NARRATOR: Tonight on The Curse
of Oak Island...
MAX: We're excited
to present the results
from the muon tomography.
So, what we're seeing is
high-density anomaly below
the surface of the Money Pit.
We think it's Aladdin's Cave.
It could lead to the treasure.
-I think I've hit a void.
-The plot thickens.
Oh! It's here. Look at that.
RICK:
This is really something.
-There are letters stamped on.
-MARTY: Whoa!
-It could be very old.
-Yeah.
NARRATOR: There is an
island in the North Atlantic
where people have
been looking for
an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.
So far, they have
found a stone slab
with strange symbols
carved into it...
...man-made workings
that date to medieval times,
and a lead cross whose
origin may be connected
to the Knights Templar.
To date, six men have d*ed
trying to solve the mystery.
And according to legend,
one more will have to die
before the treasure
can be found.
♪ ♪
-RICK: Morning, Paul.
-COTE: Morning, Rick.
I see you're set up,
ready to rock and roll.
Yeah. Roger got
us all, uh, moved in.
-Okay.
-And he started
-pumping some water.
-Right.
How many hours a
day are you pumping?
-Six hours, maybe. Yeah.
-Oh, really?
NARRATOR: A new
day of abounding hope
has begun on Oak Island for
brothers Rick and Marty Lagina
and their team as the
operation to deepen
the mid-18th-century
Garden Shaft
has finally gotten underway.
Is the system gonna
be the same, then,
for, like, extracting
the material?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No,
it's pretty much the same.
So, we're, uh,
we've got a little bit
-of hammer-grabbing to do.
-Okay.
Taking out the old
spoils and the slime
-from the bottom.
-Okay.
And then we'll start
adding sets, wood sets.
Right.
NARRATOR: Once representatives
from Dumas Contracting Limited
finish draining water
that has flooded
the 82-foot-deep shaft,
they will use a
three-ton digging tool,
known as a hammer grab,
to excavate the earth below it
and construct new
eight-foot wooden levels,
or sets, in the hope of
breaching a mysterious tunnel,
a tunnel that has not
only yielded water samples
containing evidence of gold,
but which heads west into
the so-called Baby Blob,
where the team has
detected the highest traces
of precious metals
in the Money Pit area.
There's a lot of hope
regarding this shaft
extension work.
We can use the Garden
Shaft to drill horizontally
at various elevations,
as much as 40 feet out.
So, you're talking about
an 80-foot
investigative program.
RICK: I think that
we're gonna know
with some certainty
what's out there,
and that's important
information.
NARRATOR: If high-valued targets
are encountered during
the lateral drilling process
and are not reachable
within the mysterious tunnel,
Dumas can construct a new tunnel
in order to allow the
team to retrieve them
and hopefully solve the
Well, like last year, I
know it's a futile offer, but
if you need an extra body,
I'd be happy to go down.
-Sure. Sure.
-[both laugh]
-Saves me the work.
-And there you go.
-[laughs]
-It's a deal.
-Okay.
-All right.
And if we're not
around the next day,
that means we got
the treasure. [laughing]
We'll chase you.
NARRATOR: As the team
from Dumas Contracting Limited
continues their work
in the Garden Shaft,
later that morning...
RICK: Welcome,
everybody, to the w*r room.
The importance of this
meeting can't be overstated.
NARRATOR: Rick, along with
his brother Marty,
their partner Craig Tester,
hydrogeologist Dr. Fred Michel,
and other members of the team
meet with representatives
from Ideon Technologies
for a highly anticipated
scientific report.
So, uh, gentlemen, I'm gonna
turn it over to you because, uh,
you certainly have
a lot more insight into
the possibilities of what
muon technology
will help us with
-as we move forward this year.
-Yeah.
We appreciate your time
today, uh, from this big group.
Um, and we're excited
to present the results,
uh, from the Money Pit.
-Absolutely.
-MAX: Great.
So, as you all know,
we've deployed
in the Money Pit at
depths ranging from
below the surface.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: In 2021,
a team from Ideon was contracted
to place several
subsurface devices
deep within five
previously drilled boreholes
across the Money Pit area.
These devices detected
subatomic particles
which constantly
pass through the Earth,
known as muons,
in order to search for
evidence of potential voids,
tunnels, and large objects.
It was an intricate process
that needed nearly two
full years to complete.
The primary targets
we were looking for
were tunnels that
crosscut the Money Pit,
vaults or voids,
and of course, um, any
high-density anomalies
that could reflect treasure.
