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00:00Look at that.
00:00Oh, yeah.
00:01Isn't that amazing?
00:02This, I would actually date mid-1700s to late-1700s.
00:05That couldn't be pre-Searcher.
00:06This could be pre-Searcher.
00:09It demonstrates wealth, nobility.
00:11Wow.
00:11Some prominent person was on Oak Island pre-Money Pit.
00:15Yeah.
00:16That's great.
00:17Where's the gold?
00:18Whoa!
00:19We could have just pierced the tunnel or chambered.
00:21It could be a treasure vault.
00:26There is an island in the North Atlantic
00:28where people have been looking for an incredible treasure
00:32for more than 200 years.
00:35So far, they have found a stone slab
00:39with strange symbols carved into it,
00:42man-made workings that date to medieval times,
00:45and 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.
00:55And, according to legend,
00:59one more will have to die
01:01before the treasure can be found.
01:04A bright new morning has dawned on Oak Island.
01:22Settling down again.
01:23That's not good.
01:24But in the Money Pit area...
01:27That side again.
01:28This is really bad.
01:30A chilling crisis has developed
01:32for brothers Rick and Marty Lagina and their team.
01:36It's just falling in.
01:38I got this side coming up.
01:40I think we need to redo this bad
01:42and compact it around it.
01:46All right, here's what I think happened.
01:48And this casing was at 160 feet, plus or minus.
01:53Simultaneously, all kinds of collapse occurred
01:56around the top of this casing.
01:59That's right.
01:59Yeah.
02:00In a rather scary fashion.
02:04One day ago,
02:06after representatives from Rock Equipment and SB Canada
02:09excavated a 7-foot-diameter steel shaft
02:12known as True Believer 1,
02:15down to a depth of 160 feet.
02:21That ain't good.
02:22Hey, stop.
02:24It's caving.
02:26The earth surrounding the steel caissons
02:29suddenly began to cave in.
02:31We're caving.
02:32This has caused the team to halt the excavation
02:35and backfill tons of soil and gravel around the shaft
02:38in the hopes of preventing a catastrophic collapse.
02:42Now I'm going to stray into what I think it means.
02:47For something to fall,
02:49it has to fall into a void of some sort.
02:52It can't fall into solid rock.
02:54It can't fall into clay.
02:55One more thing, though.
02:56Go ahead, yes.
02:57What Vanessa said.
02:58Remember, she said they were keeping an eye on the cannon
03:00and they didn't think things were coming in,
03:03meaning it wasn't creating its own void?
03:06No.
03:07We probably removed whatever is the sort of natural seal there.
03:10And I think all that material collapsed all the way down the hole.
03:14Yeah.
03:15If there was still a tunnel or chamber down there,
03:18we could have just pierced the roof of it.
03:20Well, that's a good point.
03:20Possibly.
03:21Yeah.
03:22I guess it could be it.
03:23The treasure vault.
03:24Yeah.
03:25We could have collapsed into that, I suppose.
03:27When the cave-in began as the TB1 shaft approached a depth of 160 feet,
03:36the team was anxiously hoping that it would encounter the fabled Chapel Vault,
03:42a seven-foot-tall, concrete-encased wooden chest
03:46that treasure hunters Frederick Blair and William Chapel
03:49reportedly drilled into at a depth of 153 feet back in 1897.
03:55Curiously, this is the same area where recent groundwater testing
04:01has revealed high-trace evidence of gold, silver, and other metals.
04:07However, this is also where previous searchers
04:10have constructed tunnels and shafts during the past two centuries,
04:14which have left various voids and decayed structures deep underground.
04:18I think it's going to be either original works
04:22or some undocumented searcher shaft or tunnel or treasure.
04:28Now, it is the team's hope that ROC and SB Canada
04:33can stabilize the area and keep digging
04:36to determine whether the team has simply penetrated
04:39an abandoned searcher structure or a vault
04:42that contains the treasure people have been trying to unearth since 1795.
04:48I think the collapse feature in this area
04:50could represent a variety of different things.
04:53It might suggest a chamber, a void, or a tunnel.
04:58Sure, that's exciting, interesting.
05:00With paramount importance, again,
05:02priority number one is to keep everyone safe
05:04and address the situation and hopefully continue to advance the can.
05:07Here comes Vanessa.
05:11What happened?
05:11Where can I get water?
05:13We can get you water.
05:14Okay.
05:15Yeah, we want to introduce water,
05:16get some more hydrostatic head pressure in there
05:19because it's getting tight on us, so...
05:21How much water? What do you need?
05:23I would like to fill up my can all the way,
05:25so I need to fill 50 feet, 7-foot diameter.
05:28We'll get you the water.
05:29Okay.
05:31In an attempt to prevent further collapsing
05:33around and beneath the TB1 shaft,
05:36the team will fill it with thousands of gallons of water.
