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00:00There's a lot of wood we're bringing out.
00:01The Roman numeral three there?
00:02Yeah.
00:03It's the oldest looking wood we've found.
00:05We're close to something.
00:06I got it.
00:07That sounds good.
00:09There it is in front of us.
00:10Oh!
00:11Whoa!
00:13The book states that some biblical treasures
00:15went to Oak Island.
00:16The feature on the map is outlined exactly
00:18like the stone feature found at the north end of the swamp.
00:21This is big.
00:26There is an island in the North Atlantic
00:29where people have been looking for an incredible treasure
00:33for more than 200 years.
00:36So far, they have found a stone slab
00:39with strange symbols carved into it.
00:42Man-made workings that date to medieval times
00:46and a lead cross whose origin may be connected
00:49to the Knights Templar.
00:51To date, six men have died trying to solve the mystery.
00:57And according to legend, one more will have to die
01:02before the treasure can be found.
01:04The caisson's advancing pretty easily.
01:17It is.
01:18Look how much it drops when they turn it.
01:21Good progress.
01:22Good progress.
01:24A day of unrivaled hope and anticipation
01:27has begun on Oak Island for brothers Rick and Marty Lagina
01:32and their team.
01:33Vanessa.
01:35What's going on?
01:37The pressures are starting to drop.
01:38It's definitely loose now, like we went through something.
01:41And that is because in the fabled money pit area,
01:45they are conducting a massive excavation
01:48that may soon reveal the answers
01:50to the 230-year-old treasure mystery.
01:54Hey.
01:55Hey.
01:56Hi, Rick.
01:57How are you doing?
01:58What's up?
01:59The dig is at 95 feet.
02:00Mm-hmm.
02:01Right on.
02:02So about three feet away from that target area.
02:04First of many.
02:05Yeah.
02:06After breaking ground one week ago.
02:10Nice job.
02:11You're oscillating.
02:12Nice.
02:13Under the supervision of Vanessa Lucido
02:16and her company, Rock Equipment,
02:18along with representatives from SB Canada.
02:21This is great.
02:22Let's dig.
02:23Yeah!
02:24A seven-foot diameter steel shaft,
02:27dubbed True Believer One,
02:29has reached a depth of nearly 100 feet
02:32and is believed, for a number of reasons,
02:34to be located within the original money pit.
02:39First, it is in this area where recent groundwater tests
02:43have revealed high traces of precious metals
02:46below the 100-foot level.
02:49Second, it is near that depth where the team has retrieved
02:52remnants of a mysterious wooden tunnel.
02:56This looks like the vault.
02:58And third, it is where a previous core drilling operation
03:02this year recovered possible evidence,
03:05approximately 150 feet deep, of the fabled Chapel Vault,
03:11a seven-foot-high container that was first reported
03:14by treasure hunters Frederick Blair and William Chapel
03:17back in 1897.
03:21Really interesting.
03:21For the last four feet,
03:23the casing has gone in ridiculously easy.
03:26Oh, really?
03:27We are not oscillating.
03:28That casing is just going in.
03:29It's just dropping.
03:30It's just dropping.
03:30Yes.
03:32What do you think it might be?
03:34This would either mean sand or easy soft soil
03:37to a cavity, right?
03:39Some void or something like that
03:40that we are just installing it through.
03:43We're still about three and a half feet away
03:44from our very first target horizon,
03:46and that is 98.5 to 99.
03:48We hit the top of what we think might be a tunnel.
03:50Right.
03:51So we'll watch what the grab's bringing up
03:53and what that material is.
03:54Yeah, that's going to be an imperative, right?
03:57Yeah.
04:00As the TV-1 shaft advances deeper
04:03towards the possible tunnel,
04:05an 18.5-ton tool known as a hammer grab
04:09is being used to bring the spoils
04:11and, hopefully, evidence of man-made workings
04:14to the surface.
04:16At the end of the day, it's what comes out of the hole
04:19that probably tells us exactly what we're into.
04:22Patients will ultimately carry the day.
04:24For sure.
04:26As the excavation proceeds in the Money Pit area.
04:31Later that morning...
04:33I'll cut this down.
04:35You can dig that way a little bit, maybe,
04:36and see what you see.
04:37Yep.
04:38Alex Lagina has joined Katja Drayton
04:41and Billy Gerhardt in the northern region of the swamp.
04:44We're right on the edge of the stone path.
04:47Yeah.
04:48I'll just pull off a couple inches
04:50and then hope for something good.
04:52They are searching for additional sections
04:55of a mysterious cobblestone pathway
04:58that was unearthed in this area several weeks ago
05:01and which was bordered by a number of wooden survey stakes.
05:05We are really close to that brick and slate structure here.
05:09Yeah.
05:10And what was most curious about the pathway
05:13was that it led them to a mysterious vault-like feature
05:17made of brick and slate.
05:20A structure which archaeologist Laird Niven believes
05:23may have been created prior to the discovery of the Money Pit
05:27in 1795.
05:31Is that pottery?
05:33Yeah.
05:39Look.
05:41Looks like maybe the handle to a jug.
05:43Beautiful.
05:46There's the potential that this pottery was just used
05:48in, you know, the domestic occupation and everyday life.