Those are the ones
I'm interested in.
[laughter]
MAX: I figured.
So, let's move underground.
-Do you want to?
-Sure.
DOUG S.: So, if we take
all of the detector data
from these months
of imaging time,
and we combine them all and
run our tomography reconstruction,
you can already see
some interesting structures
in the data.
MAX: So, what you're
looking at right now
are slices through the 3-D
density model of the Money Pit.
Uh, the yellow background
represents kind of the
neutral baseline density
of the Money Pit.
Low-density
anomalies are in blue
and higher-density
anomalies are in orange to red.
CRAIG: Our preference
is always the high-density
'cause that may mean treasure,
but a low-density
could be a tunnel
or the water portion of a vault.
Do you see anything over
by the, uh, Garden Shaft?
And it would be looking more
at around the 100-foot level.
Do you see anything over there?
So, this is...
where my mouse is,
this is approximately the
area of the Garden Shaft.
That blue and gray
column is the Garden Shaft.
There is a high-density anomaly
to the west of the Garden Shaft.
At what depth?
MAX: 65 feet
below the surface
of the Money Pit.
And that's a high-density?
MARTY: And then a low-density
anomaly directly underneath.
MAX: Correct.
And what depth would
that be, the deeper one?
surface of the Money Pit.
Well, Dr. Fred there,
those anomalies
over at the Garden Shaft
is what we're looking for.
FRED: I would
agree with-with Marty.
I mean, there's definitely
a high-density area
to the west of the Garden Shaft
in the area of the Blob.
You know, which is
where we have the highest
concentrations of gold
and silver in the water.
So, I'm-I'm encouraged by that
because it backs up what
we've been seeing in the water.
But we can't drill these with
Dumas in the Garden Shaft.
Correct.
RICK: Well, the target
near the Garden Shaft,
I think presents the option
certainly of tunneling to it.
But Dumas is working in close
proximity to the Garden Shaft.
We have to give them
area to do their work.
So, have you
detected anything else?
MAX: So, we'll
take a look at a key
high-density anomaly
that we picked out.
So, what we're seeing
is a high-density anomaly
sitting approximately
of the Garden Shaft,
about 230 feet below the
surface of The Money Pit.
It's significant.
DOUG S.: So, this is
looking at that anomaly
in a little more detail.
MARTY: Wow. Is it
consistent with, say,
a six-by-six-by-six
metal-lined box?
It could be a
treasure of some sort.
It's almost got to be something.
But at that depth?
Below the depth
that known searchers
have explored.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: A high-density target?
Some 230 feet deep
in the Money Pit area?
Could that mean there are
potentially multiple treasures
buried on Oak Island?
RICK: When they explain
about the high-density target
at 230 feet deep in the bedrock,
it makes one pause and think,
"Could it have been done?"
-We got to drill it.
-I agree with that.
RICK: The proof will
come from some sort of very
disciplined drill program.
But I think we have
to investigate it.
Another interesting
thing is this
kind of unaccounted
for low-density anomaly.
In fact, you've already
found something there.
This low-density
anomaly perfectly overlaps
the void that you guys
call Aladdin's Cave.
STEVE: Right now, we're
looking into the cavity.
So, wait. Now, stop.
MARTY: That's pretty square.
Some sort of, like,
pedestal sticking out.
NARRATOR: One year ago,
after drilling a
borehole known as L-15,
the team discovered
a large cavern
to the southwest
of the Garden Shaft,
which Marty Lagina
dubbed "Aladdin's Cave."
Incredibly,
the team recorded video images
of potential man-made
features within it,
and during a
subsequent sonar scan...
-SCOTT: Whoa!
-STEVE: Oh, that's a good opening.
NARRATOR: ...determined
that it was nearly 30 feet long
and 12 feet wide.
-It's not some simple kind of cave.
-Right.
It's kind of a
tendril going out.
It kind of extends out.
RICK: That tendril going out,
how long is just that?
It's in the 20 feet range,
So, Dr. Michel, what
was the results of
the water associated
with L-16, Aladdin's Cave?
We have been getting,
fairly consistently,
some elevated metal
concentrations with that one.
So, we are seeing gold in
the cavity, or Aladdin's Cave.
-RICK: That's stunning.
-CRAIG: Absolutely. Yeah.
Wow.
It seems a bit too much
to be a coincidence.