05:41This will help stabilize the shaft and voids beneath it,
05:45allowing the 18-and-a-half-ton hammer grab
05:47to remove more spoils
05:49and hopefully valuables from deep below.
05:54We're in a void underground that we're unfamiliar with.
05:57It could be a vault, meaning potentially treasure.
06:01That could be the mystery.
06:03That could be where it is.
06:04There's some pretty good reasons to keep trying.
06:10So we're going to pull out the decks.
06:12It's going to take us a little time.
06:13Level everything, add some water to the can,
06:15and then re-go at it.
06:17Okay.
06:18Okay.
06:18Cool.
06:19Well, what did we know at the beginning of the year?
06:21We'd have surprises.
06:22Yeah.
06:23Well, we just got one.
06:24And a hell of a lot of work.
06:25Yes, there's all kinds of potential difficulties to work through.
06:30Everyone that came before us had problems.
06:33I don't know.
06:34I'm not super optimistic that we won't have any further issues,
06:37but maybe I'm wrong.
06:40I actually think we will finish this all.
06:42I mean, it's best guess at this point, but...
06:44Well, we definitely don't want to give up.
06:46No.
06:46We've got a lot to look forward to.
06:48To look down to.
06:49Yeah.
06:51We can figure it out.
06:52Oh, yeah.
06:53As the efforts to locate a fabled treasure vault
06:55continue in the Money Pit area...
06:58Morning.
06:59Hey, guys.
07:00How are you?
07:01Hanging in there, ready for some big revelations.
07:03Well, this could be the spot to find some.
07:06The Laginas and Gary join Crank Tester,
07:09fellow Oak Island landowner Tom Nolan,
07:11and other members of the team
07:13in the northern region of the swamp.
07:16Rick's been wanting to dig this forever, 15 years or so.
07:21It is here where they are searching for caches of valuables
07:25that may lie hidden outside of the Money Pit area.
07:29The thing about this place is it's all about your dad to me.
07:33Yeah.
07:33You know, he believed that there was something
07:35here to find.
07:36So let's get out of the machine.
07:38Let's position it.
07:39Let's get to it.
07:41Let's dig.
07:44I want to get dirty.
07:47In 1969, legendary treasure hunter Fred Nolan
07:51drained the swamp and was shocked
07:54to discover pieces of large sailing vessels.
07:57He also found 16th century wooden survey stakes,
08:02tools that Fred believed had been used
08:05to create the brackish fog
08:07in order to hide numerous caches of valuables.
08:11Seems to be quite a few more rocks,
08:13at least right in through here.
08:16Incredibly,
08:17several weeks ago,
08:19after uncovering a cobblestone pathway
08:21and a number of additional survey stakes in the northern region of the swamp,
08:26the team discovered an empty vault-like structure made of brick and slate.
08:32This is going to have some real answers.
08:35I really believe that.
08:36Now, along with Fred's son, Tom, Rick, Marty, and Craig are searching several yards to the north.
08:44It is their hope that they will uncover similar hidden structures that will prove Fred's theory to be true.
08:51If we find another of these vaults,
08:54we can only assume something was hidden here.
08:57And hopefully, whatever was once here is still here.
09:01I've got a signal.
09:07I'm going to shut him down, Tom.
09:12Let me see if it's close to the surface.
09:15I'll try pinpointing it first by.
09:17All right.
09:18OK.
09:18Fine.
09:19I could save you some digging.
09:20Yeah.
09:28It's there.
09:29It's there.
09:40Not written a dress.
09:41That's not it, is it?
09:42That was brick.
09:44You see that bit of brick in the hole there?
09:47A piece of brick buried in the northern region of the swamp?
09:51Could the team have discovered evidence that an important structure or vault is hidden nearby?
09:58Here, put it in my pocket.
10:00Just goes to show we're not missing anything, though.
10:02I'd say exactly that.
10:03Yep.
10:08The swamp has always been a mystery.
10:11That's the nature of the swamp on Oak Island.
10:13But by digging in this new area, we're hoping to find clues to what happened here.
10:19We have to follow the clues.
10:20Hey!
10:26What's that?
10:28Coming in, Alan.
10:36Woo!
10:37Look at that!
10:41This is impressive.
10:42Oh, look at that.
10:47Really nice-looking, sharpened steak.
10:51Isn't that amazing?
10:52It just looks like the day it went in the ground.
10:54Yeah.
10:54That's Andoon, wasn't it?
10:56Yeah.
10:56This is impressive.
10:58In the northern region of the Oak Island swamp...
11:01Here's another one right here.
11:03...Rick and Marty Lagina and members of the team have just discovered two more hand-cut wooden survey stakes.
11:10What is that?
11:12Two stakes.
