09x22 - Yes We Can
Posted: 04/17/24 08:08
NARRATOR: Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...
GARY:
Wow, look at that.
This might be the missing link
to treasure in this area.
CORJAN [over Skype]:
Never in a million years,
I expected to find
a link to Portugal.
And to the Knights Templar.
That’s astounding. Whoa!
- MARTY: That can’s going down fast.
- RICK: Wow.
We’re right at the vault.
We should be finding
something here pretty quick.
This is it.
IAN: Wow, this is a big find.
MARTY: We caught
a piece of this vault.
It’s amazing.
- Oh, baby.
- [laughter]
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 died
trying to solve the mystery.
And according to legend,
one more will have to die
before the treasure
can be found.
♪ ♪
DANNY: Showtime!
ANDREW: Yeah.
GARY: Hammer grab’s coming up.
This is the day.
This is it, Pete.
Our shining moment, hopefully.
NARRATOR: As a new
day begins on Oak Island...
- Good morning, gentlemen.
- Good morning, Andrew.
- How we doing?
- Good.
You tell us.
We’re doing real good.
Really good.
The level of excitement
for a major discovery
in the Money Pit
has never been higher for
brothers Rick and Marty Lagin,
their business
partner Craig Tester,
and the members of their team.
Danny’s down to 137 feet
with the can now and
everything’s going fine.
We’re just gonna
keep continuing on,
- same as yesterday.
- Yep.
CRAIG: Once we get
through this little last thing
of the Hedden Shaft,
it should be virgin ground,
hopefully all the way down to
where we’re looking for
the vault or the tunnel.
We’ll see what happens.
- Another 20, 30 feet.
- All right.
- I’ll keep you informed.
- RICK: All right.
- Thank you.
- You’re welcome.
NARRATOR: The team
is currently excavating
a 10-foot-wide shaft that
they have dubbed "D.M.T.-2."
Although D.M.T.-2 represents
their fourth and final attempt
this year to recover the
fabled Chappell Vault,
which is believed to lie
burid some 153 feet deep,
it was in this area that notable
treasure hunter Gilbert Hedden
firmly believed
it would be found
when he dug his own
shaft back in 1937.
But most importantly,
it was also here
that the team obtained
evidence of high concentrations
of silver and gold
several months ago
while testing the water in
previously drilled boreholes.
PETER: It’s coming out.
RICK: As we approach
the area of interest,
my hope is that we find
something definitive indicatig
a subterranean void or vault.
GARY: Here we go.
RICK: So, we have
to be very meticulous
to confirm that there
might actually be
gold and silver...
Not trace elements,
but actual...
refined gold and
silver in the Money Pit.
GARY: Now, that’s
going to be tough walking.
PETER: All right. Ready?
GARY: Okay, mate.
Let’s get stuck in.
[beeps]
We have got a signal, mate.
Worth digging.
- Just there, yeah.
- We’ll definitely dig that.
- GARY: It’s here.
- PETER: Oh, yeah?
- More metal, mate.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: A metal fragment?
Found at a depth
of some 136 feet
in the D.M.T.-2 caisson?
These could be washed
off and they might have
traces of gold on them.
- PETER: It could.
- This happened before.
- So, if you would hold onto that, mate.
- Yeah.
You want to take that
to the table, please?
- Yeah.
- GARY: Cheers.
- Oh, there’s something in there.
- There’s something in there.
NARRATOR: Earlier
this year, while conducting
a core-drilling operation
in the Money Pit area...
CHARLES: Yeah, it’s a big
chunk of metal right there.
The team recovered
two metal fragments
that contained
high traces of gold.
So, we got, I think,
more of that same
metal that we found before.
CRAIG: Yeah, maybe.
CHARLIES: This
shouldn’t be down there.
IAN: That’s the big mystery.
- Yeah.
- That is the mystery.
CRAIG: Well, we’ll get a
quick look with the XRF.
- Try to get a date on it.
- PETER: Yep.
- All right.
- CRIAG: Okay.
NARRATOR: Is it possible
that they have
found more evidence
of precious metals in D.M.T.-?
If so, could it be
just a small sign
of what’s to come
from deeper below?
Are we there yet?
We’re getting close, Marty.
All right. Anything?
That piece just came up.
I don’t know what it is, but
we’re going to have XRF done.
But it looks quite modern.
Mainly, we’re in virgin ground.
- Yes. Yeah.
- PETER: Here it comes.
MARTY: What the hell is that?
- CRAIG: That’s not good.
- MARTY: Wait. Wait. Wait.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
Uh-oh.
GARY: We may have a problem.
Houston, we’ve got a problem.
CRAIG: The cable’s
wrapped around.
Look, Pete. The
cable’s all wrapped up
- in the hammer grab.
- Oh, yeah.
- GARY: Dang.
- What’s it look like?
Is it jammed in there?
The anchor chain
went on the other side.
NARRATOR: It is a
potentially serious situation
for the representatives from
Irving Equipment Limited,
as a massive support
chain has become
tangled around a stabilizer
atop the 22-and-a-half-ton
hammer grab.
It not only comes
at a critical moment,
as the excavation
is less than 20 feet
from a potentially
historic discovery,
it means that the operation
will have to be halted
until the malfunction
can be remedied.
MARTY: We’ve spent an
enormous amount of time
and effort digging
in the Money Pit.
And we’re nearly there
and we had to stop,
so that was frustrating.
And we don’t know
when we’re gonna be
able to resume
our treasure hunt.
So... yeah, it’s-it’s a problem.
Eh, I think we’re going
to be on a little break here.
Last time, it took
quite a bit to undo that.
Yeah. It took, what,
a couple hours?
That’s Oak Island for you, mate.
NARRATOR: While the
team waits to continue
the excavation of
the D.M.T.-2 shaft...
later that morning...
- GARY: Here we are, mate.
- MICHAEL J.: Yep.
Metal detection
expert Gary Drayton
and treasure hunter
Michael John arrive on Lot 8,
located on the western
drumlin of Oak Island.
Once you find a large
grouping of potentially good
finds like this, it’s like,
"What are they doing here?"
So this is, like,
a central area.
Yeah. That’s right.