NARRATOR: In the w*r room,
Rick, Marty, Craig,
and other members
of the team have
just been informed
that muon tomography scans
deep below the Money Pit area
have detected potentially
important clues in a large
void known as "Aladdin's Cave,"
a previously
discovered cavern some
where, one year ago,
water tests revealed high
trace evidence of gold.
And if you wanted to kind
of figure out what was there,
you would drill right in
the middle of the structure.
Yeah.
So, we have a
bunch of targets now.
MARTY: Yeah. This is exciting.
This is what we
were looking for.
And the fact that you can image
what we call "Aladdin's Cave,"
that's very gratifying.
So, I say, "Let's go drill it."
-Yeah.
-MARTY: One of the things we
were concerned about last
year about Aladdin's Cave
is it didn't appear
to have an obvious
inlet or outlet to it,
but the Ideon data
suggests that it does.
We should drill
through the muon target.
It's at the right depth
to be some sort of vault.
It's at the right
depth to have been
protected by a flood tunnel.
It's, uh, it's clearly
an offset chamber.
Uh... It could be it.
ALEX: Another piece
of good news is that
it's not anywhere
near the Garden Shaft,
-which means we can drill it.
-Yes.
Which is good for us
because I like the cave, right?
Yes.
MARTY: Yeah. I think
we should head for it, Rick.
This is, by far and away,
the most compelling
data we've ever had.
Every anomaly that Max and
Doug have presented are interesting.
-There's no question about that.
-Yep.
This is all really exciting
because it's always been
suggested that the Money Pit,
perhaps there were multiple
treasure cache locations.
And now, we are finding that
the muon detected evidence of it
and suggestions of work
at various elevations
all around the Money Pit.
Does it strongly
suggest the possibility
that there are more than
one location in the Money Pit?
Yes. In my opinion,
it does suggest that.
Well, for me,
we've always believed
that it's only by introducing
new technologies that this
will ultimately get solved.
And it's by working together
that, ultimately, we
might be able to solve
a 228-year-old mystery.
I think I speak for everyone.
-Thank you both very much.
-Our pleasure.
So, I think we
better get after it.
-Fantastic. Great.
-Thank you, everybody.
MARTY: Talk to you
all later. Goodbye.
NARRATOR: The following morning,
as representatives from
Dumas continue excavating spoils
from underneath
the Garden Shaft...
-STEVE: So, we're currently set up on L-14.
-TERRY: Yeah.
We're gonna put some of
these areas to either rest
or we're gonna find
what we're looking for.
Exactly so. All right.
NARRATOR: ...and while
drilling begins in a new borehole
known as L-14,
where Aladdin's Cave
sets some 160
feet underground...
-PETER: Seems you made a lot of progress.
-HELEN: Yeah.
As you can see, we're
getting deeper down into it.
PETER: Yeah. Okay.
NARRATOR: ...Peter
Fornetti and Jack Begley
join archaeologist Helen Sheldon
and other members
of the team on Lot 5.
They are continuing
their investigation
of a mysterious
stone foundation,
a feature which has been dated
to the same era as
the Garden Shaft,
and which appears to have
been deliberately buried.
Whatever this
was, the fill indicates
that it was buried
mid to late 1700s.
-Yeah.
-JACK: But that means that someone buried this
around the discovery
time of the Money Pit or
maybe even just before.
Well, see, the
interesting thing is,
like, as we get into the
middle of it, the rubble fill
in the middle is obviously
post-construction.
That's, like, abandonment
of whatever this feature is.
So, the feature itself
is earlier than that.
-Yeah.
-Right?
So, we need to get
down to the bottom
and see if there's anything
remaining on the bottom
-under there.
-Mm-hmm.
So, Helen, what would be
the best use of Jack and I?
Um, Jack's really
good at screening.
-I love it. Yeah.
-Yep.
You can do that. Um,
-you join Lindy in that unit.
-Yep.
And just start troweling
away, and we'll find something.
-Okay. Sounds good.
-Yep.
-Let's get to it.
-Okay.
NARRATOR: While
Peter, Moya, and Lindy
carefully remove
earth and sediments
from the bottom of the feature,
Jack will sift through
them with a screen
to search for any
important clues or artifacts.
Wow.
-Hey, Moya.
-MOYA: Yeah?
I found a bit of metal.
Oh, wow. Thank you.
JACK: I think it's like
a staple or something.
MOYA: Yeah. To me,
it kind of almost looks
like a chain link.