05:51All right.
05:51And then there's a potential that this was used
05:53by somebody hundreds of years ago
05:56who may have put treasure here.
05:58This could be pretty important to the search.
06:00Here's more of that lighter pottery.
06:02Oh.
06:03We're finding a lot in this area.
06:05You never know what the littlest finds could be.
06:08Hopefully this can be the first clue
06:10to finding a new structure in the swamp.
06:13Now,
06:14as the team finds more evidence of human activity,
06:17they are hoping to also uncover
06:19new sections of the pathway.
06:21And perhaps additional vaults
06:23that may still contain something of value.
06:28Hey, Billy.
06:29Why don't we do this side?
06:31There's rocks in here.
06:32I think if we take another scrape,
06:34it'll be obvious if it's a structure.
06:36Yep.
06:37At this point,
06:41we're really just trying to follow
06:42this stone path where it leads.
06:44As far as it pertains to the treasure hunt,
06:46to me, the most useful information is where it goes.
06:49But this is on the edge of the permitted area,
06:51and we didn't expect to find anything like this here.
06:54So hopefully more artifacts will bring it to light.
06:56I think that is undisturbed.
06:58Those don't look like stacked rocks to me.
07:02Yeah.
07:03We can go deeper, though.
07:05Yep.
07:06While the Oak Island team
07:08has the freedom to dig as much as they choose
07:10in the Money Pit area,
07:12because the swamp is a wetland,
07:15they must obtain separate permits
07:17from the provincial government
07:18to explore its numerous regions.
07:21Hi.
07:22Hey.
07:23What have we found?
07:24Uh, we got some pottery.
07:26So far, lots of pottery.
07:28But no more of the path.
07:30Okay.
07:31I do think we're done here.
07:33We're at the end of the permitted area?
07:36Pretty much, yeah.
07:38Unfortunately, we're not finding cobbles
07:40in this northern area.
07:43We're at the limits of our permit.
07:45I think we need to expand our permit
07:48to do more work in the area.
07:51We know for a fact
07:53the swamp was heavily manipulated.
07:55I don't think we yet have
07:57even a competent understanding
07:58of what the swamp is hiding.
08:00Perhaps something associated
08:02with where X marks the spot is.
08:04There's still a lot of work to do.
08:07We got a puzzle piece
08:08what we think happened here.
08:10And I think that there is still more to find.
08:13Okay.
08:14Sounds good.
08:16After concluding the dig in the swamp...
08:20Hey, big brother.
08:23You always ask me about Bravo Tango.
08:26Is this Bravo Tango?
08:28We'll see.
08:30Rick and Alex Lagina
08:33return to the money pit area
08:35as the hammer grab tool
08:37is about to begin removing materials
08:39from some 100 feet deep
08:41in the TB1 shaft
08:43which is just above
08:45the team's target depth
08:46of 109 feet.
08:48So the material at the bottom
08:50of the can
08:51is very soft.
08:52It does kind of speak
08:54to a void somewhere.
08:56So that's interesting
08:58because we knew that
08:59we had a zone of interest here.
09:00Anything could be
09:01in this caisson
09:02but it could be something
09:03that is highly significant.
09:10We're approaching the depth
09:11of the tunnel.
09:12You shouldn't encounter
09:13a lot of wood
09:15if it is indeed a tunnel.
09:17There's a top.
09:18There's a bottom.
09:19There are side walls.
09:21So my hope is that
09:23this will be very definitive
09:25in supporting the idea
09:27that there was a tunnel
09:28at this depth.
09:29Whenever we the Fellowship
09:31are watching the hammer grab
09:33we really have high hopes
09:35that the very next scoop
09:37every time
09:38is going to be something
09:39hugely meaningful.
09:40Oh, look at that!
09:42Wood, baby.
09:43Yeah.
09:46Well, we're at about 110,
09:48111 feet right now
09:49which is the very end
09:50of our first zone of interest
09:51and that's a lot of wood
09:52we're bringing out.
09:53And it's all short timbers,
09:55kind of like a tunnel.
09:56Yeah.
09:57I agree, Gary.
09:58It looks like a tunnel.
10:02See if there's anything
10:03in that tunnel.
10:07And that's a lot of wood
10:08we're bringing out, Gary.
10:09It looks like a tunnel.
10:10Yeah, it does.
10:11See if there's anything
10:13in that tunnel.
10:14In the Money Pit area,
10:16upon reaching a depth
10:17of nearly 110 feet
10:20in the TB1 shaft.
10:22That's clean.
10:23The Oak Island team
10:24has just recovered evidence
10:26of a mysterious wooden structure.
10:29What's interesting to me
10:31is we ain't found
10:32any metal fasteners in there
10:33which leads me to believe
10:35that it's an older construction.
10:37Yeah.
10:38Look at this, my friend.
10:40What have you got, Terry?
10:43Pretty sure that's a dowel.
10:44Yeah, it is.
10:45It looks like it's broken, doesn't it?
10:47Yeah.
10:48Wow, this speaks to
10:49relatively old material.
10:50Yeah.
10:51Does it go through the other side?
10:52We'll have to wash it up
10:53and we'll have a look.
10:54Okay, mate.
10:55I think I'm going to show
10:56this to Marty.
