09x12 - The Silver Liner
Posted: 04/17/24 08:01
NARRATOR: Tonight
on The Curse of Oak Island.
- TERRY: Today could be the day.
- CHARLES: We got a core.
GARY:
Oh, man. That's cool.
DAVID F.: Were there certain
boxes that would have that type
- of sheeting on it?
- Only for valuables.
Gary, what do you make of this?
Oh, yeah. We're
looking for a ship.
- That's the type of find you want to be pulling up.
- CLARKE: We know
that Phips found silver
on the Concepción,
and I believe some
of the treasure
from the Concepción
was secreted to Oak Island.
- Wow.
- That is remarkable.
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.
♪ ♪
- CHARLES: We good to go?
- TERRY: I'm good to go.
Today could be the day,
Charles. Of all the drillholes
we've drilled on this pad,
- I've got to say this is the one I'm most encouraged by.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: A new
day of exploration
has begun on Oak Island
in the fabled Money Pit area.
And for brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina,
their partner Craig Tester
- and the members of their team...
- TERRY: Here it comes.
NARRATOR: there is good
reason to believe that the answers
to a 227-year-old
treasure mystery
may finally be
within their reach.
- What's the good word, Adam? 18?
- Hey, Adam. What do you got? - 18.
- TERRY: Eight to 18. Thank you.
- CHARLES: Eight to 18.
Okay.
AB-13.5.
Two and a half feet away
on the east side from our
offset chamber, perhaps.
This is probably our best
chance to really tap into it.
Let's hope.
[indistinct shouting]
TERRY: Holy cow.
- We've never seen that before. Blowing water out.
- No, that's unusual.
NARRATOR: Over
the past two weeks,
while drilling in this area
on their strategic grid...
BRENNAN: Oh, boy.
TEDFORD: Hey,
Craig! There it is.
NARRATOR: the team has
penetrated a mysterious, air-filled void
twice at a depth
of some 60 feet.
It's got to be a void.
That's a phenomenon
- right there.
- TEDFORD: Yeah.
This same phenomena would occur
- for the famous offset chamber, wouldn't it?
- Exactly.
NARRATOR: This
has led to speculation
that they may have
encountered a secret chamber
connected to the
original Money Pit.
The general area where we
are conducting this drill program
I think is exceedingly
interesting.
And it's certainly on
the radar or marked
as a potential
"X" marks the spot
and will point us in a
very specific direction.
TERRY: Solid,
dense blue-gray till.
It isn't here, Charles.
- We didn't expect it to be.
- Yeah.
So, anyway, as we
get to target depth
around 65 or 70 feet,
I'm very hopeful we're
gonna hit something.
- Perhaps the offset chamber.
- CHARLES: Yep.
And hopefully that'll get us to
where the can placements go.
- Exactly.
- NARRATOR: Now, as they drill a new borehole
known as AB-13.5...
- CHARLES: Can this go, Terry?
- Yes, please.
NARRATOR: if they once
again encounter the void
and perhaps the source
of the gold and silver
that has recently been detected
deep underground in this area,
they will install up to four
ten-foot-wide steel-cased shafts
to recover what people
have been trying to find
since 1795.
RICK: To me, it's not
just about finding the gold.
I want to know
how this was done,
why it was done.
I want to know the whole story.
And the whole story will
be written underground
in a vault, a void, a cavity,
a-a construct, a
human construct.
To me, that's
gold in and of itself.
- Hey, guys.
- CHARLES: Hey, Alex.
- Hi, Alex.
- ALEX: What'd I miss?
- CHARLES: Not much.
- Not too much. We are now only about two and a half feet away
from where we
intersected the air cavity.
You'd think we'd hit something,
right? Because unless we got,
really, I guess, lucky
and hit the very top
of the air cavity
on the first hole,
- there should be more down there.
- Absolutely.
We could be in the
area of an offset chamber
- for, hopefully, the treasure beyond all imagining.
- Yeah.
And here comes the core.
- Hey, Adam. How we doing?
- 28.
TERRY: Thank you.
- Thank you.
- TERRY: 18 to 28.
If we drill this anomaly
and we go into a void,
even if we don't
bring up anything else,
then it'd be worth putting a
caisson down there, for sure.
Because it's not
a natural cavern.
TERRY: We have no
break, no disturbance.
Nothing remarkable yet.
So, we're still
about 30 to 35 feet
above where we hope to intersect
our chamber.
Let's hope we get it today.
ALEX: All right. Well, let's
keep our fingers crossed.
NARRATOR: Later that morning,
as Terry Matheson
supervises the drilling operation
in the Money Pit area...
- Scott, welcome to the w*r room.
- Thank you. Thanks, guys.
NARRATOR: Charles
Barkhouse and Alex Lagina
join Rick Lagina
and other members of
the team in the w*r room,
where they have gathered
to meet with Scott Clarke.
CLARKE: So, I've found, I
believe, significant information
that really strengthens,
uh, the idea
- of there being silver in this area.
- Interesting.
NARRATOR: Scott is a
who has traveled from Toronto
to share information
regarding the possible origins
of the Oak Island mystery.
RICK: Scott is
presenting a theory
about the William
Phips and the salvage
of the Concepción treasure.
And why it's so intriguing
at this point, of course,
is because of the silver
from the water sampling
- we've done in the Money Pit.
- Yeah.
- So, Scott, please proceed.
- CLARKE: Okay, thank you.
So, as you just mentioned, uh,
many people are
actually familiar
with William Phips's discovery
of the Concepción back in 1687.
We know that Phips found
silver on the Concepción,
and I believe some
of the treasure
from the Concepción
was secreted to Oak Island.
Very interesting.
There's no question about that.
NARRATOR: Built in 1620,
the Nuestra Señora de la
Pura y Limpia Concepción
was a 600-ton galleon
that served as the premier ship
in a Spanish fleet to
carry plundered riches
from the New
World back to Spain.
[thunder rumbles]
But in 1641,
while transporting more than
the Concepción was sunk
by a massive hurricane
off the northern
coast of Hispaniola,
known today as the
Dominican Republic.
The disaster led to the deaths
of some 300 crew members
and the loss of
the vast treasure.
More than four decades later,
Captain William
Phips, a British politician
and treasure hunter from the
Massachusetts Bay Colony,
embarked on a salvage
mission financed by British royalty.
In January of 1687,
he located the wreck
of the Concepción.
Utilizing Indigenous
free divers,
it would mark the first of
perhaps several missions
that Phips made to salvage
the sunken treasure galleon.
CLARKE: When it was
brought back to England,
the treasure was
weighed in at over 34 tons
and valued at about £205,000,
which would be 50 million
U.S. dollars in today's currency.
- That is remarkable.
- ALEX: Yeah.
CLARKE: Uh, Phips
himself received £11,000
or $2.7 million
in today's money.
And Phips was
knighted by King James
and treated as a hero in
London. It was very big news.
Yeah. It was the recovery of
that treasure off the Concepción
that actually bought his
way into higher society.
- Phips, yeah. Yeah, and being knighted. Yeah.
- DOUG: Yeah.
- CLARKE: Exactly.
- Wow. So he was pretty important.
CLARKE: Yeah. And
this is about the time
when Captain Andrew
Belcher comes into the picture.
He was to become the assistant
of the newly knighted
Sir William Phips.
NARRATOR: Captain Andrew
Belcher was a wealthy merchant
and Freemason from
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
who helped to shape
cooperative relations
between the American
colonists and Indigenous tribes.
However, according to
Scott Clarke's research,
he also aided Sir William Phips
in his subsequent efforts
to salvage the Concepción.
CLARKE: So, in September 1687,
Phips returned to the
wreck of the Concepción.
And during the second
expedition of the treasure,
Phips brought back to
England, was only valued
at £10,000.
He literally found 1/20 of
what he found the first time.
DOUG: He came back
with less than expected,
- right? Yeah.
- CLARKE: Much less. Yeah. Yeah.
And he was there
for eight months.
He was there a long time,
so they were expecting more.
- Right.
- CLARKE: Okay. So, um,
this is where my first
discovery comes in.
I basically found a 1688 letter
that shows that
Captain Andrew Belcher
was caught with
one of Phips's ships
in the Mahone Bay area
at the exact time that
Phips was coming back
from the second
attempt, where he
"allegedly," officially, did
not find as much silver.
The letter also states
that they burnt the
ship at Port L'Hebert,
which is very
close to Oak Island.
I strongly believe
that Belcher and his
comrades were actually
transferring treasure
from the Concepción
to be taken to Nova Scotia.
So, this brings me to
my second discovery,
which I think is the
most interesting.
I discovered this,
uh, map from 1701.