JACK: Oh.
I don't know. What
do you think, Helen?
It's kind of...
Let me see it. [grunts]
Yeah, it is more like chain
link that's been fused together.
NARRATOR: A piece of chain link?
Found in the rectangular
stone feature on Lot 5?
Could it be a clue
that a heavy object
was once hauled away
from or into this structure?
HELEN: We can CT
this back in the lab
and see if that's an
actual link-linkage in there
under all the corrosion.
MOYA: And get it cleaned off
to see what it looks like.
-Thanks, Jack. Good find.
-JACK: Oh, for sure.
I'm really hoping, right
at the bottom layer,
we find something cool
that really helps show
this wasn't a domestic
site but m*llitary
-or something like that.
-Yeah. Yeah.
PETER: Well, there's
only one way to find out,
-and that's for us to keep digging.
-HELEN: Keep digging.
NARRATOR: As the
investigation on Lot 5 continues...
GARY: Where there's
muck, there's money.
[Charles laughs]
NARRATOR: ...back
in the Money Pit area,
metal detection
expert Gary Drayton
and Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse
prepare to search
through the spoils that have
recently been removed
from below the Garden Shaft.
I wasn't joking, mate,
when I said we was
gonna get stuck in.
Oh, we are gonna get stuck in.
And it smells like treasure.
You know, Gary, I've got to
be honest, I was hoping treasure
would smell a little
different than this.
Oh, it will smell good, mate,
when we're holding
it in our hands.
But seriously, mate,
this is the material
that I'm interested in
because, last year,
we got those hits...
-Yeah.
-...at the bottom of the Garden Shaft,
those nonferrous hits.
All right.
Oh, that's the best
sounding target.
That's a nonferrous, yeah.
-Really?
-Yep.
NARRATOR: Just before
the team was forced to halt
their search
operations last winter,
Gary, Rick, and Marty
obtained evidence
of possible precious
metals in the mud
several feet below
the Garden Shaft.
If we're in here, mate, we
are gonna pull them out today.
-So, let's get at it.
-Yeah.
All right. Let's see
what we've got in here.
NARRATOR: Now, it is
Gary and Charles' hope
that they will make
an important discovery
that appeared to be
just out of reach last year.
Even though I know
it's iron, it's coming out.
-It's coming out. Okay.
-Yeah.
I'll try pinpointing it, mate.
Want me to dig it?
I'm nearly there, mate.
Ooh, what's this?
Big chunk.
It's here.
NARRATOR: While searching
through the spoils unearthed
from the bottom of
the Garden Shaft...
Some kind of, like, metal wedge?
NARRATOR: ...Gary Drayton
and Charles Barkhouse have
just found a potentially
important clue.
GARY: What do you think?
CHARLES: You know what that
reminds me of? You know that,
when you put an axe handle
into a wooden staff, right?
They put a wedge in the
top to drive it in to kind of
-lock it in?
-Yeah.
NARRATOR: A possible
metal wedge from an axe
found more than 80 feet deep
near the bottom of
the Garden Shaft?
CHARLES: Yeah.
That's pretty cool.
NARRATOR: Could it
have been left behind
by those who built the structure
as early as 1735?
If so, might it be
an important clue
that may help determine
just who they were?
All right. That's
going in the pouch.
All of this stuff will go
back to Emma in the lab.
There might be a little
diamond in the rough.
Literally in the rough.
CHARLES: If we could find
something like that, that'd be great.
GARY: I think we're done, mate.
We'll wait for this to dry out
and then see if there's anything
hiding right at the bottom.
CHARLES: Sounds like a plan.
GARY: All right,
mate. Good digging.
NARRATOR: While Gary and
Charles take their discovery back
to the Oak Island
laboratory for analysis,
just to the west,
in the Money Pit area...
TERRY: Hopefully, we'll
get down into the cavern.
The cave could turn into
something very interesting.
NARRATOR: ...other
members of the team
continue drilling borehole L-14,
several feet southwest
of the Garden Shaft.
So, we're gonna have a new hole,
new location in the cavity.
NARRATOR: A
borehole where they hope
to encounter a possible
treasure chamber
known as "Aladdin's Cave."
SCOTT: We may see something
that we didn't see before.
Yeah, it was a relatively
large, man-sized cavern.
But this hole's
gonna tell the tale.
-A big void?
-Oh, yeah.
STEVE: We have Mike coming over.