10:57Good catch.
11:00There's more wood.
11:01This is definitely
11:03an older style of construction.
11:06They're using dowel pegs
11:09and when we get this wood tested,
11:12maybe it's original timbers
11:16from the construction
11:17of the Money Pit
11:18which means we're getting closer
11:20to finding treasure.
11:22Hey, Terry.
11:32There you go.
11:33An interesting piece of wood, mate.
11:34Yeah.
11:35It's got grooves and...
11:36Look at that.
11:37Let's show it to Marty.
11:38Hello, mate.
11:39What do you think of that, Marty?
11:42There's an interesting...
11:43Yeah, that's marked.
11:44Yeah.
11:45The Roman numeral.
11:46Number three there?
11:47Is that it?
11:48This looks like a pretty
11:49distinct three to me.
11:50And look,
11:51a dowel there.
11:52It's the same
11:53as the U-shaped structure
11:54and it implies
11:55the same construction.
11:56The same construction
11:57methodology for sure.
11:58I think that's really cool.
12:00Yeah.
12:02In 2018, Rick, Marty,
12:05and the team
12:06excavated Smith's Cove
12:08in an effort to uncover
12:09the remains
12:10of the legendary
12:11flood tunnel system
12:12believed to feed seawater
12:14into the Money Pit.
12:15During the dig,
12:17they uncovered
12:18a massive wooden feature
12:19that was first discovered
12:20by Dan Blankenship
12:21in 1971,
12:23which he dubbed
12:24the U-shaped structure.
12:26You got a Roman numeral?
12:27If it is,
12:28it's a 7,
12:29V11.
12:30A structure
12:31that not only featured
12:32carved Roman numerals
12:33and wooden dowels,
12:35but is also believed
12:37to have been built
12:38as part of the booby trap
12:39system
12:40by whomever buried valuables
12:42in the Money Pit.
12:43Is it possible
12:46that the carved Roman numerals
12:48and the nearly identical
12:49wooden dowel
12:50offer evidence
12:51that the team
12:52is, in fact,
12:53digging
12:54in the original Money Pit?
12:57So if this is that old,
12:58then that means
12:59we are very close
13:00to the Money Pit,
13:01right?
13:02Which we've been
13:03suspecting forever.
13:04It's basically
13:06the oldest-looking wood
13:07we've found.
13:08Could be the cribbing
13:09from the depths
13:10of the Money Pit.
13:11I think we've been
13:12fairly convinced
13:13that the TB1 area
13:15is roughly
13:17the site
13:18of the original Money Pit.
13:20There's a lot of evidence
13:21that there is
13:21still something here.
13:22We're zeroing in
13:24on possibly
13:25finding the treasure.
13:27Hey, Vanessa.
13:28Hey.
13:29Vanessa.
13:30I had some new numbers
13:31for you guys.
13:32What do you got?
13:33We just took a measurement.
13:34We're at 117 with the dig.
13:36And then,
13:37what we're really chasing
13:38is the treasure vault
13:39below 150 feet.
13:41In the spring of 1897,
13:44Frederick Blair
13:45and William Chappell
13:46reportedly drilled
13:47into a seven-foot-tall vault
13:49that was encased
13:50in concrete
13:51at a depth
13:52of some 153 feet.
13:55After extracting
13:56their drill rod,
13:57they were astonished
13:58to find traces
13:59of gold on the bit
14:01and an ancient piece
14:02of parchment
14:03with the letters
14:04VI written on it.
14:07These discoveries
14:08have made people wonder
14:09if the Oak Island treasure
14:11may include
14:12not only objects
14:13of great value,
14:14but also important
14:16historical documents.
14:18We're picking up now.
14:19Is it possible
14:20that the Laginas
14:21and their team
14:22might soon be able
14:23to finally reveal the truth?
14:27All right.
14:28Keep digging.
14:29Okay.
14:30Full speed ahead.
14:31Well, let's hope
14:32we come up with the goods.
14:37The following morning,
14:39as the excavation
14:40in TB1 continues.
14:43First of all,
14:44I'd just like to say welcome
14:45to Scott Clark
14:46and John Edwards.
14:47I think all of us
14:48will learn
14:49some very impactful things.
14:50Thank you very much, Rick.
14:51Rick Lagina
14:52has gathered members
14:53of the team
14:54in the War Room
14:55for an important meeting
14:56for an important meeting
14:57with researcher
14:58John Edwards
14:59as well as author
15:00and 32nd degree Freemason
15:02Scott Clark.
15:04You all are well aware
15:05of them coming here before
15:07and their areas of interest
15:09and today they are going
15:10to enlighten us further.
15:12So gentlemen,
15:13I look forward
15:14to your presentation.
15:15Thank you very much.
15:17Last year,
15:18I came to Oak Island, Rick,
15:19as you know,
15:20to present some books
15:21that I had acquired
15:22in Israel in 2019.
15:24And what interests me
15:26about the books mostly
15:27was the hand-drawn images,
15:30ciphers,
15:31Masonic symbols
15:32and Crusader symbols
15:33as well as references
15:34to biblical treasures
15:35from Jerusalem.
15:38I have acquired
15:39two ancient books.