Basically, I've discovered
a literal treasure map
created 320 years ago
that strongly appears to
tie the Concepción treasure
to the Oak Island area.
Wow.
I find that interesting.
NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island w*r room,
theorist Scott Clarke is
presenting his research
that the English
nobleman Sir William Phips
may have transported a
vast cache of Spanish silver
to Oak Island sometime
in the late 17th century.
Silver that was salvaged
from the famed treasure
wreck known as the Concepción.
So, the map is titled "The
English Empire in America."
It was published in an
Newfoundland, Canada,
Hudson's Bay and Colonies.
It was created by Herman Moll,
published 13 years
after Phips's 1688 voyage
to the Concepción site.
Aside from being an
excellent, prolific mapmaker,
Herman Moll was known
for his interesting circle
of merchants, seafaring
men and intellectual friends.
It is written that from
these friends of Moll,
uh, Moll gained a fair bit
of privileged information
that was sometimes later
conveyed on his maps.
I believe that's exactly what
occurred on this particular map.
Overall, the map seems normal
except for two very
interesting additions.
It specifically shows the wreck
of the Concepción on the map.
The specific location of
the Concepción shipwreck
is labeled "Sir William
Phips Plate Rack."
So, "plate"
specifically meant silver
and was derived from
the Spanish word "plata,"
and "rack" was an
old-fashioned term for "wreck."
The second anomaly
is especially interesting.
In New Scotland,
along with the usually
labeled Port-Royal and LaHave,
Moll has added La Plata.
Like, he literally named
it La Plata, "the silver."
- That's right where Oak Island is.
- CLARKE: Exactly.
When you look at
the-the modern map,
La Plata, it almost certainly
is in Mahone Bay area.
RICK: That is remarkable.
NARRATOR: A map created in 1701
of New Scotland or Nova Scotia
depicting an area in Mahone Bay
where Oak Island is located
as "La Plata" or "the silver"?
You'd think they'd label it
"the gold" for "gold river,"
but that's the silver for...
He specifically
mentions "the silver."
- So, why would he do... why would he that?
- JACK: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Could
Scott Clarke be correct
that he has found an
actual treasure map
made prior to the
discovery of the Money Pit
connecting Sir William Phips
and the vast silver treasure
to the Oak Island mystery?
If so, could that explain
the high levels of silver
that the team has
recently detected
in the Money Pit area?
- Wow.
- CLARKE: So, Captain Andrew Belcher
was intimately connected
with Sir William
Phips. So, basically,
the accomplice that Phips
had, it's Captain Andrew Belcher.
DOUG: Wow.
RICK: Wow. That's
very interesting.
CLARKE: He was one of the most
connected men in-in New England.
He-he owned 20 ships.
He had a vast shipping network.
His son was the first
American-born Freemason.
So, they were the
highest Freemasons.
They were the governors.
They were directly
tied to Oak Island.
NARRATOR: From the beginning
of the hunt for treasure on Oak Island,
Freemasonry has been at
the center of the mystery.
Not only have Masonic symbols...
Such as triangles and
carvings of the letter "G,"
representing the
divine creator...
Been found across the island,
but many of the most
prominent searchers,
including Franklin
Delano Roosevelt,
were members of
this secretive fraternity,
which curiously descended
from the medieval order
of the Knights Templar.
Has Scott Clarke, a
Freemason himself,
just revealed why
that connection
has been so prevalent
for more than two centuries
and also what they
were looking for?
I think because
Captain Andrew Belcher
now has arisen to,
certainly, a person of interest,
we need to dedicate some
assets to trying to figure out
who the man was, what
his connections were.
There must be more information
about him and his progeny,
and that may lead us somewhere.
I like it because
you have treasure
and you have people
and you have Oak
Island all tied together.
Whereas a lot of times, we have
the theory of treasure
and the people
who could have done it,
but the tie to Oak Island
- is a little sketchy.
- Right.
- You've given us a lot to consider.
- RICK: Yes.
- ALEX: Yeah.
- CHARLES: Yeah.
RICK: Thank you, Scott.
- We appreciate it.
- Thank you. Thanks, guys.
DOUG: Impressive research.
NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...
CHARLES: Here's Craig
- coming in now.
- NARRATOR: Craig Tester
joins Charles Barkhouse,
geologist Terry Matheson and
treasure hunter Dan Henskee
at the Money Pit to
continue monitoring
the drilling operation
in Borehole AB-13.5.
CHARLES: We got a core coming.
- Yep.
- NARRATOR: A borehole
where they hope to encounter
a man-made cavern or chamber
some 70 feet underground.
- TERRY: How you doing, Craig?
- Good, good.
- How deep are we?
- We're down to, uh, 67 feet.
There's no bubble or
blowout. Not this time.
Oh, look.
TEDFORD: Let me take it.
All water.
- TERRY: Hey, Adam. - Hey.
- What you got, Adam?
- 77.
- CHARLES: 77.
- Thank you. - Okay.
- CRAIG: Okay.
I-It's-it's dense
above and below.
Yet, at the same time,
you see no particular artifact
- or anything to punctuate.
- CRAIG: Yeah.
TERRY: Unfortunately,
no cavity. No opening.
It's that cobble right there
and all the cobbles
we're encountering,
I think, have a
lot to do with it.
NARRATOR: Although the team
is currently drilling
only two and half feet
from where they
hit a mysterious void
at a depth of some 70
feet just one week ago,
it appears AB-13.5
has missed the target.
MARTY: Maybe we
just missed because
having found and
having ascertained
that there are these
very anomalous amounts
of gold and silver in the water
and on the metal in the
area of this exploration,
that does lead me to
believe we might be close.
CHARLES: Do you have
another hole lined up?
- We'll go north.
- Okay. - Okay.
- Another mystery rather than an answer.
- CRAIG: Yeah.
NARRATOR: While members
of the team prepare to drill
their next target
in the Money Pit...
GARY: This looks like a
good starting point, guys.
- Start down here.
- NARRATOR: metal detection expert Gary Drayton,
along with Rick
and Marty's nephews
David and Peter Fornetti,
have returned to Lot 4,
located on the western
side of the island.
It is in this area that the
team has recently found
a number of compelling clues,
including a cutting
and shaping tool
known as an adze
and a gold-plated
English button,
both of which were dated
to as early as the
late 17th century.
RICK: Lot 4 has, uh,
given us some surprises
in terms of Gary's
metal detecting finds
and I think we need to take
another hard look at this area.
I think it's always important
to-to revisit, recheck.
And this might provide
us with a few more clues.
[beeping]
GARY: There we go.
We've definitely got...
a piece of metal
here worth digging.
- Right under there.
- Right there?
GARY: Yep.
Oh, there it is. Yep.
That's a tin can lid.
Dang.
All right, into the
trash pouch it goes.
And then we don't
have to flag that.
No, we don't have
to flag any trash.
- That's probably just washed in.
- Yep.
[beeping]
GARY: Got a signal here.
You can see it on
the surface there.
It's right on the surface, mate.
Wow, this is fantastic.
GARY: Oh, man. That's cool.
Old piece of copper sheeting.
NARRATOR: While searching Lot 4
on the western
side of Oak Island...
Not sure what it's off.
Gary Drayton,
along with brothers
David and Peter Fornetti
have just found a
potentially significant clue.
Cool little find. Right
on the surface as well.
I do believe some of this stuff
is coming from
this beach erosion.
I always like finding old pieces
of copper sheathing like this,
especially on the beach,
because, uh, most of the
time it's marine-related.
'Cause back in the
day, it was used to line
the hulls of the boats to
protect them from the worms.
And it's called
sheeting or sheathing,
and it was basically
the duct tape of the day.
- What years did they do that?
- Uh, mainly in the 1700s.
- Mm-hmm.
- Golden age of piracy, actually, 1650 to 1750.
NARRATOR: Possible copper
sheathing from a large sailing vessel?
And potentially dating
back to the 17th century?
Could Gary, David and
Peter have just found
more ship-related evidence
predating the discovery
of the Money Pit by
more than a century?
And if so, could it
also help support
Scott Clarke's theory
regarding an operation
by Sir William Phips
and Freemason
Captain Andrew Belcher
to hide a vast cache of
silver and possibly gold
on Oak Island?
GARY: I have actually found,
on Spanish galleon sites,
copper sheeting
that's this thin.
But we'll take it back to
the archaeology trailer.
DAVID F.: Great.
GARY: That's a really nice find.
NARRATOR: The following morning,
as the drilling
operation continues
in the Money Pit area...
GARY: All it takes
is one good find.
PETER: Maybe in
this scoop right here.
GARY: You got that right, mate.
NARRATOR: Gary, David and Peter
have joined treasure
hunter Michael John
and heavy equipment
operator Billy Gerhardt
as they continue
investigating the southern edge
of the mysterious
triangle-shaped swamp.