TERRY: Hey, Mike.
So, I'm at, uh...
I'm at 142 and half,
and I think I've hit a
void or something soft.
-Do you want me to keep pushing deeper?
-Yeah.
Let's get an idea
of where it's open.
-All right.
-Okay?
-The plot thickens.
-The plot thickens.
NARRATOR: A void at
a depth of just 142 feet?
Having previously encountered
evidence of Aladdin's Cave
at 160 feet, is it possible
that the top of the cavern--
where the team has detected
trace evidence of gold--
sits at a much higher elevation
than previously thought?
TERRY: Uh, look,
that's interesting.
The roof could be a
little higher in this area.
SCOTT: Yeah. I mean,
when you look at the 3D
model of it, it's not a
regular shape around that.
So, I mean, I'm not
surprised to find it higher.
Yeah.
MARTY: Aladdin's Cave remains
very interesting to me because
I can't think of a
geologic reason it's there.
And yet, it is there.
I think it's plausible
that Aladdin's Cave
could either have been
an original repository,
or it could be where
the Money Pit collapsed.
Either way, there could be
something valuable in that cave.
So, I'm down to 148, and
there's nothing in there.
-Open space?
-Open space.
-TERRY: All right.
-STEVE: That's what we want.
TERRY: Thank you.
SCOTT: I think this
hole was a great success.
We wanted to get down
into that cavity and, uh,
find some space there where
we could use the camera
and this new sonar that we have.
Our sonar is still a week away,
so it's kind of why we
want to drill this hole now.
Give it time to settle out, and
it can give us a clearer image.
NARRATOR: In the coming days,
the Oak Island team will
further investigate Aladdin's Cave
with both a
high-definition camera
and a three-dimensional
sonar device
after the clouds of silt and
sediment have been given time
to settle at the bottom of the
potentially man-made cavern.
We are not leaving
this island this year
without having a go
at this Aladdin's Cave.
We know that there
are precious metals
dissolved in the water that
came out of Aladdin's Cave.
Well, geez, I mean, if
you add those things up,
it sounds like a cavity
that has treasure in it.
Step one was a success.
TERRY: Yeah. L-14 is going
to yield up some
secrets very shortly.
SCOTT: Now, it's just a
matter of ground-truthing it.
TERRY: Exactly.
NARRATOR: The
following morning...
ROGER: There we
go. Looking good.
NARRATOR: ...as representatives
from Dumas Contracting Limited
continue their work
in the Garden Shaft...
-RICK: More flags I see, Gary.
-GARY: Yeah, mate.
-This is the coin zone, mate.
-This is the treasure zone.
NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina
and Gary Drayton
arrive on Lot 5,
located on the western
side of the island.
They are returning
to search the area
where they have previously
discovered five ancient coins,
three of which are
of Roman origin
and have been determined to
be approximately 2,000 years old.
And I've got to be honest.
A couple of these flags
sound like they could be coins.
-That would be fantastic.
-[laughs]
-Here you go.
-All right. See what we've got.
-All right, first one up.
-[beeping]
-RICK: That ain't bad.
-Good sounding target, mate.
Just there.
[groans]
[grunts]
Well, that's not what
we're looking for.
Nope. Not unless it's on
top of a treasure chest.
All right, let's see.
[beeping]
-Ooh. Still in the hole.
-Yeah.
-RICK: It's iron though, isn't it?
-Nope.
-RICK: There she be.
-Yup.
It's in my hand.
Now, we both know
that was down there.
That's deep target.
What's that?
GARY: What the heck is this?
-RICK: What's that?
-GARY: I like the shape of it.
NARRATOR: Near the middle
of Lot 5 on Oak Island...
GARY: See that edge there, mate?
RICK: Can't be a button.
NARRATOR: ...Rick
Lagina and Gary Drayton
have just made a
curious discovery.
What've we got, mate, is
that a bit of ancientness in that.
GARY: Oh!
Ooh! It's here. Old coin.
It looks like a
really old coin, mate.
Look at that. Oh!
-RICK: That is thick.
-Ooh!
Yeah, that is thick, mate.
-GARY: Oh!
-That is beautiful.
Wow. Look at that.
There's no mistaking that.
-Yeah.
-That ain't no button.
NARRATOR: Could
Gary and Rick be correct
that they have found
another potentially ancient coin
on Lot 5?
If so, could it offer
more evidence
that this area may
be directly connected
to the 228-year-old
treasure mystery?