15:40One was the whole
15:41genuine works
15:42of Flavius of Cephas.
15:43The publication date
15:44was 1812.
15:45And then the second book
15:46has a publication date
15:47of 1763.
15:49One year ago,
15:50when John first presented
15:52the team with these books,
15:54which he purchased
15:55from a private collector
15:56in Israel,
15:57it was due to his belief
15:58that they may be connected
16:00to the Knights Templar,
16:01a medieval Christian
16:03military order
16:04who some researchers claim
16:06buried a vast treasure,
16:08including religious artifacts
16:10on Oak Island
16:11between the 12th
16:12and 14th centuries.
16:14According to John,
16:16these books are part
16:17of a five-volume series,
16:19one of which contain
16:21an image of Oak Island
16:22and codes
16:23that John believed
16:25pointed to a buried
16:26treasure cache
16:27in the northern region
16:28of the swamp.
16:29I can feel the rocks
16:31under my feet here.
16:32When the team
16:33investigated the area,
16:34they did not find
16:35buried valuables,
16:36but instead,
16:37a man-made feature
16:39composed of boulders
16:40that may have served
16:41as a marker
16:42to indicate
16:43that something
16:44could be buried nearby.
16:46So what was interesting
16:49about the books supplied
16:50to me by the seller
16:51when I acquired them
16:52is it has a map
16:53of Oak Island,
16:54and I felt that these
16:55were significant
16:56to solving the Oak Island
16:57mystery and maybe even
16:58finding a treasure here
16:59in Oak Island.
17:00So what's really interesting,
17:02the map shows
17:04a square-like structure
17:05or a vault
17:06that actually points
17:08to a place
17:09on Oak Island.
17:10That place seems
17:11to be at the north end
17:12of the swamp.
17:14And what's interesting
17:15about the map,
17:16as soon as Scott
17:17and I both saw it,
17:18we both immediately remarked
17:20that it looks like
17:21the vault-like feature
17:23found at the north end
17:24of the swamp.
17:25Whoa.
17:27It's pretty spot-on.
17:29That's pretty cool.
17:36The vault-like feature
17:37on the map
17:38is outlined exactly
17:39like the vault-like feature
17:40found in the swamp
17:42to a T.
17:43All right.
17:44In the war room,
17:46researcher John Edwards
17:47along with 32nd degree
17:49Freemason Scott Clark
17:51have just presented
17:52the Oak Island team
17:53with a potentially critical clue.
17:55That's pretty cool.
17:57An image from a mysterious book
18:00containing secret codes
18:01and ciphers
18:02related to the missing
18:04sacred treasures
18:05of the Knights Templar.
18:07A book which also features
18:09a map of Oak Island.
18:11And a possible image
18:12of the brick and slate vault
18:14that the team recently uncovered
18:16in the triangle-shaped swamp.
18:18I think the map
18:20and the book
18:21definitely suggest
18:22something's going on.
18:23Somebody went to a lot
18:24of trouble
18:25to encode these books.
18:26If someone was trying
18:27to hide something,
18:28they would definitely
18:29want to encode it.
18:30You just have to figure out
18:32who.
18:33Absolutely.
18:34So we started to do
18:35a deep dive in the books.
18:37Within the books are clues
18:38that are encoded
18:39using the process
18:40of underlying specific letters
18:42to spell out words, phrases,
18:44and names.
18:45One of the names
18:46is that of John Eason.
18:48John Eason was a long-time
18:51Freemason in Annapolis Royal,
18:53which is the oldest lodge
18:54in all of Canada.
18:55And this was a lodge
18:57where, again,
18:58the clues all seem to point
18:59directly to Oak Island.
19:00Located 62 miles northwest
19:03of Oak Island,
19:05the city of Annapolis Royal
19:07was originally established
19:08by French settlers
19:09in 1605
19:11and became home
19:13to the first Canadian lodge
19:14for the secretive
19:15fraternal organization
19:17known as the Freemasons
19:19in 1738.
19:21So what's interesting
19:22about the name John Eason,
19:24we see a lineage
19:25in his family of Masons.
19:27John Eason's great-grandson,
19:29Thomas Eason Ritchie,
19:30who was also a member
19:31of the Annapolis Royal Lodge
19:32from at least 1818 onwards.
19:36The Masonic Lodge
19:37was held at a place
19:38called the Sinclair Inn.
19:40So in the Sinclair Inn
19:42there are painted murals.
19:44There is one particular
19:46painting of what many people
19:47think is a Crusader tent.
19:49Some people are calling it
19:50a Templar tent.
19:52It looks very much like
19:53the tents used
19:54during the Crusades
19:56and later adopted
19:57by Freemasonry.
19:58Yeah.
19:59And we know the Crusader tent
20:00was used
20:01when the Ark of the Covenant
20:02or any other holy artifacts
20:03were traveling.
20:04Yep.
20:05The books seem to suggest
20:07that there's biblical treasures
20:10connected to Crusaders
20:12going to Nova Scotia.
20:13So what may be here
20:15on Oak Island
20:16is those types
20:17of religious treasures.
20:18Oh, yeah.
20:19When we consider the image
20:20of the Sinclair Inn
20:21could be a Crusader tent.
