The findings are released to the international press and presented in televised press conferences in Honduras. While the official press release does not say that Ciudad Blanca was found, this is the narrative in the popular press. Meanwhile, some prominent American archaeologists criticize the findings as over-sensational hype. Meanwhile, the team searches for an archaeologist to help interpret and legitimize the results.

Chris Fisher is a Mesoamerican archaeologist with expertise in the use of lidar in archaeology. After studying the lidar data, he determines that both sites are “cities,” as defined archaeologically. They are not Maya but are comparable in size and complexity to some Maya cities. They appear to be part of the same culture as other known sites in Mosquitia, and this culture was much larger and more powerful than previously known.

Elkins and his filmmaker friend Bill Benenson then spend two years planning an expedition into T1 to ground-truth—in other words, to confirm the existence of the site.

The ground expedition to T1 begins in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in 2015 on Valentine’s Day. The team plans the logistics of entering the valley by helicopter and argues over their low supply of snake antivenin. They drive to the town of Catacamas, from where they will fly out to T1, which is guarded by an elite Honduran military contingent.