History's Greatest Mysteries
Channel: HISTORY (DStv 186)
TX Time: 19h25
Genre: Documentary Series, History
A series of investigative specials that take the world's most well-known mysteries, and challenges everything we know about them.
Narrated and hosted by Laurence Fishburne, the franchise will delve into a wide array of some of the most historically important mysteries of recent times.
What was the true reason the Titanic sank? Where did D.B. Cooper disappear to? Did John Wilkes Booth live?
Using fresh, new evidence and perspectives, including never-before-seen diaries and advanced DNA testing, History's Greatest Mysteries will unearth brand-new information on some of History's most famous and enigmatic chapters.
In the series premiere, "Roswell: First Witness": In July 1947, a mysterious object crashed near Roswell, New Mexico.
The US military originally claimed it was a flying saucer but then changed their story.
It became the biggest enigma in UFO history, and now 70 years later the family that started it all wants answers.
Roswell: First Witness follows the Marcel family - Jesse Marcel III, John Marcel, and Denise Marcel.
They are the grandchildren of Major Jesse Marcel, the first person to see the wreckage in 1947.
Major Marcel, an air force intelligence officer, was dispatched to the Roswell wreckage site and transported the wreckage back to a military base (stopping to show it first to his 12-year old son, Jesse Jr.).
Both Marcels later said the craft was constructed from an unknown substance, like a liquid metal, with hieroglyphic-like markings on it.
The family believes Major Marcel was forced by the U.S. government to deny he ever saw a UFO.
They possess Major Marcel's journal, believed to contain coded clues about the truth of what happened at Roswell and where alien wreckage might still lie buried.
This diary will be decoded for the first time on TV.
In the second episode of the weekly double bill, "Titanic's Lost Evidence": For 107 years, a dust-covered box has remained hidden in a British manor house, and may contain evidence that will rewrite the most famous maritime disaster in history.
This box contains the personal notes of Lord Mersey, the respected British jurist and politician charged with investigating the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
HISTORY has secured permission to open it – a first in history.
The box contains information about Titanic's voyage including new context on fatal mistakes allegedly made by the captain and crew, and perhaps signs of a cover-up.
The Age of Nature
Channel: BBC Earth (DStv 184)
TX Time: 16h00
Genre: Documentary Series, Nature
The Age of Nature brings together inspirational contributors, rare archive material and stunning imagery from around the world, to give us a deeper understanding of Nature and our place within it.
Episode 1: Awakening
Explores how our awareness of Nature is growing, and as we realise its true value, action is being taken to protect and restore it.
Journeying from the coral reefs of Bikini Atoll to Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, we discover Nature's resilience.
From the cod fishing grounds of Norway to the forests of Panama we discover Nature's limits and in China, we discover the enormous potential for humans to restore Nature.
Episode 2: Understanding
Investigates how a deeper understanding of Nature is helping us find surprising ways of fixing it.
From the Elwha River in America to the countryside of China we learn that the most unlikely creatures can have a huge impact.
In Yellowstone National Park we discover that predators play a crucial role in restoring ecosystems.
And in Scotland and Cape Town we realise that trees can both transform, or destroy, landscapes.
Episode 3: Changing
Reveals how we're learning to harness the power of nature to store carbon.
By restoring our forests, mangroves, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, and most importantly biodiversity, we can help nature drawdown the excess carbon from the atmosphere and slow climate change.
The world is changing. It's time for The Age of Nature. It's our best hope for a positive future.