GARY: Pete, you
and I, we've found
a lot of ship spikes and
wharf pins all along this stretch.
- Yeah.
- That's why I'm surprised
we haven't found
any of those yet.
Yeah, and those were only, what,
six inches to a foot down?
- Yeah.
- And now we're digging
- six feet down.
- Yeah.
GARY: But what
we have been finding
is some really cool,
interesting pieces of wood
- from, uh, like, an old sailing ship.
- Yeah.
GARY: Let's find some
good stuff. You ready?
All right, mate.
NARRATOR: In recent weeks, the
team has recovered a number of clues
in this area that could
also help validate
Scott Clarke's theory,
including possible
deck planking,
as well as tools
related to ships
and a trapezoid-shaped piece
from a believed cargo boat that
was dated to as early as 1680.
Come on, metal, where are you?
Well, yeah, that stands out.
One more for the pile.
That's a very
interesting piece of wood.
It's very similar to
some of the planking
that we found,
but this is irregular.
It's wider at this end
and thinner there.
Obviously, it was shaped
by man, and that stands out.
- Yeah.
- I mean, what would you call that?
Decking or siding?
- MICHAEL J.: Probably decking.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: Could
Gary be correct that Billy
has just recovered another
piece connected to a large ship?
In 1969,
the esteemed landowner
and treasure hunter Fred Nolan
drained the swamp
and was astonished to
discover his own trove
of ship-related artifacts.
These included scuppers
and even part of a mast.
The operation made Fred
speculate that the swamp
may have been
artificially created
in order to hide an
entire treasure galleon.
Could the potentially
ship-related discoveries
that the team continues
to make in the swamp
not only support Fred's
theory but also Scott Clarke's?
GARY: Well, definitely
a-another piece
that we can maybe have C-14'd
and have the
marine archaeologist
put some eyes on it.
We'll definitely
get it looked at.
- I'll put this to one side.
- Yeah.
GARY: I'd like to see some coins
- coming up here.
- Yeah.
This is the edge of the beach.
Anything that got washed
off that stone roadway as well
would be really cool.
All right.
- I'm gonna get stuck in.
- Okay.
GARY: Now, that is interesting.
- PETER: Yeah, you got something?
- Yeah,
I do think this is something.
Look, shaped at both ends.
Oh, yeah.
GARY: Looks like it's
beveled, it's got that bow in it.
NARRATOR: At the
southern edge of the swamp,
metal detection
expert Gary Drayton
and other members of
the team have just made
a potentially
important discovery.
What are you thinking?
GARY: Definitely shaped.
It kind of looks like it would
be inside a small boat, maybe.
- Mm-hmm.
- The rails across.
- That's definitely man-made.
- PETER: I was thinking that, too.
NARRATOR: A wooden fragment,
potentially from a smaller
type of nautical vessel?
Could it be connected to
the trapezoid-shaped artifact
dating back as
early as the 1680s
that was found in this
area one week ago?
It was the opinion of
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
that it may have
been part of a longboat
used to unload cargo from
a much larger sailing ship.
BILLY: That's from
that two to three feet.
Yeah.
Seems like we're finding
most of the pieces of wood
at about two to three feet deep.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Could
these finds be related
to the pieces of cargo barrels
found near the stone
wharf one year ago?
And if so, could
they also be related
to the traces of silver recently
detected deep in the Money Pit?
MARTY: There are all
kinds of things of significance
in the swamp at this point.
We are finding bits and
pieces in there from a ship.
So, is there a ship in the swamp
or are there bits of
a ship in the swamp
that were used for other things?
We haven't got an
answer to that yet.
- PETER: That one's really interesting.
- GARY: Yeah.
- Yeah. Put them together.
- GARY: Well...
Let's keep these to the side.
- PETER: Yeah.
- Perfect.
GARY: God, this is fun.
NARRATOR: As the investigation
in the swamp continues...
later that afternoon...
- ALEX: Hey, Carmen.
- CARMEN: Hey, how's she going?
How are you? Good to see you.
Thank you for stopping by.
NARRATOR: Alex Lagina
and his cousin David
are meeting with blacksmithing
expert Carmen Legge
in the research center.
So, here they are.
NARRATOR: to get his
analysis on one of the team's
most recent finds.
So, for background,
this is from Lot 4.
DAVID F.: We were
just on the beach
at Lot 4, it was not buried.
It was just sitting
on the surface there.
We'd be curious to
get your thoughts.
ALEX: Hmm.
There seem to be some
nail holes and other things.
ALEX: Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Ah...
ALEX: Very interesting.
So, is this the
corner of the box?
DAVID F.: What would
you use copper sheeting for?
DAVID F.: Were
there certain practices
or certain, um, boxes that
would consistently have
that type of sheeting on it?
- Treasure.
- [chuckles] Right.
When you say, "very
old," how old do you mean?
Um...
ALEX: Wow, that's pretty old.
- Yeah.
- [laughter]
NARRATOR: Copper sheeting
from a possible treasure chest
that could date as
far back as 1100 AD?
Although the team has
found a number of clues
believed to be of
they have also been
searching the area for evidence
to support the research of
the late author Zena Halpern.
In 2016, Zena presented
the team with two maps
indicating that members
of the Knights Templar
had visited Oak Island
on numerous occasions
between the 12th
and 14th centuries.
Could this potential piece
of believed treasure chest,
just like the paved area
discovered two years ago
in the swamp, which Dr. Spooner
dated to as early as 1200 AD,
and the 14th-century lead
cross found at Smith's Cove
all offer evidence that Zena's
theory could have validity?
And if so, might it suggest
that Sir William Phips's partner
Captain Andrew
Belcher, a Freemason,
may have had secret knowledge
of an existing Templar
treasure vault on Oak Island?
It's always been suggested
that Oak Island was a repository,
perhaps over generations
by multiple people.
So these finds that are
being made from Lot 4
may be some evidence
that multiple people
may have deposited a
treasure here on Oak Island.
I don't know that I'm
correct, but it's a possibility.
Small.
See, that's more the size
of what I was thinking of
as a treasure chest, because...
It'd be heavy.
Right.
ALEX: But it-it's on
an area of the island
that nothing, in our
records, happened there,
other than the Zena Halpern map.
- Right.
- So...
Okay, well, that's tantalizing.
DAVID F.: It's incredible.
And it just kind
of validates Lot 4
and the interest
that we have there.
- So, we certainly appreciate you coming out.
- Yeah.
Well, as always,
we will go back out,
we'll look and we'll give you
a call when we find something.
- ALEX: Thanks, Carmen.
- DAVID F.: Thanks, Carmen.
ALEX: See you.
NARRATOR: As a new
day begins on Oak Island,
and while Rick Lagina oversees
his search for clues
and possible valuables
at the southern
edge of the swamp...
RICK: You gonna
go over it again?
GARY: Yeah. Just in case.
NARRATOR: in
the research center...
MARTY: I got all the brains
that we need right here.
We need them
all for this project.
NARRATOR: Marty
Lagina has called a meeting
with their partner Craig Tester
and project Manager Scott Barlow
to discuss the current drilling
operation in the Money Pit.
MARTY: Well, I have a theory
that I want to run past you
guys, and it's about that hole
we drilled where we
got the air... what is it?
- AB-13.
- AB-13.
I've been thinking about it.
So, we drill these
wells and we hit this air,
and we're virtually sure
that it's some kind of gas trap,
and it's not natural.
Got to be man-made, right?
- Yeah.
- Okay. So, let's say I'm wrong
about the possibility that
there's an offset chamber.
What argues against
that is it seems
like we'd have
more air, then, right?
If it filled up an
entire chamber.
- Right.
- Yeah.
You know I've been a
flood tunnel doubter...
- CRAIG: Mm-hmm.
- Forever,
but maybe the flood
tunnel does exist.
Right.
NARRATOR: One week ago,
when the team drilled
into the mysterious
air-filled void
some 70 feet deep
in the Money Pit area...
TERRY: What the heck?
They made a
surprising discovery.
TERRY: It almost
looks like grass,
maybe eelgrass or
something washing in.
NARRATOR: Eelgrass,
along with coconut fiber,
was discovered in
These materials were
covering five stone box drains,
and were believed to
be acting as a kind of filter
to keep debris out of a
man-made flood tunnel.
A flood tunnel feeding seawater
directly into the Money Pit.
I mean, if you guys don't mind,
I'm gonna draw you what I
think may be, as a possibility...
- Sure.
- And then you tell me if I'm crazy or not.
MARTY: Okay, we got
the elephant's nose, right?
Yeah...
Tell me if I'm about
right, Money Pit-ish?
- Yep.