Exactly. Yeah.
NARRATOR: In addition to
the Money Pit and the swamp,
Lot 8 has now become
a potentially critical
zone of interest for the team
due to a number of recent
discoveries and developments.
These include a
large metallic anomaly
detected by ground-penetrating
radar some 20 feet deep...
SCOTT: There’s just
a big layer of rocks
right across this whole area.
This looks clearly man-made.
A mysterious stone-paved
feature and large boulder
proving to represent evidence
of previous human activity,
and a semiprecious
garnet gemstone...
A gemstone that 32nd
degree Freemason Scott Clarke
believes could be connected
to the Knights Templar
and one of the most sought-after
missing holy relics
in human history:
the Ark of the Covenant.
- Okay, mate. You ready?
- Yep.
Let’s get stuck in.
NARRATOR: Now, while
Rick, Marty and Craig
await a government permit
to conduct a
large-scale excavation
to determine just what
the mysterious buried
anomaly could be,
Gary and Michael
are hoping to find
any clues to help verify
if Scott Clarke’s incredible
theory could be true.
- Okay, mate.
- All right.
This is the first target.
Let’s see what this
baby sounds like.
Oh, look! That
sounds fantastic, mate.
- That’s what I like to hear, mate.
- A good signal, isn’t it?
That is the sound of history
- being uncovered in a few minutes.
- All righty.
MICHAEL J.: Oh, here we go.
GARY: Ooh, look at that.
That’s nice, mate!
That looks like an
old, oval chain link.
Yeah.
GARY: The old chain
links were always oval.
The newer chain links are round.
- And if you notice the irregularity of it...
- Yeah.
- It’s a very crude chain link.
- Yeah.
- Definitely not factory-made.
- Oh, no.
Whenever you need a chain,
that means you’ve
been hauling something.
And you never know.
Maybe there was chain,
like, around a chest
or an old box.
NARRATOR: Could Gary Drayton
be correct that this piece of chain
may have once been used
to transport a large chest?
If so, who left it on Lot 8?
And could it be connected
to the large metallic anomaly
that the team hopes to excavae
as soon as they
can obtain a permit?
This is fantastic.
What was a chain doing
- out in the middle of nowhere?
- Yeah.
Because this is
out in the boonies
- even for Oak Island.
- That’s right. Exactly. Yeah.
All right, mate.
Let’s put that flag back in...
and let’s keep rolling, mate.
It’s a good sign that we’re in
an area where people were.
There’s got to be
other stuff in the area.
MICHAEL J.: Oh, no doubt.
The next flag is
down here, mate.
Let’s see what
this one says, eh?
A bit jumpy.
- I suspect this is iron.
- Okay.
But...
- definitely a biggish target.
- Right there?
- MICHAEL J.: Nice and deep.
- Yeah.
- GARY: Just there.
- Yeah?
- GARY: There we go.
- Here we go.
GARY: An excellent sign, mate.
MICHAEL J.: Yeah.
- MICHAEL J.: Still there?
- GARY: Yeah.
- There we go.
- Here we go.
Another excellent sign, mate.
Yeah.
- A big, old ox shoe.
- No doubt.
NARRATOR: On
Lot 8 of Oak Island,
Gary Drayton and Michael
John have just unearthed
a potentially important clue.
GARY: Just by
looking at it like that,
what I can tell you, mate,
is it’s kind of out of place
just here, out in the
middle of nowhere, mate.
And I don’t believe
this was farmland.
MICHAEL J.: I don’t
think so, either, no.
And I’m happy
- that we found an ox shoe in this area.
- Yeah. Me, too.
They were definitely
hauling something here,
because we’ve got the ox shoes,
- we’ve got the oval chain.
- The chain link.
Yes. That’s the
mystery, isn’t it?
GARY: Yep.
NARRATOR: A large ox shoe?
Discovered near a piece of chain
where the team has also detected
a large, metal anomaly buried
some 20 feet underground?
GARY: Wow, this
ox shoe was very dep
and it’s in great condition.
Whoever was hauling in this
area was hauling something big,
because this ox shoe was
on a big beast of burden.
NARRATOR: Over
the past two years,
the Oak Island
team has discovered
numerous ancient stone pathways,
along with ox shoes and
other evidence suggesting
large operations to haul cargo
onto and across the island.
Previously, the most
compellig of these was found
between the triangle-shaped
swamp and the Money Pit.
Have Gary and Michael
now found more evidence
of a similar operation on Lot 8?
And, if so, could it possibly
support Scott Clarke’s theory
that the Knights Templar
hid priceless religious artifacts
on Oak Island centuries ago?
GARY: What are those
artifacts doing out here
in the middle of nowhere?
We’re right in the
middle of the island.
I’m telling you, mate, we
are on to something here.
All signs lead to activity.
- Something happened here.
- Yep.
- Yeah.
- Exactly. In this area.
Someone spent a
lot of time out here.
Now, whether they
were passing through
from one shore
to the other shore,
the artifacts tell
- the story of the site.
- Yeah.
This might be the
missing link telling us
that we’re on to
treasure in this area.
Yeah.
GARY: Okay, mate.
Let’s keep rolling.
NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...
PETER: All right.
Today’s the day.
Better find that vault
pretty quick, Craig.
That can is going down fast.
Gold coins are
easy to dig through,
- so...
- Yeah, they really are.
I-it wouldn’t
increase the pressure.
After successfully repairig
the massive hammer grab tool,
Marty Lagina, Craig Tester
and members of the team
continue supervising
the excavation
of the D.M.T.-2 shaft.
- Hey, fellas. -Hey, Andrew.
- Hey, Andrew.
How we doing?
- The man with the data.
- Yeah.
- Where are we?
- We’re looking good.
We’re at 146 with the dig.
- With the dig?
- With the dig.
- 157 with the casing.
- Okay.
All right, well, we
should be finding
something here
pretty quick. This is it.
This is your spot, Craig.
NARRATOR: Now that the
has reached a depth of 157 feet,
it is a critical moment
for the Oak Island team.
Are we approximately in
that zone where we want
- to be right now?
- MARTY: Yes, about this... -Yeah.
- Beginning with this grab, I’d say.
- Okay.