20:23When the Templars
20:24were officially disbanded
20:25in 1312
20:26their assets were given
20:28to the Knights Hospitaller.
20:30The Hospitallers
20:31eventually became
20:32the Knights of Malta
20:33and they actually continue
20:34to this day
20:35as the Knights of Malta.
20:37In 1312,
20:41Pope Clement V
20:42and King Philip IV
20:44of France
20:45dissolved and persecuted
20:46their own military order
20:48known as the Knights Templar.
20:50The Church claimed
20:53that the Templars
20:54who had fought
20:55for Christian interest
20:56during the Holy Wars
20:57known as the Crusades
20:59had become corrupt
21:00and committed acts of heresy.
21:03However,
21:04some researchers believe
21:06that the true reason
21:07for the dismantlement
21:08was because the Templars
21:10had come to possess
21:11a vast treasure
21:12which included secret artifacts
21:15such as the Holy Grail,
21:17the menorah
21:18from the Temple of King Solomon,
21:19and the Ark of the Covenant.
21:22Many Templars
21:24were arrested and executed
21:26but others escaped
21:27and their sacred treasures
21:29have never been located.
21:31While some believe
21:32that a group of Templars
21:34fled to North America
21:35and hid a portion
21:36of the priceless valuables
21:37on Oak Island,
21:39it is speculated
21:40by researchers such as
21:42John Edwards
21:43and Scott Clark
21:44that a large collection
21:45of the sacred artifacts
21:47were entrusted
21:48were entrusted
21:49to related organizations
21:50such as
21:51the Knights of Malta,
21:53a secretive fraternity
21:54with links
21:55to the Freemasons
21:56who are known
21:57to have had a presence
21:58in Canada
21:59dating back
22:00to the early 17th century.
22:02So people may not realize
22:05that the colony of Acadia,
22:06which is now Nova Scotia,
22:08was actually founded
22:09by a member
22:10of the Knights of Malta.
22:11So his name was Isaac de Razale,
22:14and he was a knight commander
22:16of the Order of Malta.
22:17Yeah.
22:18So the five books also had
22:21several depictions
22:22of this Solomon Temple's menorah.
22:25The cross shown above the menorah
22:27is an eight-point cross.
22:29It is associated modern day
22:32with the Knights of Malta.
22:34So if you look at the page
22:36that I have marked here
22:37in the back,
22:38you can clearly see
22:39the location in the book
22:41of the Malta Cross
22:42is intentionally placed
22:43referencing both
22:44the Temple of Solomon
22:45and the Temple of Jerusalem.
22:47And it literally mentions
22:48the word Malta
22:49right below it.
22:50Yep.
22:51We definitely believe
22:52that the books show
22:53it is a multi-generational endeavor
22:55linking biblical treasures
22:57to Oak Island.
23:00And we're finding
23:01actual correlations
23:02with things found here
23:04in Oak Island
23:05like Lot 5.
23:06And the stone-like structure
23:07evolved out in the swamp.
23:09So I'm pretty excited
23:10that we're actually
23:11finding physical evidence
23:12to match what the books
23:13are telling us.
23:14Interesting.
23:15Could John Edwards
23:16and Scott Clark
23:18have actually uncovered
23:19critical clues
23:20suggesting that
23:21different groups
23:22connected to the Knights Templar
23:24have made repeated visits
23:25to Oak Island
23:26in order to hide
23:28and protect
23:29sacred religious treasures?
23:32If so,
23:33could that explain
23:34the vault-like structure
23:36in the northern region
23:37of the swamp?
23:38A mysterious round feature
23:40on Lot 5
23:41on Lot 5
23:42where the team
23:43has found artifacts
23:44dating to between
23:45the 14th and 18th centuries.
23:48And perhaps
23:49even the chapel vault
23:51believed to be buried
23:52in the original money pit.
23:54It has always been my thought
23:55that this was a multi-generational attempt
23:59to focus on one singular objective
24:01and that is to hide something
24:03of significance on Oak Island.
24:06It may have started with Templars
24:08and then some of these participants
24:10were actually endeavored to keep it hidden
24:13for later generations to come back and find it.
24:17So there is now an imperative
24:19to try to understand
24:20the possibility
24:22of the Knights of Malta
24:24having something to do
24:25with the work done on Oak Island.
24:28The books have become
24:29increasingly important.
24:31I think the Knights of Malta
24:32are an incredibly complex organization.
24:36They survived the Templar expulsion.
24:40They inherited what the Templars had.
24:43They were represented in Nova Scotia.
24:47They survived to this day.
24:49We might have a possible connection
24:51to who in terms of the who,
24:54what, when, where, why and how.
24:55All of us have a lot of homework to do.
24:58John, Scott, thank you very much
25:00for the presentation.
25:01Thanks. Thank you.
25:02Thanks, Rick.
25:03Having said that, we need to go to work.
25:07Later that afternoon,
25:09as Rick and members of the team
25:12anxiously monitor the excavation of TB1
25:15in the Money Pit area.
25:17Okay, let's take a look.
25:18Awesome.
25:20On Lot 5,
25:21located on the western side of Oak Island.
25:26Hey, Gary, I like that sound.
25:28Yep, having a beeping good time.
