 There are a number of ruins on Earth which are either located atop nearly impossible mountaintops or on the ledges of desert hilltops, making sanctuaries from masterfully cut stone temples, and Masada is of no exception. The first official funded excavations in the area took place from 1963 to 1965 and was under former IDF Chief of Staff and Archaeologist Yaga Yadin. The dry desert climate allowed the preservation of classy frescoes and organic remains belonging to the rebels who once called the sanctuary temples home. However, it has long been claimed that the archaeological team were not given full access to the site and have repeatedly noted that they are aware of the site's secret underground yet were not able to fully explore it during the 60s. However, recent changes to attitudes toward historic sites has secured funding for a full exploration of these as yet unexplored underground tunnels. For the first time since 2006, a Tel Aviv University team headed by Roman period archaeologist Guy Stiebel have launched new excavations at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, examining previously unexplored areas of the legendary fortress. This is the next generation, Stiebel told The Times, adding that his team planned to excavate new sections of the dwellings as well as a garden constructed by Herod. He further noted, quote, our intention is to further explore a mysterious underground structure that was detected in the earliest aerial photographs of the site in the 1920s. Yet alas, the building's underground layers have remained unexplored. Dr. Stiebel, intriguingly, although seemingly aware of the void's existence, was reluctant to label its past uses, stated that it was possibly used as a hideout or escape route during the siege of Masada, although he made it clear that he is unsure at the moment of the original purpose of the underground systems. Dr. Stiebel exclaimed his excitement to return to the site after an 11-year absence in statements to the media, quote, a lifetime would not suffice to get a glimpse of all the hidden beauties of Masada. Its magic is not just in the equipment, it is also in small things, end quote. Even though several experts believe that more than 95% of Masada's total size has already been explored, Stiebel believes that its core is yet to be discovered. We will, of course, keep you posted on any controversial or intriguing discoveries made during the excavations. It is a place which we find highly compelling. It is now a well-known, heavily studied fact that the modern-day bird was once a very different-looking animal, evolution in the form of a radical transformational adaptation, forced upon them by gradual changes in the Earth's environment, from which they once came, that being the dinosaur. We now know this to be fact, thanks to modern technology. Our capability to now scan these fossils, some found remarkably well-preserved, still fortunately containing many things which have allowed us to discover that dinosaurs had bird brains, or more accurately, birds have dinosaur brains. With current investigations even shining light upon the reality that many of these gigantic animals, including the T-Rex, once had maines made of feathers. This drastic change from the dinosaur, resulting in the vast array of creatures we see today, from the ostrich to the albatross, even to the commonly domesticated budgerigar. Yet they all share one common trait, a significant reduction in their size, even animals which survived unchanged, such as the crocodile, still shrank considerably. This shrinking of said species, having been demanded of them by environmental changes. Evolutionary adaptation, as we have covered in the past, is, in the channel's opinion, in its true sense, an adaptation of specific sets of vertebrate types, the true definition of species, not as Darwinian theory posits, of leaps between such. Thus, evolution witnessed within the animal kingdom is not indicative of a shared single ancestry, but inseparable branching from specific vertebrae or phyla groups, never proven to have leaped from one to another. As such, modern-day birds could, in fact, be seen as the product of de-evolutionary adaptation, possibly derived from cataclysm, which deprived them of the resources needed to remain at such gigantic sizes. The reason for this digression is the channel's postulation of this same process, having once possibly occurred to Homo sapiens also. Could this explain why some of the oldest ruins are also some of the most advanced, with many remaining beyond the reach of modern man's ability to understand them? Is it possible that man once had a much higher intellect than us today, due to a far greater size cranium? Simply put, were we once giants, just as modern-day birds were once dinosaurs? Legends and accounts of ancient giants can be found all over the world, also featuring in many ancient religious teachings. Additionally, many of the still unexplained sites of earth regularly feature doorways many feet, sometimes even meters above that which is required by and for humans of our modern scale. The terracotta army, for example, is believed by many independent researchers, including Mystery History, who have been made by a lost civilization, and their average height, intriguingly, is much taller than modern man. Many accounts exist of giants, which share similar descriptive characteristics. Red hair, double-road teeth, elongated skulls, etc. With many accounts of red-headed giant remains actually discovered and excavated all over the world, yet often all that survives of these reported events is a small news article, regularly noting Smithsonian involvement in said recoveries, yet seemingly and conveniently always slipping away from the public domain. Lovelock Cave being another example, locals tell of it once being the home of a group of red-headed giants, which was eventually blocked and the giants burnt alive, a giant handprint still visible on a rock in the cave, presumably made by one of these individuals during their unpleasant demise. Yet what has to be the most compelling piece of evidence, fortunately still in view to suggest giants did indeed once exist, are footprints found all over the globe, once laid down upon sediment, now fossilized into solid stone. These footprints range in size, up to a few meters in length, indicating that humans, at some point in the distant past, may have been even larger than many dinosaur species. We find the evidence to support the hypothesis of giant ancient humans highly compelling. In 1995, a curious fellow by the name of Mike Markham attempted to build a time machine in the porchway of his home in Stanbury, Missouri. His invention consisted of a mysterious machine with inner workings he had concocted in his mind, all centered around an electrical Jacob's ladder. His device used a modified compact disc laser, which reduced air resistance between the two poles. Although it included an unusual arc when turning on the device. There was a heat anomaly created, appearing in a circular vortex-like form. After documenting this, he decided to throw a small metal screw at the anomaly to see the effect. He claims that he witnessed the object disappear for about a half a second, then reappeared a few meters away. With the help of donations, his next project was to make a larger, more powerful machine, one capable of allowing himself to attempt a plunge into the anomaly himself. While the original engine ran at a kilowatt, this machine was designed for three megawatts. Also, Markham installed a rotating magnetic field, similar to those used by the U.S. military in the Philadelphia experiment. He believed that the rotating magnetic field was more effective and efficient. His undertakings predictably gained public notoriety, and he had appeared in the media discussing his invention and indeed intentions. Art Bell had Mike on twice. In the later interview, Markham claimed to be experimenting with a more sophisticated machine, going on to state that the electromagnetic vortex was now big enough for a man to walk into. Then, in 1997, he disappeared and was never seen again. Interestingly, people who have been fascinated by this story, its series of events and Mike himself, dug into death records and finds that could have been connected to him, indeed traveling through time, specifically into the past. One in particular was a fine made in the 1930s. A man was found on a Florida beach, crushed to death, and surrounded by a strange, futuristic-looking metal device. We find the entire series of events, Mike's disappearance, and indeed the machine itself, highly compelling.