11:14Now the question is, could they be clues to validate Fred Nolan's theory that hidden valuables might also be found in this area?
11:24Are these the first ones that have been found on this side?
11:27No.
11:27Years ago, we found two or three closer to the road.
11:31But this is the first ones I know of that were found this deep into the swamp on this side.
11:36I think Steve should come out and GPS this, because then he can see if there's continuity here or something different.
11:43Yeah.
11:43Okay.
11:44I'm pretty sure he's coming out right now.
11:47The plan for the swamp, of course, is to follow the line of survey stakes.
11:52But the hope is that as we follow these clues, they will lead to some greater understanding of what might be here in the bogs.
12:03Hey, Steve.
12:04Hey, guys.
12:06Well, what I'm going to do is I'm going to hop down and I'll grab the areas or the two exact locations of those stakes.
12:11Okay.
12:11Steve, you want to hop down and pin this or do?
12:15Yeah, go, Mike.
12:16Check out this wood.
12:17Let's see that top one.
12:19I don't know why two are together.
12:20That's odd.
12:21That's not the pattern we've seen.
12:23So this line of survey stakes projects to an area where we found all of those wooden stakes.
12:28Nice.
12:29Yep.
12:29I mean, that's perfectly online almost.
12:31So I would keep following them.
12:33Yep.
12:34I'm not surprised at all when Steve asserts that the stakes line up with previous stakes that have been found in the bog.
12:42This took some time and some effort to lay out this line.
12:47Maybe this line has another purpose and relates to another as of yet unknown discovery.
12:54So what I'll do is continue to confirm the line as far as I can walk.
12:57Okay.
12:58Thanks, Steve.
12:58Thanks, Steve.
12:59Good.
13:00Let's dig.
13:01Look at that.
13:02There's a bunch of cobble here.
13:06I don't know if you can see it or not.
13:08It's just right here.
13:10And it's going that way.
13:11Yeah.
13:12More cobblestones found near the hand-hewn survey stakes?
13:17Is it possible that the team has indeed uncovered another section of the cobblestone pathway?
13:23If so, could it lead the team to a vault that still contains something of incredible value?
13:31It's almost like they're stacked.
13:33That's a Spooner question.
13:35Yep.
13:36That's a Spooner question.
13:38There certainly appears to be a structure in the north end of the bog.
13:42So I want Dr. Spooner to come and render an opinion about whether or not it is a man-made structure.
13:50It looks stacked, but I don't know.
13:53We have to follow this.
13:55There's no question about it.
13:56Yeah.
13:57I want to keep digging.
13:58Okay.
13:59Let's keep digging.
14:00Yep.
14:04The following morning, as the team from Rock Equipment works to stabilize the ground around the TB1 caisson.
14:12We have in front of us several things that hopefully will make us true believers because they came out of TB1, True Believer 1.
14:22Marty Lagina, Craig Tester, and other members of the team join archaeologist Laird Niven and archaeometallurgist Emma Culligan in the Oak Island lab.
14:32And we have four of them right here.
14:34They are eager to hear Laird and Emma's scientific analysis of several nails that were recently unearthed from more than 100 feet deep in the TB1 shaft.
14:45I'll turn it over to Emma.
14:46Based on the composition and the x-ray characteristics, the first three nails I would put comfortably within early to mid-1800s.
14:55And there is a potential that it could be late-1700s.
14:59Okay.
15:00The last nail I would actually date older and based on its x-ray behavior, possibly within mid-1700s to late-1700s.
15:12If you had to opine, these three are searcher and that one might be pre-searcher.
15:19So I'd say this has the most possibility of being pre-searcher.
15:22Yeah.
15:22Because more than a dozen searcher companies have constructed shafts over the past two centuries in the area where the team is currently excavating TB1,
15:35it is not surprising that some artifacts will date to after the discovery of the money pit.
15:41However, could the team have also found a nail that was used by whomever buried the fabled chapel vault?
15:49Compositionally, they're all fairly similar.
15:50Could that mean that they are closer than ever to potentially recovering it?
15:56Thanks, Emma.
15:58You know, we're getting a lot of information and we brought this stuff up,
16:01so what's sitting down below in the loose clay area that could sink on down?
16:06Yeah.
16:07Well, let's get back at it and try and find something even better.
16:10Thank you, all.
16:11Okay.
16:11Take care.
16:11Good luck.
16:14Later that afternoon.
16:17Hey, Marty.
16:18How deep are we?
16:19They're making progress.
16:20It's slow but steady.
16:22Marty Lagina returns to the money pit area after being informed that the process to stabilize
16:28the TB1 caisson appears to have been successful and the dig has now resumed.
16:34We got, I'd say, 48 or 49 yards of crushed stone down in that hole.
16:41Vanessa's coming in.
16:42Where's the gold?