We know, mate, when we
pulled those ancient coins out
in this area before,
they've just got that
look and feel about them.
Let me... Let me feel
-how heavy it is.
-Here you go, mate.
-Ooh, it's heavy.
-Yeah, that is.
And that baby was down there.
You know, what the heck
happened here, Gary?
Yeah. I mean, there's some
secrets still in this area here.
RICK: As the work on
Lot 5 continues to evolve,
I continue to be puzzled by it.
We have always sought
to find connective tissue
between the lots and the
original depositional work.
And so, I think that's
the hope on Lot 5.
Once all of the
artifacts are analyzed,
then you will be able to say
with some sort of clarity that,
"Yes, this presents an answer."
-That goes back to the lab.
-Yeah.
That goes back to the lab, mate.
So, we have got to
put this in the bag.
RICK: That's cool. Very cool.
GARY: Bloody fantastic.
NARRATOR: The following
morning as operations continue
in both the Garden
Shaft and Aladdin's Cave
in the Money Pit area...
RICK: So, Gary and I
happened to be out on Lot 5 up
into the areas where we had
found the Roman coins, right?
-Mm-hmm. Good area.
-Well,
we came across this.
NARRATOR: ...Rick joins Marty
in the Interpretive Centre
for a meeting with
archaeologist Laird Niven
and archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan,
who have both
had the opportunity
to examine the artifact
discovered one day ago on Lot 5.
We were ecstatic when...
when this came out of the ground.
We thought, "Wow.
This is really something."
MARTY: I mean, Laird,
what do you think it is?
When I first saw it, I knew...
-It's lead, right?
-Mm-hmm.
LAIRD: So, I discounted coin.
My best guess was
that it was a bag seal.
-Oh. Another one of those.
-Yeah.
NARRATOR: Dating back to
as early as the 13th century,
lead bag seals were
fasteners used across Europe
to package large quantities
of both industrial
and m*llitary goods.
Three years ago, the team
discovered a lead bag seal
just west of the
swamp on Lot 32.
Incredibly, lead
isotope testing indicated
it was a compositional match
not only to the 14th-century
lead barter token
found one year ago on Lot 5
but also the
that was unearthed at
Smith's Cove in 2017.
RICK: So, what made you come
to a bag seal assessment?
Um, it was that little...
the little, cut section there.
Because bag seals are two
lead circles brought together
and then stamped.
MARTY: Well, I'm guessing
we have results from
the machines over here
-and our own Emma.
-I do.
NARRATOR: Earlier this morning,
Emma analyzed the new
discovery made on Lot 5
using the X-ray
fluorescence spectrometer,
a device that emits
non-destructive radiation
in order to determine
the elemental
composition of objects.
So, this is the scanning XRF.
EMMA: So, it is lead. It has
very little impurities,
but it does have
some iron impurities
and a little bit of copper.
And I did get a report on
another bale seal or bag seal
-that you guys found.
-Mm-hmm.
And it doesn't match with that.
So, I can say that it's not
exactly the same composition.
But the most interesting
part is the image
on the front surface there.
-RICK: Definitely letters, that's for sure.
-LAIRD: Yeah.
And the first letter that was
obvious to us was the "K."
MARTY: Oh, those letters.
-"E" is it? I see an "E."
-LAIRD: Yup.
This should be "K-E-R."
And we were having a
hard time tracking down
what "C-K-E-R" Was.
But we were able to
find an exact match.
The is the example I found.
And it says "I.
Lloyd" on the top,
and the "I" is actually "J."
"I. Lloyd Packers,"
-and on the bottom, it says, "London."
-MARTY: Oh.
So, this is a
cloth packer's seal
from the 1700s.
They were the people--
they got the cloth
and literally packed
them into the bales.
-Oh. -And then sealed them.
The bale it was sealing
was about half a ton.
-Wow.
-MARTY: So, half ton.
I mean, would the
m*llitary use such a thing?
If you had a bunch of
soldiers, they need cloth.
LAIRD: Yeah, and ironically,
this company was
listed as army packers.
-Oh.
-So, there's a direct connection with the m*llitary.
Wow.
I haven't been able
to find a great date
for the, uh... for the company.
We found one entry
from 1808, giving
their address in London,
but I think it's previous.
MARTY: Why do
you think it's older?
It was the use of
"I" instead of "J."
It's "I. Lodge," and
the "I" is for "John."