NARRATOR: Although
the hammer grab tool
has more than ten feet of spoils
to remove from the caisson,
according to the
historical record,
the seven-foot-high
Chappell Vault
was located at a
depth of 153 feet.
That means the team
could be mere feet
from a historic discovery.
Well, we should be
getting very close now.
This hammer grab
or the next one.
We don’t completely
understand the Money Pit,
even at this late stage.
The Oak Island Treasure Compay
vault resided roughly
at the 150-foot horizon.
And that is the depth
where it should be,
unless it had fallen deeper.
PETER: Here it comes.
That’s a full one.
GARY: Yeah, that is.
That’s a hell of a lot
of material in there.
Should we jump in, Ian?
IAN: Yeah, yeah, let’s go.
Think you better go
help that old man, Pete.
Okay.
What are we into?
- Boulders, I see.
- MARTY: It’s about time you show up.
We’re right there. We’re
right at the vault zone.
So we should be around
the 148 mark right now.
What do you make...
Make of it? This clay, is it?
Yeah, it’s very, very fine clay.
- Let’s take that over there.
- IAN: Yeah.
CRAIG: So, this looks like clay.
Yeah, it’s very,
very, very, very fine.
- RICK: Is that embedded?
- IAN: Yeah.
Yeah, like the story of
ponded clay or puddled clay.
NARRATOR: Puddled clay?
Found at a depth
of nearly 150 feet?
When members of the
Onslow Company excavated
the original Money Pit in 180,
they discovered large
amounts of puddled clay
packed into the oak platforms
descending to the 90-foot level,
acting as a kind of sealant
from the believed
booby-trapped flood tunnels.
This same type of clay was
also reported 93 years later
by treasure hunters Frederick
Blair and William Chappell
just before they drilled
into the fabled vault
at a depth of 153 feet.
Is it possible that the team
has now encountered
evidence of human activity
to protect something
of great value?
If so, just what
might they find next?
I wouldn’t worry too much about
the wood looking real young,
’cause if it was in this
kind of environment,
there’s no oxygen whatsoever.
The treasure vault is very,
very precisely described.
It was puddled clay
through concrete and wood.
It certainly sounds like a vey
properly designed vault.
That’s what we’re looking for.
Here we go. Here’s another one.
Ooh, rainy with a
chance of treasure.
Is that a bunch of wood?
- That is wood.
- That’s a hell of a lot of wood.
GARY: Ooh, look at that.
That looks a little
more promising.
CRAIG: Yeah.
RICK: Oh, my goodness.
CRAIG: That is
exactly what we want.
- That’s a substantial piece.
- Yeah, a post-looking piece.
PETER: They are dense.
Yeah, that feels very heavy.
I don’t know about
that one, but...
PETER: This is dense.
MARTY: Let’s
let Billy spread it.
Let’s go over there.
NARRATOR: Given the fact that
the Oak Island team obtained
high traces of silver and gold
when they conducted
water testing
in this area earlier this yea,
could the vast amounts
of hand-cut wood
mean that they are on the
vere of recovering the treasure
people have been seeking
for more than two centuries?
CRAIG: Axe-cut.
Partially, at least.
Well, maybe that’s sawed off.
- MARTY: That is axe-cut?
- CRAIG: I don’t know.
MARTY: Feel the weight of that.
Yeah, that’s why
it’s hard to see this
as contemporary with Hedden.
MARTY: It’s very deep, too.
- IAN: It’s older wood.
- MARTY: Is it?
- IAN: Oh, yeah.
- MARTY: Well, let’s keep going.
Okay.
There’s a piece of wood.
Piece of wood
on the front there.
BILLY: A piece of
wood right on top there.
PETER: Billy’s got it.
MARTY: Wow.
Dang, that is a
big piece of wood.
IAN: It’s heavy as all get out.
MARTY: This is
wildly out of place.
IAN: Wildly out of place.
MARTY: Yeah.
MARTY: This is
wildly out of place.
That almost looks
like what we’d see
in Smith’s Cove, you know?
The clay is plastered on it.
- I mean, that’s just pure clay.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: It is a
potentially critical moment
in the Money Pit area for Ric,
Marty, Craig and their team.
- CRAIG: I’m going to go wash it off.
- MARTY: All right.
An important piece of wood.
NARRATOR: At a depth of
nearly 150 feet in the D.M.T.-2 shaf,
they have just unearthed
what is believed to be
hand-worked, puddled clay,
as well as evidence
of a possibly ancient
wooden structure.
CRAIG: What’s it mean,
Charles, bringing up
some wood from this depth?
I don’t know. Is that a tunnel?
CRAIG: I don’t know.
CHARLES: I’ll go
punch up a tag for it.
Great. I’m gonna go wash it off.
NARRATOR: And what makes
these discoveries especially compelling
is that a large amount of
puddled clay was reported
by searchers just
before they drilled into
the so-called "Chappell Vault"
at this approximate
depth back in 1897.
MARTY: So you see
saw marks on that, Craig?
It looks like it.
- MARTY: Look how broad those are.
- CRAIG: Yeah.
A motorized circular saw
puts a whole bunch of them.
You know, I mean, I
wonder if this was, like,
- a hand-done thing or something.
- Yeah.
MARTY: Well, what’s
it doing down there?
CRAIG: Maybe
it’s part of the vault.
It could be.
MARTY: Are we all tired of wood?
I’m tired of wood.
But this is... this is
wood that’s wildly
out of place. It really
shouldn’t be there.
It is also heavy as can be.
I mean, this thing is a
very dense piece of wood.
It’s right at the right depth.
So, the conjecture is we caugt
some little piece of
this so-called vault.
CRAIG: See how
the cut’s right there?
- I see several.
- Yeah.
Well, it’s wildly out of place.
Yeah, I know.
Doesn’t make sense.
Okay, we’ll get
Charles to mark that up.
MARTY: Excellent.
NARRATOR: As the
excavation continues
in the Money Pit area...
- Hey, Mike.
- Hey, Steve. How are you, man?
- How you doing?
- I’m good, brother.
Just 200 feet to the northeast,
near Borehole 10-X,
Steve Guptill joins
Michael John to carefully sift
through the spoils that were
just removed from D.M.T.-2.