16:43Hey, gentlemen.
16:44So how are we doing?
16:46Well, we're doing better.
16:47We're doing better.
16:48So the water is definitely helping.
16:49The water did its trick.
16:50Yeah, the water's doing its thing.
16:52We're dropping the tape down past my casing now.
16:54So right now, my dig, depth of hole is at 164 and 6 inches.
17:01No plug.
17:02No plug.
17:03The so-called plug refers to the earth or spoils contained inside of the steel caissons.
17:12However, since Vanessa is reporting that there is no plug within TB1, that means it and any
17:19potential man-made objects have fallen to somewhere below.
17:23He is dropping it down and he's hitting something very hard all the way around.
17:28We think it's rock.
17:31Sure, there's not a cave or a cavity.
17:33Pretty sure there is.
17:35This must be the solution channel.
17:37Yeah, we're on the ledge and we got a hole.
17:40The solution cavity or a solution channel, we believe it's natural and it underlies a good
17:44bit of this.
17:44So you're on the edge, that's why your plug is going down.
17:48So we could have collapsed into that, I suppose.
17:53During previous core drilling operations in the Money Pit area, the team has repeatedly
17:59encountered a large natural cavity that was created by flowing groundwater in the bedrock,
18:05known as the solution channel, between 160 and 180 feet underground.
18:12Now, if Marty and Terry are correct that TB1 has now entered the solution channel, could
18:19that explain what caused the Earth to collapse around the shaft?
18:23And if so, could that also mean that the fabled chapel vault has fallen into it?
18:30This hole, TB1, goes to the bottom of that solution channel.
18:34That could be the answer.
18:35That could be where this treasure resides at this point.
18:37So we need to get down in that solution channel.
18:39As we break through this shelf in the bedrock, we hope to get into the area where the treasure
18:44might have fallen to, in the relatively soft material.
18:47Yes.
18:47And we're about ready to stack another can.
18:49We're going to add some more water and keep going down.
18:52Okay.
18:54All right.
18:54Thank you, Vanessa.
18:55I'll keep my fingers crossed.
18:56All right.
19:00There she goes.
19:02Let's oscillate.
19:03While excavation of the TB1 shaft continues in the Money Pit area.
19:08It's going down pretty good.
19:10There you go.
19:13I think Al will take it down a little more here where this top's all there.
19:17Okay.
19:17Oak Island landowner, Tom Nolan, and other members of the team are continuing to investigate
19:25an area where just one day ago, they found large survey stakes.
19:30Yeah, it's great.
19:31As well as what appears to be a layer of possibly stacked cobblestones.
19:38Come on, artifacts.
19:39I know you're here.
19:45Whoa!
19:46Whoa!
19:46Whoa!
19:47Now I'm seeing this cobble all through here.
19:58Is it me or does this look like the stone path?
20:02Yeah, it certainly does.
20:03There's a very clear line.
20:04You can see the edge of the rocks before you enter that sea horizon right here.
20:07Yeah.
20:08I noticed there was all these small stones.
20:13Some look like beach stone, which are out of place in the swamp.
20:17All put tightly together, very similar to the stone path on the south side of the bog.
20:24And it seemed to have some sort of shape.
20:25And it seemed to have some sort of shape.
20:27And we've got a defined path.
20:30Yeah, it's very linear.
20:32So it shows that there was more work, more effort put into this area for some reason.
20:38It begins to make you wonder, is it searcher or is it depositor?
20:43I'm going to call Dr. Spooner and Laird and get them to come and have a look at this.
20:47Yeah, I think we should because, I mean, they've looked at the other ones, so see what they think of it.
20:51Yeah.
20:52We really should have a look.
20:53Yeah?
20:53Yeah.
20:53Later that day.
21:00We're trying to cut through this stuff.
21:02So hopefully we're through the rocks soon.
21:03All right.
21:04Well, I'll go back to the station.
21:05It looks like you've got it handled here.
21:07In the Money Pit area, the seven-foot diameter steel shaft, known as TB1, is approaching a depth of nearly 170 feet and has reached the so-called solution channel, a massive natural void in the bedrock where the team hopes to encounter the fabled chapel vault.
21:29I was going to drag it around.
21:32Yeah, but not before I grab this.
21:35All right.
21:35I got to see if this floats.
21:38Yeah, that's the first piece of wood I've seen in the last few scoops.
21:42Yeah.
21:42This could be old.
21:43Yeah, could be.
21:45All right.
21:45Good eye.
21:47Our mentor, Dan Blankenship, always believed that if you retrieved wood from depth and it sank, it was older wood.
21:56If it floats, it's modern.
22:03That sinks.
22:04If the team has, indeed, recovered a piece of wood nearly 170 feet deep that might predate the discovery of the Money Pit, could it be a clue that the treasure vault is now also within their reach?