So, that usage
went out of fashion?
Yeah. Js came into
use in, like, 1524.
So, it's an older use.
It's an artifact in itself.
Then that would imply
that it could be very old.
-Much older.
-MARTY: Still potentially means
anytime between 1500,
and let's say, 1800,
this bag seal arrived
on Oak Island.
-Is that fair?
-Yes.
NARRATOR: A bag seal
designed for packaging
large quantities of goods
for the British m*llitary?
Dating to as early as the 1500s?
And found on Lot 5?
Because the team has
found artifacts and structures
on Lot 5 that date back
as much as 2,000 years,
could this bag seal
have been left by people
who hid something of
great value on Oak Island
prior to 1795?
Or was it left by
someone who came here
in order to search for
the fabled treasure?
Look, is this interesting? Yes.
Does it provide pathways
to-to learn more? Sure.
Find out about that company.
Well, and there's a lot
of stuff, Rick, adding up
to saying something dramatically
different than homesteading.
-It does. And then, the m*llitary component.
-MARTY: Okay.
Rick, go grab Gary and
find some more stuff.
-[laughs] -Let's
figure this thing out.
RICK: I agree.
JAMIE: How are you guys doing?
-BOTH: Good.
-Everything's been great.
-We're, uh, we're about halfway through here.
-Okay.
-We're starting to get close to our round feature, so...
-Mm-hmm.
We'll keep walking
the transects and
gather some more data.
NARRATOR: At the northern region
of Lot 5 on Oak Island...
LAIRD: These instruments
are really important for us.
NARRATOR: ...Craig
Tester joins Laird Niven
and Jamie Kouba, where
they have just begun
a new underground
scanning operation
near the mysterious
circular feature.
This electro-magnetic
induction instrument actually
forces a field into the ground,
which then reacts off of things.
All right. Okay.
NARRATOR: Following
the recent discoveries within
and near the stone depression,
which have been dated to
between the 14th and 18th centuries,
the Oak Island team
has obtained a device
known as Geonics EM38B
from the anthropology department
of St. Mary's University
in the city of Halifax.
Things like, say, fire can
change the geochemical
properties of the ground
-and actually make it more magnetic.
-Okay.
So, yeah, I'm hoping to
find some areas of interest.
Okay.
NARRATOR: By emitting
magnetic pulses into the ground,
the EM-38B can detect not
only buried metal artifacts,
as well as wooden
or stone structures,
but also so-called
"susceptible" qualities,
such as changes
in layers of soil
that were created
by human activity.
Once you collect the data,
we'll get it sent out
to St. Mary's, right?
-And get it finally processing?
-Yes.
-Absolutely.
-Okay. Well, why don't you run it.
-Perfect.
-If you find anything,
-let us know. Okay.
-I will.
CRAIG: We've been
exploring the circular feature,
trying to determine
what that is.
But we need to keep
gathering information.
What else is in the
area under the ground?
And so, we're looking
for structures, artifacts,
and hopefully,
they can determine
who built it, and-and what for.
-[beeping]
-Huh.
That's... that's actually
kind of interesting.
Hey, guys.
-Hey.
-Okay. So, what'd you find?
So, I just paused it
here because I didn't
want to keep moving
on, but check this out.
Notice what's happening
with those lines?
Yeah. Separating more.
There's definitely
something happening with
both the conductivity
and the susceptibility, so...
-Okay.
-It's in an interesting location.
It really is. Yeah. This
close to that round feature.
LAIRD: It could be a structure.
This is what we're looking for.
I'm actually excited about
the anomaly, particularly given
its proximity to
the round feature.
I think it's related
to the round feature.
I think it's something
that would have been used
at the same time
as the round feature.
So, people settled on Lot 5
at a time that we have
no record of anyone else
being on the island.
Yeah, running several
more lines will give me
an idea on how wide it is.
LAIRD: But the data has
to go and get processed
before we can actually get
a visual idea of what's there.
Each of the lines are set up
at about 50 centimeters apart.
If we're seeing
something here, it'll tell us.
Are we seeing
it on the next line
and the next line?
And that'll let us know how big
this potential anomaly is,
and where exactly it's located.
LAIRDD: That's
what I'm waiting for.
Because we'll be able to
pinpoint where to excavate.
-Yeah.
-CRAIG: Okay.
-We'll, keep after it.
-That sounds good.
-Okay.
-All right. Thank you.
Bye, guys. See you later.