- Smith's Cove,
here's our cofferdam.
If there was a flood tunnel,
it would've gone more or less
the shortest distance, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- And I believe
there's the Cave-In Pit.
Okay, if I do an elevation view,
here's sea level
in Smith's Cove,
here's the Money Pit, original.
And let's say the flood tunnel
comes in down here
somewhere, right?
Okay, so let's say, when
they dug this flood tunnel,
all they would've had to do
is have a bump in it like that.
You know, either
intentionally, boulder,
for whatever reason you want.
This wouldn't have interfered
with its ability to
function at all, right?
No.
- Mm.
- MARTY: No. Okay.
Over the years, we
put all kinds of air
down here, right?
We drilled all kinds of holes.
Now, if that air
happened to find its way
into this flood tunnel,
it would work its way up
and get caught right there
just like a little bubble in a level.
And this would be an obvious
place for introduced gas
to try and find
its way out, right?
If there's still
something that exists.
I mean, it's just,
it's just perfect.
It'd start working its way up
and get trapped right there.
So, here we come along and
we just drilled into that, perhaps.
- That's my theory.
- Hmm.
MARTY: If the flood
tunnel came from the shore,
it wouldn't necessarily come
down perfectly, would it?
Let's say it was constructed,
they had to go up and over
a rock, whatever, any
number of reasons.
And if it has just
a little bow in it,
that would be a perfect
place to catch air.
We introduced a lot of
air into the Money Pit area
when we were drilling
with air several years ago.
That air, if there
is a flood tunnel,
could've encountered it, it
would've went straight up.
When it got to
that little bubble,
it would've gotten trapped
and it would've
been under pressure.
NARRATOR: Could Marty be correct
that the team's
drilling operations
over the past several years
caused air to be trapped
in a man-made flood tunnel?
A flood tunnel connected
to the legendary
Money Pit treasure vault?
I'm more of a
believer after all that,
that the flood
tunnel does exist.
Maybe we just found it.
I think that's very reasonable.
It's certainly one of the
more interesting spots
that we've drilled
into in the Money Pit.
MARTY: And it's about the
only thing I can think of, honestly,
- that would be just designed to catch air.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: With the
team's plans to begin digging
up to four ten-foot-wide
steel-cased shafts
in less than two weeks,
confirming the location of
the legendary flood tunnel
and cutting it off could greatly
improve their ability to recover
the source of silver and
gold detected earlier this year.
The difficulties in the Money
Pit have always have been
associated with water flooding
in from a possible flood tunnel.
If we can find a tunnel
and block the ocean water,
that would be huge.
Do we have enough
time for one more hole?
I would think so.
- I think so, yeah.
- MARTY: Okay.
Sounds like a plan.
We'll just see
how things unfold.
- CRAIG: Sounds good.
- MARTY: Okay.
Well, thanks, guys.
NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...
TERRY: Here it comes.
- I've got high hopes for this one.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: as members of
the team begin a drilling operation
in the hopes of cutting
off the flood tunnel
to aid their upcoming
excavation of the Money Pit...
GARY: Next shovel,
we go for glory.
At the southern
edge of the swamp...
metal detection
expert Gary Drayton
along with members of the team
continue searching
for vital clues
that could also help solve
the Oak Island mystery.
What do you think of this, Dave?
Oh, that's interesting.
- We should definitely show Gary.
- PETER: Yeah.
- It looks like there's a pretty good hole in it, though.
- Oh.
PETER: Gary, what
do you make of this?
Oh, yeah.
That looks like a-a square hole.
Oh, that's interesting,
mate, 'cause older fasteners,
especially iron,
were square-shanked.
We haven't found that many
pieces of wood with holes in.
So, do you think that's marine?
Yeah, I mean,
we're right at the side
to the southeast
corner of the swamp,
we're looking for,
potentially, a ship.
That's the type of find
you want to be pulling up,
wood with square holes in.
Circular-shanked fasteners
came in round
about the early 1700s,
and then in the
Industrial Revolution,
everything was round.
So it could possibly be
earlier than the 1700s.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, that's actually
the date range I'd put it in,
um, mid-1500s to mid-1700s,
with the square-shanked nails.
NARRATOR: Another wooden
artifact potentially related to a ship?
And possibly dating
to before 1700?
If Gary is correct,
could this discovery
offer more evidence
that the remains
of a treasure galleon really
lies buried in the swamp?
And might it also
further validate
Scott Clarke's incredible
theory that Sir William Phips
hid a vast cache of
silver on Oak Island?
GARY: That's fantastic.
Pretty cool find,
Pete. Well done, mate.
- Yeah.
- We got two more coming.
PETER: Hey, guys.
Hey, guys.
MARTY: Come on over, Billy!
We don't see any
chests piled up.
GARY: Eh, no, and
I wish I could reach
for my top pocket, but...
the lack of metal's
a little bit frustrating.
I mean, you guys found
some intriguing things.
So, we found some
interesting things here,
but obviously there's still
more on the search agenda,
so I'd be curious
what-what's next.
MARTY: Well,
the reason Rick
and I are here is...
I mean, we found
all kinds of neat stuff.
You've done a great job,
um, but for this year,
we're wrapping it up.
But we got cannisters coming,
and, uh, we need the water so
we can use it at the wash plant.
So, I think we're running
out of time in the swamp.
- That's frustrating.
- PETER: Yeah.
NARRATOR: It is
a difficult moment
for brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina
and members of their team.
Despite all the
compelling evidence
of ancient ship-related
activity recently unearthed
in the triangle-shaped swamp,
they will need to
suspend their search
of the area in less
than two weeks.
MARTY: Unfortunately,
we have to quit digging
in the body of the swamp
because we're going to need water,
and lots of water, to run
through the wash plant.
We can't use seawater,
so we need fresh water
to clean all the stuff
that's coming out
as we dig in the Money Pit.
NARRATOR: As Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team
begin excavating the
massive ten-foot-wide
steel-cased shafts
across the Money Pit area,
the tons of earth, or spoils,
will be carefully
sorted and sifted
for potential valuables in an
industrial-sized wash plant.
The process, which the
team hopes will reveal
tangible evidence
of the gold and silver
detected earlier this
year in the Money Pit
will require thousands
of gallons of water.
Because the team is
not legally permitted
to use ocean water
for the operation,
the swamp, which today is
fed by a freshwater spring,
is their only option.
The enormity of the work
that's about to proceed
in the Money Pit,
I mean, it's all incumbent
upon washing that material,
and... I think we
need to let this refill,
to supply all the water.
Yeah, no, that's right.
So, finish up best you can,
Billy, you know, and, uh,
we're gonna call it
a day and move on.
- Yeah.
- MARTY: It's been good stuff.
Good stuff came out of here.
A whole bunch of science
has to be applied, yet.
- Yep.
- A bunch of carbon dating.
I think we yielded some
pretty interesting pieces.
Right.
GARY: And look how much material
you've moved, Billy,
in-in just a small
area of the swamp.
- I know.
- We, we'll never get out of here.
- [laughter] - This is a
place we're coming back to.
MARTY: If you look at the
percentage of the swamp we've dug,
even though we've done a
lot of digging in the swamp,
I'd say percentagewise,
certainly single digits.
Five percent, maybe.
And every time, I
believe without fail,
every time, it's-it's
yielded interesting things.
RICK: I don't know, necessarily,
that there's a treasure
component to the swamp,
but I do believe that
there's more information
in the body of the swamp.
And so, I don't
think we're done yet.
Before we go, I do
want to get to that area
where the railing came from.
- Right.
- How close are you?
We're basically right
on top of that now.
Okay. Well, let's finish up,
because we're
running out of time
and we've got big
work to do up there.
- Yeah.
- You guys ready?
- I'm ready for that.
- Yep. We're ready. - All right.
- Let's finish up here.
- DAVID F.: All right. Sounds good.
NARRATOR: If Rick, Marty and their
team can now be certain of anything,
it is that answers surrounding
a 227-year-old mystery
could be revealed
anywhere across Oak Island.
But even though they must
soon suspend their search
in the swamp, where
evidence of an incredible secret
has been unearthed, it will aid
their most historic dig ever
conducted in the Money Pit.
There, they have
found scientific evidence
of just what that
incredible secret could be.
Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...
BRENNAN: Looks like
we got something, boys.
- Three pieces of wood.
- TERRY: The only thing,
usually, that will give
us that is a tunnel.
- So, we ran C-14 on it.
- CRAIG: One time frame.
Old, old, old.
- [laughter]
- [horn honks]
MARTY: We are about to embark
on the attempt to
recover valuables
- lurking in the Money Pit.
- DAN H.: Here they come.
MARTY: We've got ten-foot cans
coming in and we can dig it up.