22:19A piece of wood came out of that last scoop.
22:22Just what we were hoping for.
22:23Just tested it and it doesn't float.
22:25It does not.
22:26Does not float.
22:26That's what we're looking for.
22:28Yeah, it could be what we're looking for.
22:30Look at the growth rings.
22:32That's also real good.
22:33That would be near the center of the tree, I would think.
22:36We get down to depth of about 170 feet and we find a piece of wood.
22:41And I feel that this piece of wood is deep enough.
22:43It could only be depositor.
22:44But if this was depositor, we could have found what the chapel-era searchers believed to be the treasure vault.
22:51Hey, Terry, I got some new numbers for you.
22:52Great, thank you.
22:54Depth of hole is 168 and 6 inches.
22:57And our casing just broke through 171.
23:01171 at the teeth.
23:01So this came out of the last scoop.
23:04That came from 168.
23:05What does this wood mean to you?
23:07If we found a bunch of it, remember, nobody was down to 168.
23:11Nobody.
23:11Okay.
23:12So if we started finding a bunch of this, we'd start to get pretty excited.
23:16Awesome.
23:17All right.
23:18We'll keep digging.
23:18Sounds good.
23:19As the excavation of TB1 continues in the Muddy Pit area,
23:25later that afternoon...
23:28Gentlemen.
23:29Hi, guys.
23:29In the War Room, Marty Lagina, Craig Tester, and other members of the Oak Island team
23:36meet via videoconference with renowned gemologist Jeffrey Bilgore
23:41and John W. Ford Sr., the CEO of the American Gem Trade Association.
23:48Welcome to the War Room.
23:49Oh, thank you.
23:51Oh, no way.
23:53Wow.
23:54John and Jeffrey have analyzed a glass gemstone that the team found two weeks ago
23:59near the mysterious rounded foundation on Lot 5,
24:03a foundation where the team has not only uncovered man-made mortar
24:07that matches soils for more than 100 feet deep in the Muddy Pit area,
24:12but where they have found a number of believed mid-18th-century artifacts,
24:18including this rare glass gemstone.
24:21Have you seen other stones like this?
24:24Yeah, I've seen other stones like this,
24:27but what is significant is the fact that it was found on an island in Nova Scotia.
24:33So it's very interesting because the origin of the crystal is European in nature.
24:38It could be from England, France, Spain, Portugal, or Italy.
24:43The research shows it could have been made somewhere between 1730 and 1775.
24:50Okay.
24:51That's what Laird and Emma also thought.
24:54What would be more traditional to use for something like this?
24:57It could have been from an object of adornment,
25:00sewn onto a heavy fabric, an ornamental type of coat.
25:04Certainly the size and the purity of the material is unusual.
25:10This is the size of, you know, an 8 to 10 carat sapphire, 8 carat diamond,
25:15but it's definitely a simulant to look like a diamond,
25:19to look like you have something of great value.
25:22Okay.
25:23So somebody really important was on Lot 5.
25:26We've always thought that even if the money pit is simpler than we think,
25:30without any complex engineering, it still would take a team of men to do that.
25:36We always wondered, where was the encampment?
25:39Where were these people while they were doing this work?
25:41Well, maybe Lot 5 is it.
25:43This little gem does indicate that somebody of means, wealth, influence
25:49was almost certainly on Lot 5 and on the island.
25:52The fact that it had tin around the edges, which is resistant to tarnishing,
25:57is quite significant, because tin would be for more of a noble person.
26:01So this is definitely not something mourned by the average person in the 1700s.
26:07This is more evidence that some very prominent person was on Oak Island pre-Money Pit.
26:14Yeah.
26:14There's something else that we haven't found yet,
26:17that this person of importance was watching over.
26:21Who was it?
26:22The fact that singular large size in the way it's faceted and cut,
26:27it demonstrates wealth, nobility, part of a military medal possibly.
26:35That's great.
26:39In the Oak Island War Room, gemology experts John W. Ford Sr. and Jeffrey Bilgore
26:45have just given their assessment that the glass jewel recovered near the round feature on Lot 5,
26:53not only dates back to several decades before the discovery of the money pit,
26:58but likely belonged to someone of European nobility.
27:02Because it was made of tin, which is resistant to tarnishing,
27:07it might be something that would be on a naval officer because of being at sea and such.
27:13Thinking about the dates and some of the theories,
27:19Duke Donville was supposedly in the area in 1746,
27:24so that fits in with the date of the jewel.
27:27It's quite possible.
27:28Yeah.
27:29There you go.
27:30In 2017, Oak Island historian Doug Kroll discovered part of an 18th century ship's log
27:41detailing a vast treasure burial in the vicinity of Oak Island.