We have a very
interesting and significant
data that happens in and around
- the 150-foot mark.
- Yeah.
A few feet above that
and 25 feet below that is
the interesting area that
could be treasure vault location.
- Uh-huh.
- So,
potentially, there
could be a very
- significant find in this one.
- Okay.
MICHAEL J.: As always,
I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
D.M.T. is close to a depth
where we’re keenly interested
in what it might show and so
we have a lot of anticipation.
And of course, every bucket,
you’re always looking for
a piece of jewelry, a coin,
and we aren’t gonna miss it.
So, we need to look closely
through the spoils piles.
- What is that?
- What you got?
Well, I think it’s just a
rock or a piece of wood.
But it almost
looks like a fossil.
MICHAEL J.: Yes.
Oh.
- Is this coal?
- Oh, wow.
MICHAEL J.: Feels like it, yeah.
A lot of coal, so we know
people were down there.
Exactly. That’s right. Yeah.
NARRATOR: Dating
back at least four centuries,
mining operations across Euroe
utilized the method of burning
charcoal in underground furnaces
in order to provide
oxygen for the workers.
In 1804, when the Onslow
Company first excavated the original
Money Pit down
to the 90-foot level,
they not only encountered
puddled clay at various levels
but also charcoal.
STEVE G.: It breaks really easy.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that
Steve Guptill and Michael John
have just found more evidence
of original workings
that were conducted
in order to hide the
legendary Oak Island treasure?
Well, if that says
anything, we know people
were in this area.
So, that makes
the next couple table
loads more interesting.
- Yeah, that’s right.
- Yeah.
STEVE G.: What is this?
Look at this. That’s interesting.
- What you got there?
- Does that look like cement to you?
Or concrete? What is that?
There’s something
wound between...
It’s not cement, I don’t think.
But I don’t know.
Yeah. It is cement.
STEVE G.: Oh, wow.
Cement’s important in
the search, because
cement itself often goes back
- to a treasure chamber, a treasure vault.
- Oh.
NARRATOR: Cement?
The very substance
reportedly encasing
the seven-foot-tall
Chappell Vault?
As the clues keep adding
up for the Oak Island team,
could that mean the
legendary treasure
is finally within their reach?
Good eye, Steve. You
know what I’m going to do?
- I’m going to bag it and tag it.
- Sounds good.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, we should get that examined.
For sure.
There it goes. It’s on.
NARRATOR: Back at the Money Pit,
the excavation of
the D.M.T.-2 shaft
has now surpassed
a depth of 153 feet,
where the Chappell
Vault was reported to have
been encountered
nearly 125 years ago.
We’re ready.
With all the clues hinting
that a major
discovery is imminent,
the question now becomes
just how much
deeper could it be?
All right, Danny.
What’s the good news?
Hey. All right.
What are the numbers, brother?
We got, uh, we just put
on our five-foot piece.
That makes it 191, total casing.
- The casing is in the ground 174.
- Okay.
Did you want a measurement
of the water or do
you want us to go?
No.
- Just go? All right.
- Just go.
- Thank you.
- Thanks, Danny.
- Ready, Pete?
- Yep. Ready.
DANNY: Ooh-whee! Smoking.
- It’s going right down.
- It is?
RICK: Wow.
See how fast that’s going down?
MARTY: Geez.
That’s the fastest
I’ve ever seen
a can go down.
RICK: Holy smokes!
That thing went down
six feet, probably?
Ten.
You can actually
watch it go down.
- CRAIG: Yeah. It’s flying down.
- MARTY: Yeah.
CRAIG: It is amazing.
RICK: A void has
to be below this.
Yeah.
RICK: A void has
to be below this.
It’s flying down.
You can actually
watch it go down.
NARRATOR: In the Money Pit area,
at a depth of some 174 feet,
the D.M.T.-2 shaft
has suddenly begun to
rapidly sink into the ground.
I don’t know if
anybody witnessed that,
- but we just broke a record.
- [laughter]
For going down that
fast for that size of shaft.
That is something
I’ve never seen before.
Anything weird you can
think of happens here.
RICK: There’s some void,
some reason to believe
that there is an
open area at depth.
That might indicate
a subterranean vault.
It also could be very natural.
And I don’t think
we’ll ever be able
to understand what that is
unless we find something
down there that is man-made.
MARTY: Look at that hammer grab.
CHARLES: Wow.
- It’s just soup.
- Yep.
RICK: At this point, we’re
not much farther to bedrock.
Yeah.
MARTY: It looks like
the vault’s not there.
It’s just not.
PETER: That was
possibly the last grab.
GARY: Let’s check it out.
CRAIG: Nothing special.
GARY: This is shocking, mate.
- Nothing?
- GARY: Nope.
PETER: Four cans, no results.
That’s all she wrote.
MARTY: Are we done?
Is that the last grab?
CHARLES: We’re in bedrock.
Yeah, we are.
ANDREW: We’re
definitely there with the dig.
The fourth and last
can of the season.
We’re as far down as we can
get. What’s your thoughts? Yeah.
Yeah. You know, I’m
obviously disappointed
that we didn’t hit something
significantly better.
NARRATOR: It is a crushing
disappointment for Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team.
After recovering numerous
pieces of evidence
suggesting that they might
hae finally pinpointed the locatin
of the fabled Chappell Vault,
they have reached a dead end
in the form of bedrock
at a depth of 183 feet.
Could that mean they
were actually digging
in the wrong location?
Or could the treasure
cache have fallen somewhere
off to the side in
the mysterious void?
MARTY: Was the hole a success?
I mean, we hoped
to get the vault.
- Absolutely.
- MARTY: And we didn’t. Um...
but yet more anomalies,
highly anomalous stuff,
needs to be tested.
Maybe some more clues.
When we get
through that vault area
and it’s not there,
it’s disappointing.
So, at this point,
we’ve just accepted it.
We can’t stop. We have to
go as long as we possibly can
and figure this out as
much as we can this year.
RICK: We’ve
completed the final can
and it’s like a
broken record, right?
It keeps replaying, you know?
Unsuccessful.
Unsuccessful. Unsuccessful.