There is definitely,
without a doubt,
- gold down there.
- [laughs]
on The Curse of Oak Island.
- TERRY: Today could be the day.
- CHARLES: We got a core.
GARY:
Oh, man. That's cool.
DAVID F.: Were there certain
boxes that would have that type
- of sheeting on it?
- Only for valuables.
Gary, what do you make of this?
Oh, yeah. We're
looking for a ship.
- That's the type of find you want to be pulling up.
- CLARKE: We know
that Phips found silver
on the Concepción,
and I believe some
of the treasure
from the Concepción
was secreted to Oak Island.
- Wow.
- That is remarkable.
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.
♪ ♪
- CHARLES: We good to go?
- TERRY: I'm good to go.
Today could be the day,
Charles. Of all the drillholes
we've drilled on this pad,
- I've got to say this is the one I'm most encouraged by.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: A new
day of exploration
has begun on Oak Island
in the fabled Money Pit area.
And for brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina,
their partner Craig Tester
- and the members of their team...
- TERRY: Here it comes.
NARRATOR: there is good
reason to believe that the answers
to a 227-year-old
treasure mystery
may finally be
within their reach.
- What's the good word, Adam? 18?
- Hey, Adam. What do you got? - 18.
- TERRY: Eight to 18. Thank you.
- CHARLES: Eight to 18.
Okay.
AB-13.5.
Two and a half feet away
on the east side from our
offset chamber, perhaps.
This is probably our best
chance to really tap into it.
Let's hope.
[indistinct shouting]
TERRY: Holy cow.
- We've never seen that before. Blowing water out.
- No, that's unusual.
NARRATOR: Over
the past two weeks,
while drilling in this area
on their strategic grid...
BRENNAN: Oh, boy.
TEDFORD: Hey,
Craig! There it is.
NARRATOR: the team has
penetrated a mysterious, air-filled void
twice at a depth
of some 60 feet.
It's got to be a void.
That's a phenomenon
- right there.
- TEDFORD: Yeah.
This same phenomena would occur
- for the famous offset chamber, wouldn't it?
- Exactly.
NARRATOR: This
has led to speculation
that they may have
encountered a secret chamber
connected to the
original Money Pit.
The general area where we
are conducting this drill program
I think is exceedingly
interesting.
And it's certainly on
the radar or marked
as a potential
"X" marks the spot
and will point us in a
very specific direction.
TERRY: Solid,
dense blue-gray till.
It isn't here, Charles.
- We didn't expect it to be.
- Yeah.
So, anyway, as we
get to target depth
around 65 or 70 feet,
I'm very hopeful we're
gonna hit something.
- Perhaps the offset chamber.
- CHARLES: Yep.
And hopefully that'll get us to
where the can placements go.
- Exactly.
- NARRATOR: Now, as they drill a new borehole
known as AB-13.5...
- CHARLES: Can this go, Terry?
- Yes, please.
NARRATOR: if they once
again encounter the void
and perhaps the source
of the gold and silver
that has recently been detected
deep underground in this area,
they will install up to four
ten-foot-wide steel-cased shafts
to recover what people
have been trying to find
since 1795.
RICK: To me, it's not
just about finding the gold.
I want to know
how this was done,
why it was done.
I want to know the whole story.
And the whole story will
be written underground
in a vault, a void, a cavity,
a-a construct, a
human construct.
To me, that's
gold in and of itself.
- Hey, guys.
- CHARLES: Hey, Alex.
- Hi, Alex.
- ALEX: What'd I miss?
- CHARLES: Not much.
- Not too much. We are now only about two and a half feet away
from where we
intersected the air cavity.
You'd think we'd hit something,
right? Because unless we got,
really, I guess, lucky
and hit the very top
of the air cavity
on the first hole,
- there should be more down there.
- Absolutely.
We could be in the
area of an offset chamber
- for, hopefully, the treasure beyond all imagining.
- Yeah.
And here comes the core.
- Hey, Adam. How we doing?
- 28.
TERRY: Thank you.
- Thank you.
- TERRY: 18 to 28.
If we drill this anomaly
and we go into a void,
even if we don't
bring up anything else,
then it'd be worth putting a
caisson down there, for sure.
Because it's not
a natural cavern.
TERRY: We have no
break, no disturbance.
Nothing remarkable yet.
So, we're still
about 30 to 35 feet
above where we hope to intersect
our chamber.
Let's hope we get it today.
ALEX: All right. Well, let's
keep our fingers crossed.
NARRATOR: Later that morning,
as Terry Matheson
supervises the drilling operation
in the Money Pit area...
- Scott, welcome to the w*r room.
- Thank you. Thanks, guys.
NARRATOR: Charles
Barkhouse and Alex Lagina
join Rick Lagina
and other members of
the team in the w*r room,
where they have gathered
to meet with Scott Clarke.
CLARKE: So, I've found, I
believe, significant information
that really strengthens,
uh, the idea
- of there being silver in this area.
- Interesting.
NARRATOR: Scott is a
who has traveled from Toronto
to share information
regarding the possible origins
of the Oak Island mystery.
RICK: Scott is
presenting a theory
about the William
Phips and the salvage
of the Concepción treasure.
And why it's so intriguing
at this point, of course,
is because of the silver
from the water sampling
- we've done in the Money Pit.
- Yeah.
- So, Scott, please proceed.
- CLARKE: Okay, thank you.
So, as you just mentioned, uh,
many people are
actually familiar
with William Phips's discovery
of the Concepción back in 1687.
We know that Phips found
silver on the Concepción,
and I believe some
of the treasure
from the Concepción
was secreted to Oak Island.
Very interesting.
There's no question about that.
NARRATOR: Built in 1620,
the Nuestra Señora de la
Pura y Limpia Concepción
was a 600-ton galleon
that served as the premier ship
in a Spanish fleet to
carry plundered riches
from the New
World back to Spain.
[thunder rumbles]
But in 1641,
while transporting more than
the Concepción was sunk
by a massive hurricane
off the northern
coast of Hispaniola,
known today as the
Dominican Republic.
The disaster led to the deaths
of some 300 crew members
and the loss of
the vast treasure.
More than four decades later,
Captain William
Phips, a British politician
and treasure hunter from the
Massachusetts Bay Colony,
embarked on a salvage
mission financed by British royalty.
In January of 1687,
he located the wreck
of the Concepción.
Utilizing Indigenous
free divers,
it would mark the first of
perhaps several missions
that Phips made to salvage
the sunken treasure galleon.
CLARKE: When it was
brought back to England,
the treasure was
weighed in at over 34 tons
and valued at about £205,000,
which would be 50 million
U.S. dollars in today's currency.
- That is remarkable.
- ALEX: Yeah.
CLARKE: Uh, Phips
himself received £11,000
or $2.7 million
in today's money.
And Phips was
knighted by King James
and treated as a hero in
London. It was very big news.
Yeah. It was the recovery of
that treasure off the Concepción
that actually bought his
way into higher society.
- Phips, yeah. Yeah, and being knighted. Yeah.
- DOUG: Yeah.
- CLARKE: Exactly.
- Wow. So he was pretty important.
CLARKE: Yeah. And
this is about the time
when Captain Andrew
Belcher comes into the picture.
He was to become the assistant
of the newly knighted
Sir William Phips.
NARRATOR: Captain Andrew
Belcher was a wealthy merchant
and Freemason from
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
who helped to shape
cooperative relations
between the American
colonists and Indigenous tribes.
However, according to
Scott Clarke's research,
he also aided Sir William Phips
in his subsequent efforts
to salvage the Concepción.
CLARKE: So, in September 1687,
Phips returned to the
wreck of the Concepción.
And during the second
expedition of the treasure,
Phips brought back to
England, was only valued
at £10,000.
He literally found 1/20 of
what he found the first time.
DOUG: He came back
with less than expected,
- right? Yeah.
- CLARKE: Much less. Yeah. Yeah.
And he was there
for eight months.
He was there a long time,
so they were expecting more.
- Right.
- CLARKE: Okay. So, um,
this is where my first
discovery comes in.
I basically found a 1688 letter
that shows that
Captain Andrew Belcher
was caught with
one of Phips's ships
in the Mahone Bay area
at the exact time that
Phips was coming back
from the second
attempt, where he
"allegedly," officially, did
not find as much silver.
The letter also states
that they burnt the
ship at Port L'Hebert,
which is very
close to Oak Island.
I strongly believe
that Belcher and his
comrades were actually
transferring treasure
from the Concepción
to be taken to Nova Scotia.
So, this brings me to
my second discovery,
which I think is the
most interesting.
I discovered this,
uh, map from 1701.
Basically, I've discovered
a literal treasure map
created 320 years ago
that strongly appears to
tie the Concepción treasure
to the Oak Island area.