27:46The log was reportedly connected to the crew of the Duke Donville,
27:52a French nobleman and admiral who led an unsuccessful attempt
27:56to reclaim Nova Scotia from England in September of 1746.
28:02It's always exciting to have a little artifact that could potentially mean so much.
28:07Is it possible that the team has discovered a critical clue
28:12of just who may have created the round feature on Lot 5?
28:17And perhaps, who left a mid-18th century nail deep in the money pit area?
28:23And lastly, might it answer the burning question
28:26of just who buried the fabled chapel vault?
28:29Those are intriguing thoughts.
28:30I mean, it adds just one more artifact that's saying someone
28:35or a group of people of importance were on Lot 5,
28:39and we've got to figure out why.
28:41And it also means that there could be a lot more out there,
28:43and it's not going to find itself,
28:45so we're going to get back in the field.
28:47Thank you very much.
28:48It's a pleasure.
28:49We're happy to be involved.
28:51Thanks, guys.
28:51See you later.
28:51Thanks, guys.
28:56Later that afternoon,
28:57as the excavation of TB1 proceeds in the money pit area...
29:04There's more rock coming out.
29:07We're mowing through.
29:09Hey, guys.
29:10Hey, guys.
29:10Hey, guys.
29:11How are you?
29:11Good.
29:12Welcome to another big question mark.
29:15Geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
29:16joins other members of the team
29:19in the northern region of the swamp.
29:21What do you think?
29:23There's a pretty clear, defined side over there,
29:26and the same over here.
29:28It is the team's hope
29:29that Dr. Spooner will be able to verify
29:32that the cobblestone feature
29:34they uncovered one day ago
29:36is part of a man-made pathway.
29:40There was a couple of sharpened stakes
29:43found down there, right at the side of it.
29:45How big?
29:46About this big.
29:48The thing that always gets me interested
29:50in these features,
29:51having looked at them for the last three years,
29:52is that these big stones
29:53are all of a size that could be handled by people.
29:56This was their path.
29:59But it's kind of almost to the edge.
30:01Again, we only have a small section of it uncovered.
30:04On the south side with the cobblestone path,
30:05it was cleared archaeologically,
30:07so you could see the structure clearly.
30:11Well, let's cut a section, then.
30:12Why not?
30:14I'm fine with that.
30:16I'm thinking of this
30:17as a really targeted way
30:19to apply our archaeological resources
30:21to the challenge of the swamp,
30:23and we can hopefully apply the results that we get
30:27to any of these other features in the swamp.
30:30All right, with that,
30:31I'm actually going to take the information
30:32I have back to the research center
30:34and see where it points to.
30:35Let us know what you come up with.
30:36We will.
30:37All right.
30:38Thanks, guys.
30:39See you later.
30:40The following morning...
30:45I applaud everyone for having real belief
30:48in the work in the swamp
30:49that we have done to date.
30:51Before heading back out
30:53to the Money Pit area,
30:55Rick, Marty, Craig,
30:57and other members of the team
30:59are meeting with surveyor Steve Guptill
31:01in the war room.
31:02I think the swamp is integral
31:04to understanding
31:05this incredibly complex mystery,
31:08and it becomes more complex by the day.
31:10After inputting the new data
31:12regarding the wooden stakes
31:14and various sections
31:15of the cobblestone pathway
31:17that have been recently found in the swamp,
31:20Steve has created a digital survey
31:22that also includes
31:24other man-made features
31:26the team has uncovered
31:27in the brackish bog
31:28during the past several years.
31:31Steve, I think,
31:32it's up to you to explain
31:34what we found
31:35and what it might mean.
31:36Let's start with the survey lines.
31:38I believe it was you
31:39who found on Fred's plans
31:41a line of survey stakes.
31:43This is probably 2018.
31:46We dug this line here,
31:47and we found three stakes.
31:49Yeah, that's right, yeah.
31:50I remember exactly.
31:51That's right.
31:51Sure.
31:52Then we go to yesterday,
31:54and I tagged
31:54three of these survey stakes.
31:56As you can see,
31:57almost perfectly on that calculated line,
31:59a straight line,
32:01north and south.
32:02These things were put down for a reason.
32:04It is consistent with the surveying use.
32:07100%.
32:07Well, if they are reference points
32:11for something,
32:12it's definitely some construction site.
32:15So that segues well into
32:16the cobble path.
32:18Here's the cobble we found yesterday.
32:20There's the three stakes
32:20that we've surveyed
32:22that land on the survey line.
32:23Right.
32:23So we'll project that back.
32:26It looks like it relates
32:27to the cobble path
32:28that comes off the stone road
32:31and it heads west.
32:33The pathway seems to be connected
32:34to everything that we find.
32:36If we continue westward
32:37and northwestward,
32:38we come into the eye,
32:40we come into this wooden platform
32:42we found this year.
32:43Okay.