CRAIG: Well, good start.
LAIRD: Yeah. I think it's great.
NARRATOR: The
following morning...
-RICK: Morning, Craig.
-CRAIG: Hey, guys.
NARRATOR: ...Craig
Tester joins Rick Lagina
and other members of the
team via video conference
for an important
meeting in the w*r room.
Getting reports like this
carbon dating is kind of exciting.
You know, it's something
we look forward to
because we were hoping,
and maybe these
reports will differentiate
between searcher
work and perhaps
original, depositional work.
NARRATOR: Craig
has just received
a carbon-dating report
on a wood sample
collected one week ago
from a depth of some 100 feet
in borehole C5N-27.
A borehole where the team
encountered a mysterious tunnel
believed to run below
the Garden Shaft
and into the Baby Blob.
Why don't you, uh, give
us the results, please?
CRAIG: Sure thing.
We had a wood chip.
We sent it out to get
a carbon date on it.
And the, uh,
specific brackets are 53.2%:
And 16.7%:
There's a high
probability this wood's
the outer edge of a tree.
-Right.
-So, I tend to think these dates I'm giving you
are fairly close
to the time it was chopped down.
So, to me, you know,
the results from C.5N-27
mean it-it really
puts it into pre-searcher.
I just think this could indicate
that it's a, uh, original work.
-RICK: Wowza.
-JACK: Whoa.
This could indicate
that it's a original work.
Wowza. [laughs]
Well, that's good to hear.
[laughter]
NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island w*r room,
Craig Tester has just revealed
carbon-dating results
which offer more evidence
that the tunnel they have been
tracking below the Garden Shaft
may very well be related
to the original Money Pit.
Those dates line up
with the other dates
we found on what we
deemed to be the same tunnel.
D.5N26.5, they were
all 1600 to 1700s as well.
Yes. And none of those
make sense for searcher.
STEVE: I mean, it's
very exciting because
it's starting to confirm
that this is probably all
-one continuous tunnel.
-Yep.
So, I recall that in
the Garden Shaft,
we found a piece of
wood that dated to 1735.
Yeah. And the Money
Pit seems to have been,
at least from this
data and other data,
built sometime in what,
the late 1600, early 1700s?
There must be some sort
of a connection to the tunnel.
-Yeah. I- I would agree.
-Yeah.
I think the dating of
those wood chips, though,
paints a compelling
picture for staying the course
as far as deepening
the Garden Shaft goes.
Because once we deepen
the Garden Shaft, and hopefully
break into this tunnel, we
might have an open tunnel there.
-Sure. Absolutely.
-JACK: Yeah.
If it is original works
and a depositor tunnel,
it could lead to
a new discovery,
-or the treasure.
-RICK: Exactly.
These new C-14 results
certainly raise the level of
anticipation in the w*r room.
I mean, we are engaged
in a process that will
get us to that elevation
where this tunnel exists.
Can we put our eyes and
our boots on original work?
And this may represent
that opportunity.
I'm quite pleased by
all of the efforts to date
for one simple reason: I
came here wanting to prove
to all of us, to myself
and to the world, literally,
that Oak Island was real.
And now, perhaps,
we are on the cusp
of the answers, right?
We've got a lot of work to do.
We need to get after it. So,
thanks, Craig, for the data.
-See you guys.
-See you, Craig.
JACK: Thanks for the info.
NARRATOR: For
more than 200 years,
Oak Island has defied
all who faithfully worked
to unearth something of
great value in the Money Pit.
Their only certainty was that
someone went to great lengths
to ensure that it
would never be found.
But now, through their
equally determined efforts
and disciplined
applications of science,
Rick, Marty, Craig and
their team have made it
all but certain that there
are multiple locations
where treasure may lie buried.
And nothing, not
even a deadly curse,
can defy their will
to solve the mystery.
Next time, on The
Curse of Oak Island...
FIONA: What is
this? Oh, look at that.
-Oh, my God!
-That looks like the handle of something.
We suspect that
it's from the 1700s.
Even earlier.
-Really?
-Absolutely.
MARTY: We have an
opening into this cavern.
Yeah. It looks man-made.
It's amazing.
Okay, going in.
MARTY: We're all eager to see
-Aladdin's Cave.
-ALEX: Stop!
STEVE:
What is that? Wow.
This is different.
This is way different
than anything we've seen.
11x05 - Muon The Horizon
Watch/Buy Amazon Merchandise
Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.
Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.