Wow.
I find that interesting.
NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island w*r room,
theorist Scott Clarke is
presenting his research
that the English
nobleman Sir William Phips
may have transported a
vast cache of Spanish silver
to Oak Island sometime
in the late 17th century.
Silver that was salvaged
from the famed treasure
wreck known as the Concepción.
So, the map is titled "The
English Empire in America."
It was published in an
Newfoundland, Canada,
Hudson's Bay and Colonies.
It was created by Herman Moll,
published 13 years
after Phips's 1688 voyage
to the Concepción site.
Aside from being an
excellent, prolific mapmaker,
Herman Moll was known
for his interesting circle
of merchants, seafaring
men and intellectual friends.
It is written that from
these friends of Moll,
uh, Moll gained a fair bit
of privileged information
that was sometimes later
conveyed on his maps.
I believe that's exactly what
occurred on this particular map.
Overall, the map seems normal
except for two very
interesting additions.
It specifically shows the wreck
of the Concepción on the map.
The specific location of
the Concepción shipwreck
is labeled "Sir William
Phips Plate Rack."
So, "plate"
specifically meant silver
and was derived from
the Spanish word "plata,"
and "rack" was an
old-fashioned term for "wreck."
The second anomaly
is especially interesting.
In New Scotland,
along with the usually
labeled Port-Royal and LaHave,
Moll has added La Plata.
Like, he literally named
it La Plata, "the silver."
- That's right where Oak Island is.
- CLARKE: Exactly.
When you look at
the-the modern map,
La Plata, it almost certainly
is in Mahone Bay area.
RICK: That is remarkable.
NARRATOR: A map created in 1701
of New Scotland or Nova Scotia
depicting an area in Mahone Bay
where Oak Island is located
as "La Plata" or "the silver"?
You'd think they'd label it
"the gold" for "gold river,"
but that's the silver for...
He specifically
mentions "the silver."
- So, why would he do... why would he that?
- JACK: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Could
Scott Clarke be correct
that he has found an
actual treasure map
made prior to the
discovery of the Money Pit
connecting Sir William Phips
and the vast silver treasure
to the Oak Island mystery?
If so, could that explain
the high levels of silver
that the team has
recently detected
in the Money Pit area?
- Wow.
- CLARKE: So, Captain Andrew Belcher
was intimately connected
with Sir William
Phips. So, basically,
the accomplice that Phips
had, it's Captain Andrew Belcher.
DOUG: Wow.
RICK: Wow. That's
very interesting.
CLARKE: He was one of the most
connected men in-in New England.
He-he owned 20 ships.
He had a vast shipping network.
His son was the first
American-born Freemason.
So, they were the
highest Freemasons.
They were the governors.
They were directly
tied to Oak Island.
NARRATOR: From the beginning
of the hunt for treasure on Oak Island,
Freemasonry has been at
the center of the mystery.
Not only have Masonic symbols...
Such as triangles and
carvings of the letter "G,"
representing the
divine creator...
Been found across the island,
but many of the most
prominent searchers,
including Franklin
Delano Roosevelt,
were members of
this secretive fraternity,
which curiously descended
from the medieval order
of the Knights Templar.
Has Scott Clarke, a
Freemason himself,
just revealed why
that connection
has been so prevalent
for more than two centuries
and also what they
were looking for?
I think because
Captain Andrew Belcher
now has arisen to,
certainly, a person of interest,
we need to dedicate some
assets to trying to figure out
who the man was, what
his connections were.
There must be more information
about him and his progeny,
and that may lead us somewhere.
I like it because
you have treasure
and you have people
and you have Oak
Island all tied together.
Whereas a lot of times, we have
the theory of treasure
and the people
who could have done it,
but the tie to Oak Island
- is a little sketchy.
- Right.
- You've given us a lot to consider.
- RICK: Yes.
- ALEX: Yeah.
- CHARLES: Yeah.
RICK: Thank you, Scott.
- We appreciate it.
- Thank you. Thanks, guys.
DOUG: Impressive research.
NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...
CHARLES: Here's Craig
- coming in now.
- NARRATOR: Craig Tester
joins Charles Barkhouse,
geologist Terry Matheson and
treasure hunter Dan Henskee
at the Money Pit to
continue monitoring
the drilling operation
in Borehole AB-13.5.
CHARLES: We got a core coming.
- Yep.
- NARRATOR: A borehole
where they hope to encounter
a man-made cavern or chamber
some 70 feet underground.
- TERRY: How you doing, Craig?
- Good, good.
- How deep are we?
- We're down to, uh, 67 feet.
There's no bubble or
blowout. Not this time.
Oh, look.
TEDFORD: Let me take it.
All water.
- TERRY: Hey, Adam. - Hey.
- What you got, Adam?
- 77.
- CHARLES: 77.
- Thank you. - Okay.
- CRAIG: Okay.
I-It's-it's dense
above and below.
Yet, at the same time,
you see no particular artifact
- or anything to punctuate.
- CRAIG: Yeah.
TERRY: Unfortunately,
no cavity. No opening.
It's that cobble right there
and all the cobbles
we're encountering,
I think, have a
lot to do with it.
NARRATOR: Although the team
is currently drilling
only two and half feet
from where they
hit a mysterious void
at a depth of some 70
feet just one week ago,
it appears AB-13.5
has missed the target.
MARTY: Maybe we
just missed because
having found and
having ascertained
that there are these
very anomalous amounts
of gold and silver in the water
and on the metal in the
area of this exploration,
that does lead me to
believe we might be close.
CHARLES: Do you have
another hole lined up?
- We'll go north.
- Okay. - Okay.
- Another mystery rather than an answer.
- CRAIG: Yeah.
NARRATOR: While members
of the team prepare to drill
their next target
in the Money Pit...
GARY: This looks like a
good starting point, guys.
- Start down here.
- NARRATOR: metal detection expert Gary Drayton,
along with Rick
and Marty's nephews
David and Peter Fornetti,
have returned to Lot 4,
located on the western
side of the island.
It is in this area that the
team has recently found
a number of compelling clues,
including a cutting
and shaping tool
known as an adze
and a gold-plated
English button,
both of which were dated
to as early as the
late 17th century.
RICK: Lot 4 has, uh,
given us some surprises
in terms of Gary's
metal detecting finds
and I think we need to take
another hard look at this area.
I think it's always important
to-to revisit, recheck.
And this might provide
us with a few more clues.
[beeping]
GARY: There we go.
We've definitely got...
a piece of metal
here worth digging.
- Right under there.
- Right there?
GARY: Yep.
Oh, there it is. Yep.
That's a tin can lid.
Dang.
All right, into the
trash pouch it goes.
And then we don't
have to flag that.
No, we don't have
to flag any trash.
- That's probably just washed in.
- Yep.
[beeping]
GARY: Got a signal here.
You can see it on
the surface there.
It's right on the surface, mate.
Wow, this is fantastic.
GARY: Oh, man. That's cool.
Old piece of copper sheeting.
NARRATOR: While searching Lot 4
on the western
side of Oak Island...
Not sure what it's off.
Gary Drayton,
along with brothers
David and Peter Fornetti
have just found a
potentially significant clue.
Cool little find. Right
on the surface as well.
I do believe some of this stuff
is coming from
this beach erosion.
I always like finding old pieces
of copper sheathing like this,
especially on the beach,
because, uh, most of the
time it's marine-related.
'Cause back in the
day, it was used to line
the hulls of the boats to
protect them from the worms.
And it's called
sheeting or sheathing,
and it was basically
the duct tape of the day.
- What years did they do that?
- Uh, mainly in the 1700s.
- Mm-hmm.
- Golden age of piracy, actually, 1650 to 1750.
NARRATOR: Possible copper
sheathing from a large sailing vessel?
And potentially dating
back to the 17th century?
Could Gary, David and
Peter have just found
more ship-related evidence
predating the discovery
of the Money Pit by
more than a century?
And if so, could it
also help support
Scott Clarke's theory
regarding an operation
by Sir William Phips
and Freemason
Captain Andrew Belcher
to hide a vast cache of
silver and possibly gold
on Oak Island?
GARY: I have actually found,
on Spanish galleon sites,
copper sheeting
that's this thin.
But we'll take it back to
the archaeology trailer.
DAVID F.: Great.
GARY: That's a really nice find.
NARRATOR: The following morning,
as the drilling
operation continues
in the Money Pit area...
GARY: All it takes
is one good find.
PETER: Maybe in
this scoop right here.
GARY: You got that right, mate.
NARRATOR: Gary, David and Peter
have joined treasure
hunter Michael John
and heavy equipment
operator Billy Gerhardt
as they continue
investigating the southern edge
of the mysterious
triangle-shaped swamp.