So, I don’t know
where we go from here.
But you mustn’t be deterred
and we each have to
step back and assess
for ourselves what are our
thoughts moving forward.
Sempre avanti:
keep moving forward.
It’s the only way
we’re going to solve it.
So, let’s do that. Don’t quit.
MARTY: I like
your spirit, hombre.
NARRATOR: Later that evening...
So, guys. A unique
opportunity has presented itself.
Rick, Marty and Craig
gathr in the w*r room
with members of their team
to strategize the few remainig
weeks they have left before
they will have to suspend
search activities for the
remainder of the year.
I know that we’ve all been
a bit troubled by the fact
that the four cans...
To date, at least...
Have not yielded much.
There may be an
opportunity here for
a possible fifth can location.
Everyone can weigh in, but
I think we should possibly,
you know, take
advantage of this.
Yep.
Oh, that’s without
question, Rick.
I didn’t know we
could fit that in.
I mean, I’m a
proponent of digging
whenever we can dig.
RICK: So, yes, I’ve
spoken with Irving
and they’ve confirmed
that it is indeed possible
and we have a little
bit of wiggle room there.
I mean, that’s a great
idea if we can do it.
Yeah, but... do we have a good
idea of where we want to go?
- Maybe close to C-1.
- CRAIG: Yep.
My thought would be
to go up in that area,
the C-1 cluster, to
try to confirm that it is
indeed possibly the
original Money Pit.
- Yep.
- JACK: C-1 has
the highest amounts
of gold and silver
of any other drill
hole that we have.
So why not continue
to search around there?
MARTY: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Although the
team has already excavated
two ten-foot-diameter
shafts in the C-1 Cluster
without making a
breakthrough discovery...
We’re going to mix between
- Right.
- Earlier this year...
- Let’s hope.
- While conducting water testing
in the existing boreholes
around the C-1 shaft,
the team obtained high
readins for silver and gold.
Additional
core-drilling in the area
then yielded fragments
of metal containing gold,
as well as evidence of
man-made tunnels that could date
to as early as 1488 at a
depth of nearly 90 feet.
Is it possible that digging oe
more shaft in the C-1 cluster
will solve the Oak
Island mystery?
So, I’ve calculated
the positions of
TF-1 to the west
and EC-1 to the east.
But I’ve left enough room
so we can go to the north.
"Yes, let’s do it,"
is what I would say.
Put it a foot off of EC-1.
- Right there?
- There you go.
- Right there?
- Yep.
Well, if we’re
going to put it there,
I guess we’re pretty near
gonna be centered on B-4.
All right. Well,
we’re kind of burning
the very minutes we’re
talking about to dig, so Scott,
how about you name this one?
Well, if we’re going
to position there,
if we roll that closer to EC-1,
B-4 is going to be basically
the center of that caisson.
So, B-4,
call it B-4C for B-4 caisson.
So it’s the hole we dug just
before we found the treasure,
is that what you’re saying?
- Just before. That’s right.
- [laughter]
Before we see the treasure.
- There we go.
- Before we see the treasure.
- I love it.
- MARTY: Works for me. Yeah.
- Now, make it so.
- Make it so.
- MARTY: Okay, gentlemen.
- RICK: All right. Very good.
MARTY: Excellent.
Thank you very much.
- JACK: Ready or what?
- GARY: Yep. This is it.
Last can of the year, mate.
- It’s in a great location, just north of C-1, mate.
- Yep.
That area, to me, was
one of the most interesting
areas of the whole campaign.
They said it couldn’t be
done, but here we are.
NARRATOR: A new
day begins on Oak Island,
and also with it,
a renewal of hope
for Rick, Marty,
Craig and their team
as they begin
excavating the B-4C shaft
in search of the fabled
Money Pit treasure vault.
DANNY: How’s that?
Perfect.
Okay.
DANNY: Okay, ready? Bring it up.
RICK: We’re approaching
the end of the year.
Mother Nature’s closing in.
But as I have said before,
we’re not going to give up.
It ain’t over till
it’s over, mate.
We’re positive that there
is treasure down there.
JACK: I feel good
about this caisson.
NARRATOR: As the excavation
of the B-4C shaft gets underway...
later that morning...
- Hi, guys.
- [greetings]
Hey, guys.
Rick, Marty and Craig
have assembled
members of the team
in the w*r room for a meeting
via video conference
with their associate
and Oak Island
researcher Corjan Mol.
Hi, everyone. Thank
you for having me.
NARRATOR: Also joining
the team is Judi Rudebusch,
the research partner
of the late author
and Oak Island
theorist Zena Halpern.
Doug, as you are
well aware... and Judi...
Are continuing to
make connections
as far as a possible
Portuguese connection,
but Doug in particular
has reached out to Corjan,
so I’m going to
turn it over to Doug
and I think we’re going to learn
some very
interesting facts today.
So, Doug, if you
want to take over...
Yeah, well, I guess
what I’m excited about
is that we’ve got
some scientific reason
to look towards Portugal,
because of the dating
we’ve attained on objects
both in the swamp
and the Money Pit.
We have historic reasons
now to look towards Portugal.
NARRATOR: Over
the past two years,
in addition to finding
compelling evidence
that vast quantities
of precious metals
lie buried deep
in the Money Pit,
the team has also unearthed
numerous structures
and artifacts suggesting that
someone of Portuguese origin
visited Oak Island as
much as five centuries ago.
These discoveries include a
fragment of a ship’s cannon
found on Lot 4,
two pieces of stone
shot, one of which was
recovered from the Money Pit,
and the massive stone
road or ship’s wharf
in the triangle-shaped swamp.
In talking with Corjan,
he has a very interesting
theoretical reason
why Portugal may
play an important role,
so I think you’re going
to be really intrigued to
hear what he has to say.
I’m looking forward to it.
Corjan, I’m going
to turn it over to you.
Okay, thanks.
I wanted to start with
the, u, the first image here.
I believe your team
discovered a few
Portuguese things on Oak Island.
Portugal has an incredible
Knights Templar history.
I’m sure you are aware
that the Order of
the Knights Templar
was dissolved in 1312
in every country in
Europe but Portugal.