32:44So another area
32:45that this projects to
32:47is the cobble
32:47found next to the vault.
32:49The cut slate with the bricks.
32:52Oh, really?
32:54So at this stage,
32:56it seems that all these features
32:57are loosely connected in time.
32:59And that time period
33:00is from the late 1600s
33:02to the mid-1700s.
33:04And that's well before the searchers
33:07and, in my opinion,
33:09wasn't farmers,
33:10it wasn't fishermen.
33:12Based upon those dates,
33:14it's similar to some of the dates
33:15we're getting from the Lot 5 feature.
33:18Yeah, yeah.
33:19I'm thinking that there's a connection
33:21to the money pit,
33:22to the swamp in Lot 5
33:23and that they were doing work
33:25around the whole island.
33:27That's pretty cool.
33:30In the Oak Island War Room,
33:32surveyor Steve Guptill
33:34has just presented the team
33:36with data,
33:37leading them to believe
33:38that the cobblestone pathway,
33:41which the team has unearthed
33:42throughout the swamp,
33:44could be connected
33:45not only to the various
33:46man-made features
33:47they've discovered,
33:49such as the empty
33:50vault-like structure,
33:51but may also have been created
33:53to serve as a direct link
33:55between Lot 5
33:56and the money pit.
33:59I think this is good
34:00because when we first found
34:02this cobble
34:02in our northern dig,
34:03suspected,
34:04okay, maybe this is
34:05the connection between
34:06the cobble path
34:07and Lot 5.
34:09Yeah.
34:10So we have a pretty
34:11targeted area here
34:12where we can keep digging
34:13and try to establish
34:14that connection.
34:15If you were to project
34:16the line further
34:17to the northwest,
34:19it could go up to Lot 5.
34:20Cool.
34:23Could Steve's findings
34:24help prove
34:25the team's previous suspicion
34:27that the stone foundation
34:29on Lot 5 served as a staging ground
34:32for an operation
34:33to hide one or more treasure vaults
34:36in the money pit
34:37and perhaps also in the swamp.
34:40I mean, at this point,
34:42I think we have so many 1700 dates
34:44that if whatever was going on,
34:46Lot 5 was going on
34:47and the swamp was whatever
34:48was going on in the money pit.
34:49I mean, we just find the dates everywhere.
34:511600, 1700 seem to be
34:52the most consistent date
34:53we find island-wide.
34:55And so whatever was going on
34:56on the island,
34:57I think we can start
34:57to piece it together
34:58that a major part
35:00of the construction
35:00on Oak Island
35:01was 1680 to 1750.
35:03It is an enormous undertaking
35:09if these cobbled features
35:11are connected in time.
35:15Obviously, there was an intent.
35:16There was a purpose
35:17and possibly an association
35:20with the Duke d'Anville expedition.
35:23But there's still a lot of puzzles
35:24put together here.
35:26So the work needs to continue.
35:29There's now this belief,
35:31and I hope it is well and truly
35:32an established belief
35:34at this point
35:34that it is literally
35:36an island-wide mystery.
35:41And that's how we need
35:42to look at this.
35:44And we have to do activities
35:47that are insular
35:48from each other,
35:48meaning the activities
35:49in the money pit,
35:50the activities on Lot 5,
35:52the activities on the eastern drum,
35:53the activities in the bog.
35:55At some point,
35:56they will meld.
35:57They will come together.
35:59Nice report, Steve.
36:00Well done.
36:01Thanks, guys.
36:01Now let's keep going.
36:05Shortly after concluding
36:07their meeting...
36:08I just don't know
36:10where it's going,
36:11but it's going somewhere.
36:12So I don't like now
36:13that it's going back
36:14under the crane, right?
36:16This collapse
36:16is just not stopping.
36:19Rick, Marty,
36:20and Alex Lagina
36:21have rushed back
36:23to the money pit area
36:24after being alerted
36:26that the earth
36:27surrounding the TB1 shaft
36:28has once again
36:29started to cave in.
36:31Grab another scoop of dirt.
36:33We need to try to get more
36:34in that back hole.
36:34It's like three feet low
36:36on the back side.
36:37The solution channel,
36:38which underlies
36:39a good portion of this,
36:41which is a natural
36:42cave-like structure,
36:43is more liquid
36:44than we thought.
36:45How deep are we?
36:46The dig actually
36:47went to 179.
36:49The teeth are just above that,
36:51so we're even digging
36:51below the teeth.
36:53After first encountering
36:54evidence that TB1
36:56was descending
36:57into a massive
36:58natural void,
36:59or solution channel,
37:01at a depth
37:02of nearly 165 feet,
37:04the team has now discovered
37:06that the cavity
37:07in the bedrock,
37:08which may also now contain
37:10the fabled chapel vault,
37:12reaches depths
37:13of more than 200 feet
37:14underground.
