 6,000 feet.
29:51And from those heights, it's thought that a Norseman flying much closer to the water
29:55would have just looked like a tiny speck, almost invisible to the bombers, even in clear skies.
30:01Crucially, no Lancaster crews reported seeing an aircraft in distress or filing any reports of an incident,
30:10as was their strict obligation.
30:12So in the end, the friendly fire idea feels more like speculation born out of the confusion of war,
30:21pushing us to look at other more likely explanations.
30:24Another explanation focuses on the aircraft itself.
30:40The UC-64A Norseman was built for durability and designed to meet the demands of wartime aviation.
30:47But its simplicity also left it vulnerable.
30:50Its single-engine, lightweight steel frame and minimal safety systems were practical for logistics,
30:56but offered no protection against the engineering challenges of winter flying.
31:00One recurring issue, carburetor icing, could turn even the sturdiest planes into death traps.
31:07Carburetor icing was a mechanical flaw rather than a purely environmental hazard.
31:11When moisture in the air froze inside the engine's fuel intake, it restricted airflow and starved the engine of power.
31:18Pilots frequently reported this issue with the Norseman, particularly in cold, damp conditions.
31:24During the war, ground crews were overworked and had limited resources,
31:28so they had to prioritize combat aircraft over transport planes like the Norseman.
31:33So even relatively easy-to-fix issues, like an improperly calibrated carburetor or a crack in a fuel line, were easily overlooked.
31:44If the Norseman's engine failed mid-flight, Captain Morgan's response would have been critical.
31:50But the perilous conditions over the English Channel left him little time or space to act.
31:56Flying low beneath the cloud cover to maintain visibility, Morgan would have had no margin for error.
32:04At that altitude, even a brief engine stall could be fatal.
32:09The Norseman's lightweight, fabric-covered frame would have offered no protection in a crash.
32:16Once it hit the water, it likely disintegrated, leaving no trace for investigators to find.
32:23To our knowledge, there were no significant issues with Miller's aircraft, and no distress signals were sent during the flight.
32:31Even with a mechanical failure, an experienced pilot like Morgan might have managed a controlled ditching, if given time to react.
32:40If the engine failed, why didn't he send a mayday signal?
32:44Or was the situation too sudden and catastrophic to allow it?
32:48For some, the answer lies not in faulty machinery, but in the unrelenting forces of nature that turned the skies over the English Channel into a battleground no pilot could hope to conquer.
33:00The most straightforward explanation is also the most haunting.
33:03Glenn Miller's Norseman fell victim to the brutal winter skies.
33:07Weather over the Channel in December 1944 was notoriously treacherous, and December 15th was no exception, with a 300-foot ceiling and ice due to freezing drizzle.
33:15When the Norseman lifted off, the weather was foggy, but seemed manageable.
33:22Once they got over the Channel, the conditions got worse.
33:25Records suggest that dense cloud layers stretched from sea level upward, in conditions that would have been ideal for causing icing at lower altitudes.
33:34The English Channel in winter was infamous among aviators.
33:40Sudden gusts, violent turbulence, and thick fog often reduced even the most seasoned pilots to flying by instinct alone.
33:50Visibility could vanish without warning, leaving crews disoriented and vulnerable in an endless featureless void.
33:58To maintain visibility, pilots often flew low beneath the cloud cover.
34:05But flying so close to the sea came with its own risks.
34:08Over the Channel, Atlantic winds could have collided with coastal drafts, creating sudden turbulence.
34:14A single downdraft could pull a plane into the water within seconds.
34:19But given the absence of solid evidence, it's impossible to conclude that weather conditions cause the disappearance.
34:26Despite decades of investigation, no trace of Glenn Miller, his companions, or their aircraft has ever been confirmed.
34:35But tantalizing clues persist, keeping the mystery alive and tied to the enduring legacy of his music.
34:42In 1987, a retired trawler man reported pulling up wreckage he believed was Miller's Norseman.