25:30Marty Lagina has joined
25:32metal detection expert Gary Drayton
25:34and Jack Begley
25:35to investigate an area
25:37near the rounded stone foundation.
25:39There's a lot more flags around here.
25:41Okay.
25:42Let's do them.
25:44A stone foundation
25:46where the team has uncovered
25:47not only man-made mortar
25:49that matches soil samples
25:51from more than 100 feet deep
25:53in the Money Pit area,
25:55but which archaeologist Laird Niven believes
25:57may have been constructed and modified
26:00during different time periods
26:02prior to the 19th century.
26:04Let's see the spoil piles down there.
26:08We don't.
26:09Following the team's meeting
26:11earlier today
26:12with John Edwards
26:13and Scott Clark,
26:14Gary detected and marked
26:16a number of mysterious metal targets
26:18buried near the surface.
26:20Now, after receiving permission
26:22from Laird Niven,
26:23Gary, Marty and Jack
26:25are eager to find out
26:27just what they could be.
26:29I'll go on one side of this.
26:31There were at least two different occupations here.
26:35The main one
26:36that they keep finding artifacts about
26:39in the mid-1700s,
26:40but perhaps a much earlier one.
26:42We're hoping Lot 5 can shed some light
26:44on the story of Oak Island.
26:46Oh, great there.
26:48Is that non-ferrous?
26:50Yeah.
26:52Yep, it's right there.
26:54Brilliant.
27:01Oh, something good coming up here.
27:07Yeah, there's a lot of rocks here
27:09and stuff sticks to them.
27:12There it is.
27:13He's right on top.
27:14What?
27:15Where do you see it?
27:16I don't even see it.
27:17Right there.
27:18Nice and round.
27:19What have we got?
27:20Whoa!
27:24There it is.
27:25He's right on top.
27:26Wow!
27:27I thought it was a coin
27:28or a bull on the top of it.
27:29That's a nice copper nail.
27:31On Lot 5,
27:32located on the western side of Oak Island,
27:35Marty Lagina, Jack Begley,
27:37and Gary Drayton
27:38have just made a potentially important discovery
27:41near the mysterious Stone Foundation.
27:45Yep.
27:46That's a copper nail.
27:48I have found a few of these nails
27:51on the Treasure Coast beaches of Florida
27:54connected to 1600s and 1700s shipwrecks.
27:58These were from the inside of the ship.
28:01Mm-hmm.
28:03Due to their ability
28:04to resist corrosion in salt water,
28:07copper nails were commonly used
28:09in the construction of European sailing vessels
28:12dating back to as early as 3500 BC.
28:16If this copper nail made its way to Oak Island
28:19on a large ship,
28:21could it be an important clue
28:23that might help identify who constructed
28:26or later modified,
28:28the round feature on Lot 5
28:30prior to the discovery of the money pit?
28:33All right.
28:34Got another pile here.
28:35As often occurs on Lot 5,
28:37we make a very significant find.
28:39On shore, you have no real reason
28:41to use a copper nail.
28:42So this very much suggests
28:44a maritime influence of some sort,
28:47a ship.
28:48So Lot 5 could be a big part
28:50of figuring this whole thing out
28:51than what went on over at the money pit.
28:53Oh, I got an eight.
28:55Sounds good.
28:56Yeah, it sounds good.
28:57It could be right just right there.
28:58Yeah.
28:59Let's see if I can pinpoint it.
29:04All right.
29:07In your hand.
29:10It's another.
29:11It's another one.
29:13Well, this is a little bit different.
29:15It's smaller, but it looks like it's the same make.
29:18Is that copper too?
29:19That's small copper nail.
29:21This is 100% boat related.
29:24I'm really hoping that the metallurgy
29:26or just the overall style
29:29will give us a definitive date
29:31because that round feature,
29:33it looks like it was built
29:35at an earlier time
29:37than most of the artifacts that we found.
29:39So it could give us the original date
29:41when that was built.
29:43Yeah.
29:44Well, here's the thing.
29:45Both copper nails speak of ships.
29:47Yeah.
29:48And that's kind of new here.
29:50We still don't know what the hell this is
29:52and who made it.
29:53Nope.
29:54And that may be a clue.
29:55So we need to get back to the lab
29:56and find out what they say about it.
29:58Let's go.
29:59Okay, man.
30:00Great day.
30:01Yeah, that was good.
30:02The following morning...
30:08Today's Treasury Day.
30:10Yeah, you got that right, mate.
30:12So we're at 147.
30:14As the excavation in the TB1 shaft
30:17proceeds toward a target depth
30:19of some 150 feet.
30:23Hey, great to see you, everybody.
30:25Hey, Carmen.
30:26Jack Begley and other members of the team
30:29welcome blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge
30:32back to the Oak Island Laboratory.
30:34What you got from it?
30:35We recover these two nails on Lot 5.
30:38They are eager for Carmen to examine
30:41the two copper nails that were recovered
30:43one day ago near the round feature
30:46and determine if they could predate
30:48the discovery of the original money pit
30:50in 1795.
30:52Well, with this one here,
30:55it has a very large head onto it,
30:58flat-topped.
31:00Underneath is sloped to the shaft.
31:03Yeah.
31:04Square tapered nail all the way down
31:06except for the right underneath the head is round.