In 1307, the arrest
warrant went out,
first all across France
and later all across Europe.
They were arrested,
sometimes they were
ex*cuted and imprisoned.
NARRATOR: Between the
the military order of monks
known as the Knights Templar
accumulated a vast treasure
in the Holy Land
during the Crusades.
Some researchers believe
this treasure included
priceless religious artifacts
such as the Holy Grail,
the golden menorah
from Solomon’s Temple
and the Ark of the Covenant.
However, when the
order was disbanded
by King Philip IV
of France in 1307,
it has been suggested that
a number of Templar Knights
fled with their vast
treasures to Scotland
before taking
them to Oak Island.
Although little of the
Templars’ true history
is known following their
persecution in France,
it is well established
that a new sect
would soon rise
again in Portugal.
Many Templars fled
from Spain, from France
and maybe other
countries to Portugal,
because they were
under protection
of the Portuguese king.
King Dinis, who restarted
the Knights Templar
as Order of Christ in 1319,
changed their logo.
He kept sort of the same cross
and put a white
cross on top of it,
which became the emblem
for the Order of Christ.
But under the hood, this was
exactly the same brotherhood.
And what you see in Portugal
is that the Order of Christ
became very much involved
in the Portuguese explorations
and discoveries
across the globe.
They sailed on their
caravels, their man-o’-wars
with the familiar red
crosses all across the sea.
What they did on their
journes was make maps.
If you want to have good
you need to go to Portugal.
The one you see here
is the Cantino map.
This is from 1502.
And you can see that already
they have Newfoundland here,
which is called Terra
del Rey de Portugal.
And Nova Scotia
is on the map here.
So, if you want to think
about the Templar theory,
when the Templars were
suppressed in France in 1307,
if a group of Templars
managed to escape from France
with a treasure during that
suppression, some believe
they brought it here to
the New World somewhere.
So, the Portuguese
Order of Christ...
They may have been in search
of that Templar
treasure themselves.
The Portuguese Order of Christ...
They may have been in search of
that Templar
treasure themselves.
Yeah. For sure.
But also, you know,
there’s another reason
I’m interested in Portugal.
A lot of Templar
archives in France,
you know, in Italy, in
England, were destroyed.
They were not
destroyed in Portugal.
NARRATOR: In the w*r
room, theorist Corjan Mol
is presenting
research suggesting
that clues which
could help solve
the 227-year-old
Oak Island mystery
may be located in Portugal.
There’s some areas in
Portugal that I think have
a lot of Templar archives
and would give
us a lot of reasons
to put boots on the ground
and check it out for ourselves.
One place is the
Convento de Christo,
the Convent of Christ in Toma,
which became the Knights
Templar’s successors,
the Order of
Christ, head office.
I believe, you know,
we could find a ton
of information there.
And we also looked
at this church.
It’s called Fonte Arcada.
This is a very
interesting place.
Fonte Arcada was the earliest
Knights Templar commandery
in Portugal; it’s
very well preserved.
I think it would be very, very
interesting and useful
to go to these places,
see if there’s any inscriptions
or documents about
Templar explorations
that can build a bridge
back to Oak Island.
That would be astounding.
- Yeah.
- Doesn’t sound so bad.
It’s certainly interesting.
I think what I found
most compelling
about Corjan’s presentation is
he makes a very
plausible connection
between the Knights Templar
and Portugal during
the Age of Exploration.
You have this incredible
Portuguese history
of navigational skillset
that allowed them to
visit the New World
probably before anyone else.
It’s incredibly invigorating,
because we have
a tangible possibility
that suggests a who
and maybe a why.
MARTY: I think
there’s enough here.
If we have the time
and the resources,
I think we should
go on an expedition.
You won’t get an argument
from me, not on that.
All in favor, say "aye."
ALL: Aye.
Aye.
[laughter]
RICK: Corjan, would you agree
that it’s valuable to the point
where you might be
willing to assist us?
Yeah. I think that’s a
fantastic opportunity.
So, yes, please.
MARTY: So, here’s
a thing too, Rick.
While you’re gone, I’m
going to stay on the island
and dig and drill
all over the place.
Is anybody against that?
RICK: I have high hopes for it.
You know, and with
everyone’s enthusiasm,
I think... I think we
may just come back
with something that’ll
be an eye-opener.
- Yes.
- RICK: Okay.
Well, I think we’re
all in agreement.
Uh, Corjan, thank you
for the presentation.
Thank you for the
offer of assistance.
- Thank you.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
- Take care, guys.
Thank you.
NARRATOR: Will a year that began
with new scientific evidence
of a vast treasure buried
deep in the Money Pit
soon culminate
with the revelation
of Oak Island’s
ultimate secrets?
Might Rick, Marty, Craig
and the team not only discover
what that
long-sought-after treasure is
but also answer the
questions that have persisted
for 227 years?
Who put it there?
When? And why?
And, finally, what
might they unearth
about the true history
of North America?
Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...
- CORJAN: Welcome to Portugal.
- ALEX: Thank you.
If there is a
Portuguese connection
to the construction of
the road in the swamp,
- maybe this is the blueprint.
- DOUG: Yeah.
That’s exactly what
we have on Oak Island.
- Wow!
- Oh, man.
Oh, my God. That’s brilliant!
- All right!
- That’s a trophy find, mate.
The 90 Foot Stone definitely has
- this symbol on it.
- CORJAN: Oh, wow.
It looks the spitting image.
- ALEX: Yeah.
- It’s perfect.
- You’re looking right into it.
- MARTY: Whoa!
- It’s not English?
- No.
- Portuguese?
- Yeah.
That is amazing.
The Curse of Oak Island...
GARY:
Wow, look at that.
This might be the missing link
to treasure in this area.
CORJAN [over Skype]:
Never in a million years,
I expected to find
a link to Portugal.
And to the Knights Templar.
That’s astounding. Whoa!
- MARTY: That can’s going down fast.
- RICK: Wow.
We’re right at the vault.
We should be finding
something here pretty quick.
This is it.
IAN: Wow, this is a big find.
MARTY: We caught
a piece of this vault.
It’s amazing.
- Oh, baby.
- [laughter]
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 died
trying to solve the mystery.
