Inconsistently used here, but it's the historical present: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_present https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_presen

Inconsistently used here, but it's the historical present: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_present https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_present For some reason, I hear a old-style narration over a documentary film when I hear this tense.