31:11Fortunately, I know what these are
31:13and they're copper sheathing tacks or clouts.
31:17These nails are very typical for
31:19fastening these sheathing sheets
31:23to the underside of the boats.
31:25Yeah.
31:26Now, these could have been used for other purposes
31:29if they had a bunch on the ship.
31:31But its main use is for sheathing
31:34along the hulls of ships?
31:35The underside of ships, yeah.
31:37These are major seagoing ships.
31:40I would like to know if there's any lead
31:44or arsenic content in these nails.
31:46That will help me date it for you.
31:47Those sound like questions for Emma.
31:49Earlier this morning,
31:51archaeometallurgist Emma Culligan
31:54scanned the copper nails
31:55using the X-ray fluorescent spectrometer
31:58or XRF,
31:59a device that identifies the elements
32:01in an object's composition
32:03to help determine when they were created.
32:06So, it is a copper alloy,
32:09so it's a pure bronze alloy.
32:11There is a lead content,
32:12so they're consistent lead.
32:14So it looks like there's arsenic.
32:16In my opinion, this is 1700s.
32:20Somewhere between 1720 to 1760.
32:23Wow.
32:26In my opinion, this is 1700s.
32:29Somewhere between 1720 to 1760.
32:31Wow.
32:33In the Oak Island Laboratory,
32:36blacksmithing expert Carmen Legg
32:38has just given his assessment
32:40that the two ship-related copper nails
32:42found one day ago on Lot 5
32:46could predate the discovery of the money pit
32:48by as much as 75 years.
32:50So why was it there in that area?
32:53It could be evidence of who created the feature on Lot 5
33:03and where they were from.
33:05Are there any other people or persons
33:08that could be related to that time period?
33:11Yes.
33:12Could be the Knights of Malta.
33:15Really?
33:16Mm-hmm.
33:17Wow.
33:18More intrigue.
33:19Could Jack's notion be correct
33:22that these copper nails offer evidence
33:24to support the theory
33:26that members of the Knights of Malta,
33:28who are known to have been connected
33:30to the medieval order of the Knights Templar,
33:32may have visited Oak Island
33:34decades before the discovery of the money pit?
33:39There's a lot of speculation
33:40as to the relationship between the Knights Templar
33:43and the Knights of Malta.
33:45We know that they were in the area.
33:48They were in the Nova Scotian area during the early 1700s.
33:51Maybe they were actually following the steps of the Templars.
33:55And maybe they were helping to make a deposit of their own.
33:59Any artifact that predates discovery of the money pit
34:02is really something special because this was left possibly
34:05by the depositors of the treasure.
34:07So this gives me hope that we're zeroing in on a whodunit.
34:12Yeah.
34:14Thanks for coming by, Carmen,
34:15and weighing in your opinion because it really helped.
34:18Yeah.
34:19I'm glad I could help a little, you know.
34:21I wish you good luck.
34:22And anything I can do to help, I will.
34:24All right.
34:25We'll give you a call when we find some more.
34:27Very good.
34:28Very good.
34:29As the meeting concludes in the lab.
34:31Those pressures are getting pretty high right now.
34:35We're on some.
34:37An intense situation is developing in the money pit area.
34:41All right.
34:42What depth do you think the teeth are at right now?
34:44Say 160.
34:45Upon reaching a depth of 160 feet in the TB1 shaft,
34:51where the team hopes to encounter a concrete encased chest
34:55known as the chapel vault,
34:57the steel caissons have hit a mysterious obstruction.
35:01Is she cutting through it?
35:02She's trying to.
35:04Come on.
35:06As eager as the team is to find out what they may have discovered,
35:10it could take some time for the caisson to breach the obstruction
35:14and allow the hammer grab to bring more spoils
35:17and potential valuables to the surface.
35:20We want to get to depth.
35:22So we got to get down there.
35:23We'll get through it.
35:27Meanwhile, near the wash plant,
35:31located several hundred feet to the east.
35:34Hey, Marty.
35:35Over there.
35:36You told me where you bought it.
35:37Okay.
35:38Charles Barkhouse and Marty Lagina are inspecting artifacts
35:42that were found in the recently unearthed TB1 spoils.
35:46Got a few things to show you here, Marty.
35:52More leather.
35:53More leather.
35:54Think that's shoe leather or a glove?
35:57Hard to say.
35:58The stitching is quite broad on those.
36:00Yeah.
36:01It's more like shoe leather, isn't it?
36:02Yeah.
36:03Well, it can all be carbon dated, so that could help solve something.
36:08And we found this, and it might not be anything,
36:11but it kind of looked to me like concrete.
36:13Look at that.
36:15Yeah, it looks very like concrete.
36:16Yes.
36:17A piece of possible concrete?
36:18The same material that reportedly encases the legendary chapel vault?
36:28Good job.
36:30Is it possible that this concrete could be a major clue regarding the obstruction that has
36:36just been encountered approximately 160 feet deep in the TB1 shaft?
36:42Keep up the good work.
36:43Go on.
36:44We'll feed you plenty of material.
36:45Okay.
36:46Sounds good.
36:47We'll find it.
36:48Oh, yeah.