37:15We're caving in constantly,
37:19so they're getting concerned
37:19from a safety standpoint.
37:21And even more concerning
37:22is that it is causing
37:24the soils beneath
37:25the TB1 shaft
37:26and hundreds of tons
37:28of heavy equipment
37:29to give way.
37:31Every, what,
37:3230, 40 minutes,
37:33we're stopping
37:34to try to mitigate
37:36the collapsing,
37:37but now it's starting
37:38to creep back
37:38under the crane.
37:42It's leaning towards
37:44sudden collapse.
37:45Yeah, we're gonna
37:46obliterate this place.
37:50That's not good.
37:54There will become
37:55a safety component
37:56if it gets too far
37:56under the crane
37:57that we just
37:58all stop.
37:59In the Money Pit area,
38:01the minor collapse
38:02of Earth
38:03around the TB1 shaft
38:05that began
38:06earlier this week
38:07has become increasingly
38:09more dangerous
38:10as the caissons
38:11sink lower
38:12into a massive
38:13natural cavity
38:14more than 200 feet
38:16underground.
38:17If we can't get this
38:18down and we're
38:19exacerbating a problem
38:20that we really,
38:21truly don't understand,
38:23we need to be done
38:24here.
38:25Yeah?
38:26I say we call it.
38:28Let's not try
38:28and advance the can
38:29anymore.
38:30Okay.
38:30I hear the boys
38:31firing up the oscillator,
38:31so let me go tell
38:32them the plan.
38:32Okay.
38:33Thanks.
38:35Although the team
38:36now suspects
38:37that the fabled
38:38chapel vault
38:39may lie somewhere
38:40down in the so-called
38:41solution channel.
38:43Hey, Gary!
38:44Gary!
38:45They are certain
38:46that it is now
38:48too dangerous
38:49to pursue it
38:49in the TB1 shaft.
38:52No treasure in the world
38:53is worth compromising
38:55somebody's safety.
38:56And like I said,
38:57from every negative situation,
39:00you learn something from it.
39:01We did learn some things
39:03from it.
39:03Yeah.
39:04I think we are all
39:05on board one simple truth.
39:07That the chapel vault,
39:08and I still believe it's here,
39:10could have fallen
39:10to those depths
39:11in the solution channel.
39:13And some of us
39:14didn't necessarily believe that
39:15prior to putting this can down.
39:18Right.
39:19Our inability
39:20to finish TB1
39:21leads me to the conclusion
39:22that we may be
39:23overlooking what happened
39:25to this treasure
39:26completely.
39:27If the solution channel
39:29can accept 100 yards
39:31of rock and sand
39:33and gravel
39:34just like that
39:35in one day,
39:35why couldn't it completely
39:37have taken in
39:38the treasure?
39:39I never thought
39:40that was possible before.
39:42That looks pretty good.
39:44There is a void
39:45at great depth.
39:47Is that where
39:48the treasure hides?
39:49It's possible.
39:51But we still have room
39:52to maneuver here.
39:53The location of the next cans
39:55will be important,
39:56but I want to make sure
39:57that we get down
39:58and we get back up safely.
40:01So my hope is that
40:02Vanessa and her team
40:04from Rock
40:04can stabilize the area
40:06and to continue the dig.
40:08We're still true believers.
40:10I'm hoping the next can
40:12we put down,
40:13it'll be,
40:14you better believe it.
40:16Yeah, exactly.
40:17So maybe we should get together
40:19in the war room
40:19and talk about a new plan.
40:20That's a real good idea.
40:21In spite of a devastating setback,
40:28Rick, Marty, and their team
40:30remain determined
40:31that they can and will
40:33solve this 230-year-old mystery.
40:38Because even though
40:39the fabled riches
40:40escaped their grasp,
40:42the team has unearthed
40:44more critical clues
40:45as to where they lie
40:47and perhaps who deposited them.
40:51Can they devise a solution
40:53that will lead them
40:55to the vault
40:55and the ultimate answers?
40:58Only time,
41:00a bold new strategy,
41:02and digging
41:03will tell.
41:07Next time
41:08on The Curse of Oak Island.
41:10I think our next target
41:11is what we call
41:12Aladdin's Cave.
41:13All right, here we go.
41:14There's a genie in the lamp
41:15and all your wishes
41:16will be granted.
41:17It looks like
41:17there's something here.
41:18Oh, wow.
41:20Look at the head
41:20on that thing.
41:21That could have easily
41:22come out of treasure chests.
41:24These teeth are ready
41:25to bite on some gold.
41:27I love it.
41:28I think we're
41:29breaking through the cave.
41:30Agreed.
41:31We're hitting something, right?
41:32This could be
41:32the most important
41:33hammer-grabbing history.
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