GARY: Pete, you
and I, we've found
a lot of ship spikes and
wharf pins all along this stretch.
- Yeah.
- That's why I'm surprised
we haven't found
any of those yet.
Yeah, and those were only, what,
six inches to a foot down?
- Yeah.
- And now we're digging
- six feet down.
- Yeah.
GARY: But what
we have been finding
is some really cool,
interesting pieces of wood
- from, uh, like, an old sailing ship.
- Yeah.
GARY: Let's find some
good stuff. You ready?
All right, mate.
NARRATOR: In recent weeks, the
team has recovered a number of clues
in this area that could
also help validate
Scott Clarke's theory,
including possible
deck planking,
as well as tools
related to ships
and a trapezoid-shaped piece
from a believed cargo boat that
was dated to as early as 1680.
Come on, metal, where are you?
Well, yeah, that stands out.
One more for the pile.
That's a very
interesting piece of wood.
It's very similar to
some of the planking
that we found,
but this is irregular.
It's wider at this end
and thinner there.
Obviously, it was shaped
by man, and that stands out.
- Yeah.
- I mean, what would you call that?
Decking or siding?
- MICHAEL J.: Probably decking.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: Could
Gary be correct that Billy
has just recovered another
piece connected to a large ship?
In 1969,
the esteemed landowner
and treasure hunter Fred Nolan
drained the swamp
and was astonished to
discover his own trove
of ship-related artifacts.
These included scuppers
and even part of a mast.
The operation made Fred
speculate that the swamp
may have been
artificially created
in order to hide an
entire treasure galleon.
Could the potentially
ship-related discoveries
that the team continues
to make in the swamp
not only support Fred's
theory but also Scott Clarke's?
GARY: Well, definitely
a-another piece
that we can maybe have C-14'd
and have the
marine archaeologist
put some eyes on it.
We'll definitely
get it looked at.
- I'll put this to one side.
- Yeah.
GARY: I'd like to see some coins
- coming up here.
- Yeah.
This is the edge of the beach.
Anything that got washed
off that stone roadway as well
would be really cool.
All right.
- I'm gonna get stuck in.
- Okay.
GARY: Now, that is interesting.
- PETER: Yeah, you got something?
- Yeah,
I do think this is something.
Look, shaped at both ends.
Oh, yeah.
GARY: Looks like it's
beveled, it's got that bow in it.
NARRATOR: At the
southern edge of the swamp,
metal detection
expert Gary Drayton
and other members of
the team have just made
a potentially
important discovery.
What are you thinking?
GARY: Definitely shaped.
It kind of looks like it would
be inside a small boat, maybe.
- Mm-hmm.
- The rails across.
- That's definitely man-made.
- PETER: I was thinking that, too.
NARRATOR: A wooden fragment,
potentially from a smaller
type of nautical vessel?
Could it be connected to
the trapezoid-shaped artifact
dating back as
early as the 1680s
that was found in this
area one week ago?
It was the opinion of
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
that it may have
been part of a longboat
used to unload cargo from
a much larger sailing ship.
BILLY: That's from
that two to three feet.
Yeah.
Seems like we're finding
most of the pieces of wood
at about two to three feet deep.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Could
these finds be related
to the pieces of cargo barrels
found near the stone
wharf one year ago?
And if so, could
they also be related
to the traces of silver recently
detected deep in the Money Pit?
MARTY: There are all
kinds of things of significance
in the swamp at this point.
We are finding bits and
pieces in there from a ship.
So, is there a ship in the swamp
or are there bits of
a ship in the swamp
that were used for other things?
We haven't got an
answer to that yet.
- PETER: That one's really interesting.
- GARY: Yeah.
- Yeah. Put them together.
- GARY: Well...
Let's keep these to the side.
- PETER: Yeah.
- Perfect.
GARY: God, this is fun.
NARRATOR: As the investigation
in the swamp continues...
later that afternoon...
- ALEX: Hey, Carmen.
- CARMEN: Hey, how's she going?
How are you? Good to see you.
Thank you for stopping by.
NARRATOR: Alex Lagina
and his cousin David
are meeting with blacksmithing
expert Carmen Legge
in the research center.
So, here they are.
NARRATOR: to get his
analysis on one of the team's
most recent finds.
So, for background,
this is from Lot 4.
DAVID F.: We were
just on the beach
at Lot 4, it was not buried.
It was just sitting
on the surface there.
We'd be curious to
get your thoughts.
ALEX: Hmm.
There seem to be some
nail holes and other things.
ALEX: Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Ah...
ALEX: Very interesting.
So, is this the
corner of the box?
DAVID F.: What would
you use copper sheeting for?
DAVID F.: Were
there certain practices
or certain, um, boxes that
would consistently have
that type of sheeting on it?
- Treasure.
- [chuckles] Right.
When you say, "very
old," how old do you mean?
Um...
ALEX: Wow, that's pretty old.
- Yeah.
- [laughter]
NARRATOR: Copper sheeting
from a possible treasure chest
that could date as
far back as 1100 AD?
Although the team has
found a number of clues
believed to be of
they have also been
searching the area for evidence
to support the research of
the late author Zena Halpern.
In 2016, Zena presented
the team with two maps
indicating that members
of the Knights Templar
had visited Oak Island
on numerous occasions
between the 12th
and 14th centuries.
Could this potential piece
of believed treasure chest,
just like the paved area
discovered two years ago
in the swamp, which Dr. Spooner
dated to as early as 1200 AD,
and the 14th-century lead
cross found at Smith's Cove
all offer evidence that Zena's
theory could have validity?
And if so, might it suggest
that Sir William Phips's partner
Captain Andrew
Belcher, a Freemason,
may have had secret knowledge
of an existing Templar
treasure vault on Oak Island?
It's always been suggested
that Oak Island was a repository,
perhaps over generations
by multiple people.
So these finds that are
being made from Lot 4
may be some evidence
that multiple people
may have deposited a
treasure here on Oak Island.
I don't know that I'm
correct, but it's a possibility.
Small.
See, that's more the size
of what I was thinking of
as a treasure chest, because...
It'd be heavy.
Right.
ALEX: But it-it's on
an area of the island
that nothing, in our
records, happened there,
other than the Zena Halpern map.
- Right.
- So...
Okay, well, that's tantalizing.
DAVID F.: It's incredible.
And it just kind
of validates Lot 4
and the interest
that we have there.
- So, we certainly appreciate you coming out.
- Yeah.
Well, as always,
we will go back out,
we'll look and we'll give you
a call when we find something.
- ALEX: Thanks, Carmen.
- DAVID F.: Thanks, Carmen.
ALEX: See you.
NARRATOR: As a new
day begins on Oak Island,
and while Rick Lagina oversees
his search for clues
and possible valuables
at the southern
edge of the swamp...
RICK: You gonna
go over it again?
GARY: Yeah. Just in case.
NARRATOR: in
the research center...
MARTY: I got all the brains
that we need right here.
We need them
all for this project.
NARRATOR: Marty
Lagina has called a meeting
with their partner Craig Tester
and project Manager Scott Barlow
to discuss the current drilling
operation in the Money Pit.
MARTY: Well, I have a theory
that I want to run past you
guys, and it's about that hole
we drilled where we
got the air... what is it?
- AB-13.
- AB-13.
I've been thinking about it.
So, we drill these
wells and we hit this air,
and we're virtually sure
that it's some kind of gas trap,
and it's not natural.
Got to be man-made, right?
- Yeah.
- Okay. So, let's say I'm wrong
about the possibility that
there's an offset chamber.
What argues against
that is it seems
like we'd have
more air, then, right?
If it filled up an
entire chamber.
- Right.
- Yeah.
You know I've been a
flood tunnel doubter...
- CRAIG: Mm-hmm.
- Forever,
but maybe the flood
tunnel does exist.
Right.
NARRATOR: One week ago,
when the team drilled
into the mysterious
air-filled void
some 70 feet deep
in the Money Pit area...
TERRY: What the heck?
They made a
surprising discovery.
TERRY: It almost
looks like grass,
maybe eelgrass or
something washing in.
NARRATOR: Eelgrass,
along with coconut fiber,
was discovered in
These materials were
covering five stone box drains,
and were believed to
be acting as a kind of filter
to keep debris out of a
man-made flood tunnel.
A flood tunnel feeding seawater
directly into the Money Pit.
I mean, if you guys don't mind,
I'm gonna draw you what I
think may be, as a possibility...
- Sure.
- And then you tell me if I'm crazy or not.
MARTY: Okay, we got
the elephant's nose, right?
Yeah...
Tell me if I'm about
right, Money Pit-ish?
- Yep.
- Smith's Cove,
here's our cofferdam.