And according to legend,
one more will have to die
before the treasure
can be found.
♪ ♪
DANNY: Showtime!
ANDREW: Yeah.
GARY: Hammer grab’s coming up.
This is the day.
This is it, Pete.
Our shining moment, hopefully.
NARRATOR: As a new
day begins on Oak Island...
- Good morning, gentlemen.
- Good morning, Andrew.
- How we doing?
- Good.
You tell us.
We’re doing real good.
Really good.
The level of excitement
for a major discovery
in the Money Pit
has never been higher for
brothers Rick and Marty Lagin,
their business
partner Craig Tester,
and the members of their team.
Danny’s down to 137 feet
with the can now and
everything’s going fine.
We’re just gonna
keep continuing on,
- same as yesterday.
- Yep.
CRAIG: Once we get
through this little last thing
of the Hedden Shaft,
it should be virgin ground,
hopefully all the way down to
where we’re looking for
the vault or the tunnel.
We’ll see what happens.
- Another 20, 30 feet.
- All right.
- I’ll keep you informed.
- RICK: All right.
- Thank you.
- You’re welcome.
NARRATOR: The team
is currently excavating
a 10-foot-wide shaft that
they have dubbed "D.M.T.-2."
Although D.M.T.-2 represents
their fourth and final attempt
this year to recover the
fabled Chappell Vault,
which is believed to lie
burid some 153 feet deep,
it was in this area that notable
treasure hunter Gilbert Hedden
firmly believed
it would be found
when he dug his own
shaft back in 1937.
But most importantly,
it was also here
that the team obtained
evidence of high concentrations
of silver and gold
several months ago
while testing the water in
previously drilled boreholes.
PETER: It’s coming out.
RICK: As we approach
the area of interest,
my hope is that we find
something definitive indicatig
a subterranean void or vault.
GARY: Here we go.
RICK: So, we have
to be very meticulous
to confirm that there
might actually be
gold and silver...
Not trace elements,
but actual...
refined gold and
silver in the Money Pit.
GARY: Now, that’s
going to be tough walking.
PETER: All right. Ready?
GARY: Okay, mate.
Let’s get stuck in.
[beeps]
We have got a signal, mate.
Worth digging.
- Just there, yeah.
- We’ll definitely dig that.
- GARY: It’s here.
- PETER: Oh, yeah?
- More metal, mate.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: A metal fragment?
Found at a depth
of some 136 feet
in the D.M.T.-2 caisson?
These could be washed
off and they might have
traces of gold on them.
- PETER: It could.
- This happened before.
- So, if you would hold onto that, mate.
- Yeah.
You want to take that
to the table, please?
- Yeah.
- GARY: Cheers.
- Oh, there’s something in there.
- There’s something in there.
NARRATOR: Earlier
this year, while conducting
a core-drilling operation
in the Money Pit area...
CHARLES: Yeah, it’s a big
chunk of metal right there.
The team recovered
two metal fragments
that contained
high traces of gold.
So, we got, I think,
more of that same
metal that we found before.
CRAIG: Yeah, maybe.
CHARLIES: This
shouldn’t be down there.
IAN: That’s the big mystery.
- Yeah.
- That is the mystery.
CRAIG: Well, we’ll get a
quick look with the XRF.
- Try to get a date on it.
- PETER: Yep.
- All right.
- CRIAG: Okay.
NARRATOR: Is it possible
that they have
found more evidence
of precious metals in D.M.T.-?
If so, could it be
just a small sign
of what’s to come
from deeper below?
Are we there yet?
We’re getting close, Marty.
All right. Anything?
That piece just came up.
I don’t know what it is, but
we’re going to have XRF done.
But it looks quite modern.
Mainly, we’re in virgin ground.
- Yes. Yeah.
- PETER: Here it comes.
MARTY: What the hell is that?
- CRAIG: That’s not good.
- MARTY: Wait. Wait. Wait.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
Uh-oh.
GARY: We may have a problem.
Houston, we’ve got a problem.
CRAIG: The cable’s
wrapped around.
Look, Pete. The
cable’s all wrapped up
- in the hammer grab.
- Oh, yeah.
- GARY: Dang.
- What’s it look like?
Is it jammed in there?
The anchor chain
went on the other side.
NARRATOR: It is a
potentially serious situation
for the representatives from
Irving Equipment Limited,
as a massive support
chain has become
tangled around a stabilizer
atop the 22-and-a-half-ton
hammer grab.
It not only comes
at a critical moment,
as the excavation
is less than 20 feet
from a potentially
historic discovery,
it means that the operation
will have to be halted
until the malfunction
can be remedied.
MARTY: We’ve spent an
enormous amount of time
and effort digging
in the Money Pit.
And we’re nearly there
and we had to stop,
so that was frustrating.
And we don’t know
when we’re gonna be
able to resume
our treasure hunt.
So... yeah, it’s-it’s a problem.
Eh, I think we’re going
to be on a little break here.
Last time, it took
quite a bit to undo that.
Yeah. It took, what,
a couple hours?
That’s Oak Island for you, mate.
NARRATOR: While the
team waits to continue
the excavation of
the D.M.T.-2 shaft...
later that morning...
- GARY: Here we are, mate.
- MICHAEL J.: Yep.
Metal detection
expert Gary Drayton
and treasure hunter
Michael John arrive on Lot 8,
located on the western
drumlin of Oak Island.
Once you find a large
grouping of potentially good
finds like this, it’s like,
"What are they doing here?"
So this is, like,
a central area.
Yeah. That’s right.
Exactly. Yeah.
NARRATOR: In addition to
the Money Pit and the swamp,
Lot 8 has now become
a potentially critical
zone of interest for the team
due to a number of recent
discoveries and developments.
These include a
large metallic anomaly
detected by ground-penetrating
radar some 20 feet deep...
SCOTT: There’s just
a big layer of rocks
right across this whole area.
This looks clearly man-made.
A mysterious stone-paved
feature and large boulder
proving to represent evidence
of previous human activity,
and a semiprecious
garnet gemstone...
A gemstone that 32nd
degree Freemason Scott Clarke
believes could be connected
to the Knights Templar
and one of the most sought-after
missing holy relics
in human history:
the Ark of the Covenant.
