NARRATOR: Spitsbergen, Norway.
On this remote archipelago
not far from the Arctic Ocean
lies the Svalbard
Global Seed Vault,
known as the Doomsday
Vault. This repository
for the DNA of plants,
animals, and humans
can withstand nearly
any cataclysm,
including a flood, an
earthquake, or a nuclear blast.
KIRSTEN FISHER:
The Svalbard Seed
Bank is a structure,
or a facility,
that sunk into the permafrost.
It's essentially an
international effort
to deposit as many
seeds, particularly
seeds of crop plant
varieties, to help
to preserve genetic diversity.
NARRATOR: With the Doomsday
Vault, are we creating
our own modern day ark?
One that instead of
housing two of every living
creature on earth
will house the seeds
of every kind of plant life?
KIRSTEN FISHER:
The Svalbard Seed
Vault has been designed with
some sort of cataclysm in mind.
The idea is that in the event
of some catastrophic event,
it would still stay
cold and preserve
seeds for thousands of years.
It's sort of this last
hope for genetic diversity.
NARRATOR: The
Svalbard is just one
of several biological
storehouses
located around the world.
England's Millennium
Seed Bank is even larger,
while the US federal government
has built a similar facility
in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Scientists say one reason
for these repositories
is that another large asteroid
similar to the one that
is believed to have
caused the Great Flood
will eventually strike earth.
It's just a matter of time.
ROBERT FRISBEE: You
always have the risk,
and of course we've
seen that here
on earth, of having
large asteroids
or comets hit the
planet and cause
tremendous ecological damage.
Right now, all our genetic
eggs are in one basket.
Whether it's a comet or asteroid
hitting us, we are in jeopardy.
NARRATOR: In February of
2013, an asteroid large enough
to take out all of
New York City came
within 18,000 miles of earth.
Another has been predicted
to strike the Earth
sometime in the next 20 years.
But if a great flood or some
other global catastrophe
were to occur today, are
we prepared to survive it?
And if there really are
extraterrestrial beings
watching over the earth,
are they likely to be
the cause of such a cataclysm?
Or will they simply be observers
sitting quietly by and letting
nature take its course?
DAVID CHILDRESS: If
extraterrestrial gods are there
watching us and either
aware of future catastrophes
or are capable of making
them themselves, then
perhaps we need to
be prepared for that.
We live in a precarious
point where at any time
we could go through
another catastrophe.
And you have to ask yourself
if the extraterrestrials
themselves may not create that.
WILLIAM HENRY: One of
the explanations for why
extraterrestrials might
seek to destroy humankind
is because they treat
us as their property.
They treat us as
their offspring.
And they're able to make
decisions about humanity
based on their needs.
So perhaps that their needs
were satisfied and they decided
they didn't want
humankind around anymore,
so it's just as easy
to wipe them out
as it is to continue to
perpetuate their existence.
LINDA MOULTON
HOWE: The evolution
of humans on this
planet has been
completely and totally
an experiment on the part
of extraterrestrials.
If survival is the
bottom line, they
are trying to get us over
some kind of a finish line
when we're still alive.
GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
Our survival
was ensured by extraterrestrials
way back in the remote past,
because we are their
direct offspring.
We are their product.
They, in fact, have a vested
interest in our survival.
NARRATOR: Are there extra
terrestrials watching over us
even to this day?
Not to destroy us,
but simply to see
if we can prevail over the
Earth's next great cataclysm?
It is a question we
may not have much time
to think about, except to
consider how much, or how many,
will survive.