If there was a flood tunnel,
it would've gone more or less
the shortest distance, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- And I believe
there's the Cave-In Pit.
Okay, if I do an elevation view,
here's sea level
in Smith's Cove,
here's the Money Pit, original.
And let's say the flood tunnel
comes in down here
somewhere, right?
Okay, so let's say, when
they dug this flood tunnel,
all they would've had to do
is have a bump in it like that.
You know, either
intentionally, boulder,
for whatever reason you want.
This wouldn't have interfered
with its ability to
function at all, right?
No.
- Mm.
- MARTY: No. Okay.
Over the years, we
put all kinds of air
down here, right?
We drilled all kinds of holes.
Now, if that air
happened to find its way
into this flood tunnel,
it would work its way up
and get caught right there
just like a little bubble in a level.
And this would be an obvious
place for introduced gas
to try and find
its way out, right?
If there's still
something that exists.
I mean, it's just,
it's just perfect.
It'd start working its way up
and get trapped right there.
So, here we come along and
we just drilled into that, perhaps.
- That's my theory.
- Hmm.
MARTY: If the flood
tunnel came from the shore,
it wouldn't necessarily come
down perfectly, would it?
Let's say it was constructed,
they had to go up and over
a rock, whatever, any
number of reasons.
And if it has just
a little bow in it,
that would be a perfect
place to catch air.
We introduced a lot of
air into the Money Pit area
when we were drilling
with air several years ago.
That air, if there
is a flood tunnel,
could've encountered it, it
would've went straight up.
When it got to
that little bubble,
it would've gotten trapped
and it would've
been under pressure.
NARRATOR: Could Marty be correct
that the team's
drilling operations
over the past several years
caused air to be trapped
in a man-made flood tunnel?
A flood tunnel connected
to the legendary
Money Pit treasure vault?
I'm more of a
believer after all that,
that the flood
tunnel does exist.
Maybe we just found it.
I think that's very reasonable.
It's certainly one of the
more interesting spots
that we've drilled
into in the Money Pit.
MARTY: And it's about the
only thing I can think of, honestly,
- that would be just designed to catch air.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: With the
team's plans to begin digging
up to four ten-foot-wide
steel-cased shafts
in less than two weeks,
confirming the location of
the legendary flood tunnel
and cutting it off could greatly
improve their ability to recover
the source of silver and
gold detected earlier this year.
The difficulties in the Money
Pit have always have been
associated with water flooding
in from a possible flood tunnel.
If we can find a tunnel
and block the ocean water,
that would be huge.
Do we have enough
time for one more hole?
I would think so.
- I think so, yeah.
- MARTY: Okay.
Sounds like a plan.
We'll just see
how things unfold.
- CRAIG: Sounds good.
- MARTY: Okay.
Well, thanks, guys.
NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...
TERRY: Here it comes.
- I've got high hopes for this one.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: as members of
the team begin a drilling operation
in the hopes of cutting
off the flood tunnel
to aid their upcoming
excavation of the Money Pit...
GARY: Next shovel,
we go for glory.
At the southern
edge of the swamp...
metal detection
expert Gary Drayton
along with members of the team
continue searching
for vital clues
that could also help solve
the Oak Island mystery.
What do you think of this, Dave?
Oh, that's interesting.
- We should definitely show Gary.
- PETER: Yeah.
- It looks like there's a pretty good hole in it, though.
- Oh.
PETER: Gary, what
do you make of this?
Oh, yeah.
That looks like a-a square hole.
Oh, that's interesting,
mate, 'cause older fasteners,
especially iron,
were square-shanked.
We haven't found that many
pieces of wood with holes in.
So, do you think that's marine?
Yeah, I mean,
we're right at the side
to the southeast
corner of the swamp,
we're looking for,
potentially, a ship.
That's the type of find
you want to be pulling up,
wood with square holes in.
Circular-shanked fasteners
came in round
about the early 1700s,
and then in the
Industrial Revolution,
everything was round.
So it could possibly be
earlier than the 1700s.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, that's actually
the date range I'd put it in,
um, mid-1500s to mid-1700s,
with the square-shanked nails.
NARRATOR: Another wooden
artifact potentially related to a ship?
And possibly dating
to before 1700?
If Gary is correct,
could this discovery
offer more evidence
that the remains
of a treasure galleon really
lies buried in the swamp?
And might it also
further validate
Scott Clarke's incredible
theory that Sir William Phips
hid a vast cache of
silver on Oak Island?
GARY: That's fantastic.
Pretty cool find,
Pete. Well done, mate.
- Yeah.
- We got two more coming.
PETER: Hey, guys.
Hey, guys.
MARTY: Come on over, Billy!
We don't see any
chests piled up.
GARY: Eh, no, and
I wish I could reach
for my top pocket, but...
the lack of metal's
a little bit frustrating.
I mean, you guys found
some intriguing things.
So, we found some
interesting things here,
but obviously there's still
more on the search agenda,
so I'd be curious
what-what's next.
MARTY: Well,
the reason Rick
and I are here is...
I mean, we found
all kinds of neat stuff.
You've done a great job,
um, but for this year,
we're wrapping it up.
But we got cannisters coming,
and, uh, we need the water so
we can use it at the wash plant.
So, I think we're running
out of time in the swamp.
- That's frustrating.
- PETER: Yeah.
NARRATOR: It is
a difficult moment
for brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina
and members of their team.
Despite all the
compelling evidence
of ancient ship-related
activity recently unearthed
in the triangle-shaped swamp,
they will need to
suspend their search
of the area in less
than two weeks.
MARTY: Unfortunately,
we have to quit digging
in the body of the swamp
because we're going to need water,
and lots of water, to run
through the wash plant.
We can't use seawater,
so we need fresh water
to clean all the stuff
that's coming out
as we dig in the Money Pit.
NARRATOR: As Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team
begin excavating the
massive ten-foot-wide
steel-cased shafts
across the Money Pit area,
the tons of earth, or spoils,
will be carefully
sorted and sifted
for potential valuables in an
industrial-sized wash plant.
The process, which the
team hopes will reveal
tangible evidence
of the gold and silver
detected earlier this
year in the Money Pit
will require thousands
of gallons of water.
Because the team is
not legally permitted
to use ocean water
for the operation,
the swamp, which today is
fed by a freshwater spring,
is their only option.
The enormity of the work
that's about to proceed
in the Money Pit,
I mean, it's all incumbent
upon washing that material,
and... I think we
need to let this refill,
to supply all the water.
Yeah, no, that's right.
So, finish up best you can,
Billy, you know, and, uh,
we're gonna call it
a day and move on.
- Yeah.
- MARTY: It's been good stuff.
Good stuff came out of here.
A whole bunch of science
has to be applied, yet.
- Yep.
- A bunch of carbon dating.
I think we yielded some
pretty interesting pieces.
Right.
GARY: And look how much material
you've moved, Billy,
in-in just a small
area of the swamp.
- I know.
- We, we'll never get out of here.
- [laughter] - This is a
place we're coming back to.
MARTY: If you look at the
percentage of the swamp we've dug,
even though we've done a
lot of digging in the swamp,
I'd say percentagewise,
certainly single digits.
Five percent, maybe.
And every time, I
believe without fail,
every time, it's-it's
yielded interesting things.
RICK: I don't know, necessarily,
that there's a treasure
component to the swamp,
but I do believe that
there's more information
in the body of the swamp.
And so, I don't
think we're done yet.
Before we go, I do
want to get to that area
where the railing came from.
- Right.
- How close are you?
We're basically right
on top of that now.
Okay. Well, let's finish up,
because we're
running out of time
and we've got big
work to do up there.
- Yeah.
- You guys ready?
- I'm ready for that.
- Yep. We're ready. - All right.
- Let's finish up here.
- DAVID F.: All right. Sounds good.
NARRATOR: If Rick, Marty and their
team can now be certain of anything,
it is that answers surrounding
a 227-year-old mystery
could be revealed
anywhere across Oak Island.
But even though they must
soon suspend their search
in the swamp, where
evidence of an incredible secret
has been unearthed, it will aid
their most historic dig ever
conducted in the Money Pit.
There, they have
found scientific evidence
of just what that
incredible secret could be.
Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...
BRENNAN: Looks like
we got something, boys.
- Three pieces of wood.
- TERRY: The only thing,
usually, that will give
us that is a tunnel.
- So, we ran C-14 on it.
- CRAIG: One time frame.
Old, old, old.
- [laughter]
- [horn honks]
MARTY: We are about to embark
on the attempt to
recover valuables
- lurking in the Money Pit.
- DAN H.: Here they come.
MARTY: We've got ten-foot cans
coming in and we can dig it up.
There is definitely,
without a doubt,
- gold down there.
- [laughs]