34:47Though he was told to return it to the Channel, he recorded the coordinates, a potential clue tied to historical aircraft data.
34:53The Norseman was the only plane of its kind lost during the war, and its unique steel-tubed fuselage and engine could still confirm its identity if found.
35:03From his early days as a struggling trombonist, to creating a signature sound that defined the big band era, Miller's story is one of persistence and innovation.
35:15His disappearance over the English Channel remains a mystery, but his music continues to resonate, transcending time and connecting audiences across decades.
35:25In 435 BCE, renowned sculptor Phidias completed his masterpiece, a towering 40-foot statue of Zeus, the supreme deity of the ancient Greek pantheon, housed in a special temple at Olympia.
35:50The sculpture presided over the Olympic Games for nine centuries.
35:54Zeus' statue became the focus of the Games, the procession of athletes and spectators who had pilgrimaged from all over Greece to attend, marched through the temple on the way to the stadium to observe this colossal effigy and pay their respects.
36:09The statue and its temple weren't just the focus of the Games.
36:14They were one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
36:17People came from all over the Mediterranean to experience this sublime sculpture of the god who ruled over all the other gods.
36:25We know the statue existed for at least about 900 years, but by the 500 or 600 CE, it was gone.
36:34There are lots of theories about what happened to it, but no conclusive evidence.
36:39So how does an enormous 40-foot sculpture disappear?
36:44What did happen to Olympia's famous statue of Zeus?
36:48Because Olympia had no full-time civilian population, it was not considered a city, but rather a sanctuary site with over 700 structures dedicated to the worship of Zeus, and for hosting the Games, meant to honor him.
37:05Just as they are now, the Games were held every four years, even in times of war.
37:10This was a religious event, meant to be enjoyed not only by people, but by the gods themselves.
37:16So a secret truce would be in place to ensure peace while the Games were on.
37:22Ironically, a disagreement between two nearby towns, Elis and Pisa, over which one of them should have the right to oversee the Games, is what led to war.
37:31The towns fought for decades, and when Elis finally came out on top, the town decided to celebrate the victory and spend some of the loot they'd stolen during the war by building a fabulous temple dedicated to Zeus.
37:46The Temple of Zeus was finished about 460 BCE, and it would have instantly become a famous landmark right near the main Olympic Stadium.
37:56It was nearly 100 feet wide and more than 200 feet long, six massive columns on the front and 13 down the sides.
38:06And inside, you'd find a chamber called a cella that was built for one central purpose, to house a towering statue of the king of the gods.
38:18Phideus already had a reputation for creating a colossal sculpture of the goddess Athena for the Parthenon in Athens.
38:26For the statue of Zeus, he had a huge workshop built in Olympia, seemingly determined to outdo himself.
38:33By 435 BCE, the enormous statue was completed and installed in the temple.
38:39There was a 20 by 30 foot podium of black marble on which Zeus sat on his throne.
38:44His features were meticulously sculpted, with precious jewels inlaid in his eyes.
38:49In one hand, he held the scepter with an eagle.
38:53In the other, he held a statue of Nike, the goddess of victory.
38:57The statue helped Olympia become one of the most important religious centers in Greece.
39:03It was so famous, there were even miniature likenesses of it depicted on coins, which is part of how we know what it looked like.
39:09It was a must-see on people's bucket lists for centuries.
39:14But then, at some point before the end of the 500s CE, the statue disappeared.
39:21It's possible the statue of Zeus, the god who wielded one form of nature's power, may have been destroyed by an even greater force of nature.
39:31Zeus did not control.
39:32This part of the world experienced powerful earthquakes during the first millennium CE.
39:39One of them could have brought the Temple of Zeus down and smashed Phidia's masterpiece to bits.
39:47After the ruins of Olympia were discovered and ultimately excavated in the late 19th century, evidence emerged that led to this theory.
