Hidden Secrets, Ancient Legends, and Lost Treasures: Discovery Unveils What Awaits in the New Seasons of Expedition Unknown and Expedition Files

This November, Discovery Channel is unlocking the world’s greatest mysteries once again.
Two of its most daring series — Expedition Unknown and Expedition Files — return with brand-new seasons packed with revelations that span centuries, continents, and civilizations.

Beginning Wednesday, November 5, explorer Josh Gates takes audiences from the sands of ancient Egypt to the depths of the Baltic Sea in a journey that could rewrite history itself.

Expedition Unknown Season 16: Secrets Beneath the Great Pyramid

Josh Gates opens the new season of Expedition Unknown by going where few have dared to venture — deep inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the last standing Wonders of the Ancient World.

For decades, theories about how the pyramid was built have divided historians and engineers alike. Now, with unprecedented access and cutting-edge 3D scanning technology, Gates joins a team of international archaeologists attempting something extraordinary:
to replicate the construction methods of the ancient Egyptians and uncover what lies hidden in a labyrinth of newly mapped tunnels.

“We’re talking about history’s ultimate engineering riddle,” Gates says. “We’ve got new technology, new access, and maybe — finally — new answers.”

But the Great Pyramid is only the beginning. This season of Expedition Unknown sees Gates chasing the real-life treasure that inspired The Goonies — a multimillion-dollar fortune lost in a 19th-century stagecoach heist.

He also teams up with Gold Rush’s Parker Schnabel to hunt for a long-buried gold rush payday, dives beneath icy Baltic waters in search of a vanished Nazi submarine, and battles crocodile-infested rivers in Nicaragua to find Cornelius Vanderbilt’s lost steamship — a vessel rumored to have been carrying untold riches.

From ancient myths to modern legends, every episode of Season 16 delivers high-stakes exploration, real danger, and moments of breathtaking discovery.

Expedition Files Season 3: History’s Deepest Mysteries Reopened

Immediately following Expedition Unknown, Gates turns investigator once more in the brand-new season of Expedition Files.
Here, the show shifts from ancient ruins to modern enigmas — reopening history’s coldest cases and unveiling evidence that challenges what we thought we knew.

The season premiere tackles one of America’s most infamous disappearances:
the mystery of Jimmy Hoffa. Using new witness accounts and ground-penetrating radar scans, Gates follows a trail that could lead to the truth behind one of the most enduring crimes in U.S. history.

But the investigations only get more astonishing from there.
This season, Gates will:

• Examine a potential artifact linked to the Holy Grail, hidden for centuries and carrying implications that could reshape biblical history.
• Reopen the file on Rudolph Diesel, the visionary inventor whose mysterious death at sea still defies explanation.
• Uncover evidence suggesting Cleopatra’s demise may not have been suicide after all.
• Explore a new forensic theory about the Salem Witch Trials that ties the hysteria to a chilling environmental cause.
• And lead a high-tech search for the Amber Room of Russia, the legendary “Eighth Wonder of the World” that vanished during World War II.

“Every episode of Expedition Files is a quest for truth,” Discovery teased. “Gates follows the evidence wherever it leads — even if it rewrites history itself.”

The Season of Discovery

With both Expedition Unknown and Expedition Files airing back-to-back, this November marks Discovery’s most ambitious night of real-world adventure yet.

From lost treasures to forbidden tombs, from unsolved crimes to vanished wonders — Josh Gates continues to remind viewers that the world’s mysteries aren’t buried forever. They’re just waiting to be uncovered.

Premiere Night – Wednesday, November 5 on Discovery Channel

• 9:00 p.m. ET/PT – Expedition Unknown: Season 16
• 10:00 p.m. ET/PT – Expedition Files: Season 3

Two shows. One night. Endless mysteries.