Nazi military commander Heinrich Himmler's search for an Aryan race he believed came from the mythical underwater city of Atlantis. He claimed that while the city was lost under the sea, its inhabitants had fled to the Himalayas. However, the search for evidence to prove the theory would ultimately harm his peace of mind.

The story of Indiana-born treasure hunter Mel Fisher, who spent much of his life hunting for sunken Spanish treasure galleons off the coast of Florida. In 1985 he made the headlines after locating the 1622 wreck of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha. However, his successes came at a high personal cost.

The story of amateur treasure hunter Adolph Ruth who set off into the Superstition Mountains, Arizona, in 1931 in search of the location of a rich gold mine allegedly founded by a German immigrant who never revealed its location. An expedition found his clothes containing a detailed map and a note indicating the explorer had succeeded in his quest, although his body was later discovered in a gully with two bullet wounds to the head.

South African councillor Athol Stark searches for missing gold buried during the Boer Wars with help from a Zulu family.