Who made these circles in the Sahara?
Someone left these marks in the sand. We had to find out who.
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Deep in the Sahara, far from any towns, roads, or other signs of life, is a row of markings in the sand. There are dozens of them stretching for miles in a straight line in central Algeria, each consisting of a central point surrounded by a circle of 12 nodes, like numbers on a clock. And when we started making this video, no one seemed to know what they were.
We first saw the circles back in September 2021, after finding a Reddit post on r/WhatIsThis with coordinates asking what the circles could be. With just two upvotes and two commenters, it wasn’t exactly a lively discussion. But seeing the circles themselves on Google Earth was fascinating: They were eerily perfect in their shape and regularity, but so deeply isolated in the desert. We were hooked on finding an answer.
So we decided to make a video out of trying to solve the mystery, no matter where it took us. We documented every step of the process — from Zoom calls and web browser screen recordings to vlogs and field shoots — to show the reporting process from the inside out. And when we maxed out what we could learn on the internet, we handed over this story to a team in Algeria to take it all the way.
Resources:
Check out the circles for yourself: https://www.google.com/maps/@27.270129,4.3221894,251m/data=!3m1!1e3
Read Will K’s original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Whatisthis/comments/nv4ysr/ive_just_discovered_unexplained_and_undocumented/
Here’s the 1885 document that Melissa found: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.2307/495986
Read Dale Lightfoot on the sustainability of qanats: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12685-017-0200-7
My interview with Marta Musso didn’t make the final cut, but you can check out her work on the history of the hydrocarbon industry and Algerian decolonization: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1mtz521.8?seq=1
I also spoke to Roberto Cantoni, who wrote a great book that covers the same history: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315531533-4/oil-diplomacy-wartime-algeria-roberto-cantoni
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@Vox
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Hi everyone! We hope you enjoyed this adventure — this video was a huge experiment for us in format and storytelling, with months of work, dozens of contributors, and lots of moving parts.
We’d love to answer any questions you have about our process in this thread, so ask away! And if you have suggestions for the next one … leave them below, too!
-Christophe
@sruthinrox
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Incredible humans including Vox team ❤
@ayufitarini6706
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Finally a happy ending😂
@YahyaMoTryToSayGo
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
For the part when you write Israel it was nothing called Israel at this time
@rosejeanorsal2387
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Vox, you gained a new subscriber.
@papimiggy2261
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
What a great journey!
@topitopi4882
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Someone… 😂😂😂
@dre38w
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
lol. Bro earned Bob’s respect.
@flogoldie
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
or you can go onto google maps and it says CREPS Exploration Circle right next to them all
@MamaK-d7n
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
On a binge watch❤
My new favorite
Very informative ❤
Thank you🎉
@kaigartner
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
8:49 Dutch for sure
@thepunadude
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
DRONES WOULD HELP, HELLA LOT!
@andreivasilev08
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Absolute masterpiece! Please, could you tell how do you find such impressive research ideas?
@lauramillan6298
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Love Bob’s honesty 😅
@Bouchra25Touil
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
You should have asked us Algerians
@abdalla_alraad7766
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
5:47 Israel?? Its not Israel,its Palestine
@xKiNx
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Everyone: Hey! We found some cool history thingy and are requesting any help you can give.
Bob: I don't think we need to speak
@DanyAbdu98
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Thanks for this video, Algeria has that vibe of many secrets, and the people you find in the process are the gold of our humanity ❤
@OrtensiaRossa
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
A joker of course😂
@efragajr
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
❤❤
@showcase0525
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
This video holds the same wonder and surprise 3 years later.
Bravo.
@lyly.lokspure
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
As an Algerian I'm Soo proud of your work
Thank you!
@jadeduong38
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
This was an amazing video! I give up after the 3rd page of google results
@NiginaNurmamatova-o1m
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
wow,that's awesome,keep going,I like it🤩
@blueside8735
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
so a whole 27min video of an amazing research about dynamites and circles in the sahara and still people are more interested in 2min of a man who s passion is sardine cans ? i ve prolly seen it all
@Charlie-sr6dv
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
❤❤❤❤❤
@tinawelch3005
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
This is incredible!!
@book-a-loo
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
what i wouldn’t give to watch this like the first time again
@guythat779
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
fyi, qanat is just "channel" in arabic
@samchevalier1.1
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Amazing job
@machoward6297
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Eat it, Bob
@tanmay1134
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
the perfect opening of a yt video exist in this video.
@RosettaStonerd
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Amazing work!
@rafal8110
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
I just know that somewhere in the past this guy is one of the most famous travelers who meets with different people from different cultures around the world and he have a book about his journeys
@geethaachuta1443
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
I love the way you do research and then document the research. I keep watching these videos again and again
@gavrieljans0511
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
I love Chris and Bob interactions on email, it's like a love hate long distance relationships❤
@SharkieTailz
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
I feel like these types of videos would have been so much better in history and geography classes in schools. It's all so interesting to learn about these things and honestly may inspire more people to do their own research and maybe even make a career out of it!
@Panic_TaylorsVersion_
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
i LOVE this type of videos. its just nerds being nerds and doing something they like, i hope i can do that as well in my future
@ananyabasak8231
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Woww so much hard work 🎉🎉
@mnewt00_private
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
I have watched this video every single year since it came out and every single time I watch it, it feels like a very high budget documentary that I'm watching for the first time. Well done Vox, even if it was 3 years ago.
@СергейСтепанович-и7т
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
While everyone argues over politics and news, The Obscured Principles book quietly explains how the real game is played. The moment I read it, everything around me looked different. It’s like it gave me the decoder ring for reality.
@ТатьянаСтепанова-о7г3щ
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
I’ve spent years chasing answers in documentaries, podcasts, even ancient texts—and none of it hit me the way The Obscured Principles book did. It’s like it was written for the few who are ready to break the illusion and remember who they really are.
@МихаилПатоличев
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
You ever read something that feels like it was never meant to be in your hands? That’s exactly how The Obscured Principles book felt. Ancient wisdom, modern exposure, and a terrifying amount of truth packed into one single source.
@АлександрКоротков-л2я
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
They bury this kind of knowledge for a reason. The Obscured Principles book doesn’t just talk about truth—it bleeds with it. I couldn’t sleep the night I finished it. Not because I was scared… but because I finally understood why we’re kept distracted.
@jared__muller
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 am
Great video!
Comments are closed.