36:49While Charles Barkhouse oversees the operation at the wash plant later that afternoon.
36:56Our pressures are dropping, so that means whatever we're cutting through is hard at first,
37:03but we're cutting right through it, so.
37:05My dig is at 160 feet.
37:08Marty Lagina has joined Rick and other members of the team in the Money Pit area.
37:15Now that the caisson has breached the possible obstruction, a breakthrough discovery could be just moments away.
37:23Dig's at 160.
37:25Yeah.
37:26It could be the treasure vaults.
37:27We're about to get into totally new territory.
37:30Mm-hmm.
37:31Yeah.
37:32So the normal high intensity is heightened in this case because we're very close to the vault.
37:39Now we're thinking, hey, the next thing is going to be a handful of doubloons or something, you know, a chalice, something.
37:44We really are thinking that.
37:46You can feel it.
37:52Are you feeling those tremors occasionally?
37:54No.
37:55I just didn't.
37:56Really?
38:04That ain't good.
38:05It's caving.
38:06Hey, stop.
38:08Caving in.
38:09Holy .
38:12Hey.
38:13Stop.
38:14It's caving in.
38:15It is a critical moment in the Money Pit area.
38:16Yeah.
38:17We're caving.
38:18As representatives from Rock Equipment and SB Canada are inspecting a potentially catastrophic cave-in beneath the TB1 caisson.
38:25Hey, Vanessa.
38:26Hey.
38:27We got a problem?
38:28We're having caving.
38:29We're having caving.
38:30What does that mean?
38:31This place has been Swiss cheese, right?
38:32Yeah.
38:33And we tried to, you know, make it as comparable as we could before we started drilling.
38:36So I did expect some sort of caving around things.
38:37This one's a little bit bigger than I'm comfortable with moving forward at the moment.
38:43After more than two centuries of previous treasure hunting activities.
38:44Let's go look.
38:45Let's go look.
38:46Let's go look.
38:47Let's go look.
38:48Which have left abandoned tunnels and backfilled shafts buried across the Money Pit area.
38:53The ground surrounding, and beneath TB1, suddenly starts to collapse.
38:54This is a huge deal.
38:55This is how disasters occur.
38:56You want to look up a lot of things.
38:57You want to look up a lot of things.
38:58You want to look up a lot of things.
38:59I don't expect some sort of caving around things.
39:00This one's a little bit bigger than I'm comfortable with moving forward at the moment.
39:01After more than two centuries of previous treasure hunting activities.
39:04Let's go look.
39:05Which have left abandoned tunnels and backfilled shafts buried across the Money Pit area.
39:12The ground surrounding and beneath TB1 suddenly starts to collapse.
39:17This is a huge deal.
39:20This is how disasters occur.
39:22You want to look up in there, but you can see it's starting to cave.
39:25Oh yeah.
39:26Oh my god, yeah.
39:27There's only a certain amount of iron that's supporting that very massive oscillator.
39:32And that is sitting on the ground.
39:34And if the ground is caving away, the whole thing can cave away.
39:38I am very concerned about this.
39:40This is not good.
39:41That's 30 feet drop all the way right here.
39:44Holy.
39:45That is huge.
39:46That's a lot of material.
39:48Yeah.
39:49Suggesting there's something down hole swallowing all that stuff.
39:52As I'm peering down, the situation appears somewhat grave.
39:56Something's happening underground that is taking an enormous amount of material and swallowing.
40:02We would be able to advance the case on.
40:05Let's just decide what we're going to do.
40:07Is this becoming unsafe to the point where we have to remove the oscillator?
40:12We have to move off of this area, which is our priority target, number one.
40:16So there are a lot of issues going on.
40:18Is it likely we're really going to advance this casing?
40:21We'd like to proceed if it's safe.
40:23We're far from quitting right now.
40:24Yeah.
40:25Yeah.
40:26So we're going to backfill that area.
40:27Sure.
40:28And then we're going to be monitoring, you know, every couple of feet, making sure we're
40:31not having any caving.
40:32But, um, it is setting us back a little bit.
40:38We keep losing the material.
40:40I can't guarantee we're going to keep advancing.
40:42If that stabilizes and we knew it, we'll keep going.
40:49Just to see what happens.
40:50Yeah.
40:51Yes.
40:52Just as the team may be closing in on answers and a fabled treasure vault, their most ambitious
40:59operation to reveal both is now in jeopardy.
41:05Will Oak Island prevail once again and keep hold of its precious secrets?
41:11Or can Rick, Marty, Craig, and their team outmaneuver a mystery that has lasted for more than two centuries?
41:24Next time on The Curse of Oak Island.
41:27I got a signal.
41:28Oh, look at that.
41:29Hell yeah.
41:30Isn't that amazing?
41:31This I would actually date mid 1700s to late 1700s.
41:34That could be pre-searcher.
41:36This could be pre-searcher.
41:38It demonstrates wealth, nobility.
41:40Wow.
41:41Some prominent person was on Oak Island pre-money picnic.
41:44Yeah.
41:45That's great.
41:46Where's the gold?
41:47Whoa!
41:48We could have just pierced the tunnel or chambered.
41:50It could be a treasure vault.
41:51There could be a treasure vault.
41:52There could be a treasure vault.
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