39:56As the Temple of Zeus was uncovered, many columns of its southern flank were splayed out in a pattern like fallen dominoes,
40:05which immediately suggested that only something as overwhelming as an earthquake could have toppled them.
40:11The geological record shows there were catastrophic quakes in that part of Greece in 522 CE, and again in 551 CE.
40:20The 551 event even resulted in the site being buried under more than 25 feet of silt from the Alfeos and the Cladios rivers.
40:31Some people question that theory, though.
40:34Modern simulations have suggested that the earthquake in 551 wouldn't have been powerful enough to topple the columns into that particular pattern.
40:43They clearly did fall, so if it wasn't an earthquake, historians are left to figure out what else could have brought them down.
40:50Some have speculated that not even the king of the gods can stay above the law of the land for very long.
40:57The Temple of Zeus in Olympia, along with the world-famous statuette contained, may have been intentionally destroyed per the orders of Rome's Christian leadership.
41:10In the late 4th century CE, the Roman emperor Theodosius I outlawed all pagan cults throughout the empire.
41:19Pagan sanctuaries were to be abandoned, and all non-Christian rituals were banned.
41:26The Olympics, which had been held every four years for almost 12 centuries, were ended.
41:33The emperor had not, not yet anyway, ordered the destruction of pagan temples themselves.
41:40But one over-enthusiastic prefect in the town of Apomir took it upon himself to demolish a temple there that was dedicated to Zeus by having its columns pulled down.
41:51They tried with teams of draft animals and ropes, and the columns wouldn't budge.
41:57So they tried something brilliant, undermined one side of three of the columns, supported that side by inserting timber beams, undermined some more, and then lit the beams on fire.
42:10The beams burned away, and the three columns toppled, smashing into and taking down another 12, and possibly at least part of the roof.
42:20They said that the crashing sound was heard throughout the town.
42:23Some researchers have suggested that if the same technique was used on the temple of Zeus at Olympia, that might explain the toppled dominoes pattern.
42:34But whatever the cause, an earthquake or intentional demolition, there's another unanswered question.
42:41If the statue of Zeus was destroyed in the temple, why haven't we found any trace of gold or ivory from it?
42:48When all efforts at finding proof something existed in a certain place have been exhausted, it may lead to one simple but surprising conclusion.
43:00Maybe the statue of Zeus just wasn't there, not by the time of the destruction of the temple anyway.
43:07It may have been moved to Constantinople, now Istanbul, over 400 miles across the Sea of Marmara.
43:15The thing is, even well after pagan rituals and beliefs had been banned, the statue of Zeus was recognized by many as an important work of art.
43:26And somewhere around 430 CE, the imperial chamberlain of Theodosius, a man named Lausus, might have used his money and position to acquire the statue for his private collection of pagan antiquities.
43:39In 475 CE, there was a great fire in Constantinople, and it swept right through the area where the palace of Lausus stood.
43:50Later historians reported that the palace was destroyed, along with the statues inside it, but we don't know if Zeus was one of them.
43:59Though Phidias' later life is something of a mystery, we know that the great statue of Zeus at Olympia turned out to be his greatest and last masterpiece.
44:10There are accounts that Phidias was implicated in a number of crimes, targeted by enemies of one of his benefactors.
44:19He was accused of stealing gold from one of his own statues, which was disproved.
44:25But he was convicted of impiety for carving his own likeness into the goddess Athena's shield.
44:32For that, he was jailed.
44:34After that, the historical record is inconclusive.
44:38He may have died in jail, or he may have been released into exile.
44:44The statue of Zeus stood tall in Olympia for roughly a thousand years, and could be said to have achieved a kind of immortality even beyond that.
44:53Phidias' depiction of Zeus, seated on his throne, became the standard, copied and repeated for gods and mortals ever since.
45:02The statue ofangeries in L.F.
45:05Stκ°μ§κ³ of Zeus
45:11The statue of Zeus
45:17The statue of Zeus
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