- Okay, mate. You ready?
- Yep.
Let’s get stuck in.
NARRATOR: Now, while
Rick, Marty and Craig
await a government permit
to conduct a
large-scale excavation
to determine just what
the mysterious buried
anomaly could be,
Gary and Michael
are hoping to find
any clues to help verify
if Scott Clarke’s incredible
theory could be true.
- Okay, mate.
- All right.
This is the first target.
Let’s see what this
baby sounds like.
Oh, look! That
sounds fantastic, mate.
- That’s what I like to hear, mate.
- A good signal, isn’t it?
That is the sound of history
- being uncovered in a few minutes.
- All righty.
MICHAEL J.: Oh, here we go.
GARY: Ooh, look at that.
That’s nice, mate!
That looks like an
old, oval chain link.
Yeah.
GARY: The old chain
links were always oval.
The newer chain links are round.
- And if you notice the irregularity of it...
- Yeah.
- It’s a very crude chain link.
- Yeah.
- Definitely not factory-made.
- Oh, no.
Whenever you need a chain,
that means you’ve
been hauling something.
And you never know.
Maybe there was chain,
like, around a chest
or an old box.
NARRATOR: Could Gary Drayton
be correct that this piece of chain
may have once been used
to transport a large chest?
If so, who left it on Lot 8?
And could it be connected
to the large metallic anomaly
that the team hopes to excavae
as soon as they
can obtain a permit?
This is fantastic.
What was a chain doing
- out in the middle of nowhere?
- Yeah.
Because this is
out in the boonies
- even for Oak Island.
- That’s right. Exactly. Yeah.
All right, mate.
Let’s put that flag back in...
and let’s keep rolling, mate.
It’s a good sign that we’re in
an area where people were.
There’s got to be
other stuff in the area.
MICHAEL J.: Oh, no doubt.
The next flag is
down here, mate.
Let’s see what
this one says, eh?
A bit jumpy.
- I suspect this is iron.
- Okay.
But...
- definitely a biggish target.
- Right there?
- MICHAEL J.: Nice and deep.
- Yeah.
- GARY: Just there.
- Yeah?
- GARY: There we go.
- Here we go.
GARY: An excellent sign, mate.
MICHAEL J.: Yeah.
- MICHAEL J.: Still there?
- GARY: Yeah.
- There we go.
- Here we go.
Another excellent sign, mate.
Yeah.
- A big, old ox shoe.
- No doubt.
NARRATOR: On
Lot 8 of Oak Island,
Gary Drayton and Michael
John have just unearthed
a potentially important clue.
GARY: Just by
looking at it like that,
what I can tell you, mate,
is it’s kind of out of place
just here, out in the
middle of nowhere, mate.
And I don’t believe
this was farmland.
MICHAEL J.: I don’t
think so, either, no.
And I’m happy
- that we found an ox shoe in this area.
- Yeah. Me, too.
They were definitely
hauling something here,
because we’ve got the ox shoes,
- we’ve got the oval chain.
- The chain link.
Yes. That’s the
mystery, isn’t it?
GARY: Yep.
NARRATOR: A large ox shoe?
Discovered near a piece of chain
where the team has also detected
a large, metal anomaly buried
some 20 feet underground?
GARY: Wow, this
ox shoe was very dep
and it’s in great condition.
Whoever was hauling in this
area was hauling something big,
because this ox shoe was
on a big beast of burden.
NARRATOR: Over
the past two years,
the Oak Island
team has discovered
numerous ancient stone pathways,
along with ox shoes and
other evidence suggesting
large operations to haul cargo
onto and across the island.
Previously, the most
compellig of these was found
between the triangle-shaped
swamp and the Money Pit.
Have Gary and Michael
now found more evidence
of a similar operation on Lot 8?
And, if so, could it possibly
support Scott Clarke’s theory
that the Knights Templar
hid priceless religious artifacts
on Oak Island centuries ago?
GARY: What are those
artifacts doing out here
in the middle of nowhere?
We’re right in the
middle of the island.
I’m telling you, mate, we
are on to something here.
All signs lead to activity.
- Something happened here.
- Yep.
- Yeah.
- Exactly. In this area.
Someone spent a
lot of time out here.
Now, whether they
were passing through
from one shore
to the other shore,
the artifacts tell
- the story of the site.
- Yeah.
This might be the
missing link telling us
that we’re on to
treasure in this area.
Yeah.
GARY: Okay, mate.
Let’s keep rolling.
NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...
PETER: All right.
Today’s the day.
Better find that vault
pretty quick, Craig.
That can is going down fast.
Gold coins are
easy to dig through,
- so...
- Yeah, they really are.
I-it wouldn’t
increase the pressure.
After successfully repairig
the massive hammer grab tool,
Marty Lagina, Craig Tester
and members of the team
continue supervising
the excavation
of the D.M.T.-2 shaft.
- Hey, fellas. -Hey, Andrew.
- Hey, Andrew.
How we doing?
- The man with the data.
- Yeah.
- Where are we?
- We’re looking good.
We’re at 146 with the dig.
- With the dig?
- With the dig.
- 157 with the casing.
- Okay.
All right, well, we
should be finding
something here
pretty quick. This is it.
This is your spot, Craig.
NARRATOR: Now that the
has reached a depth of 157 feet,
it is a critical moment
for the Oak Island team.
Are we approximately in
that zone where we want
- to be right now?
- MARTY: Yes, about this... -Yeah.
- Beginning with this grab, I’d say.
- Okay.
NARRATOR: Although
the hammer grab tool
has more than ten feet of spoils
to remove from the caisson,
according to the
historical record,
the seven-foot-high
Chappell Vault
was located at a
depth of 153 feet.
That means the team
could be mere feet
from a historic discovery.
Well, we should be
getting very close now.
This hammer grab
or the next one.
We don’t completely
understand the Money Pit,
even at this late stage.
The Oak Island Treasure Compay
vault resided roughly
at the 150-foot horizon.
And that is the depth
where it should be,
unless it had fallen deeper.
PETER: Here it comes.
That’s a full one.
GARY: Yeah, that is.
That’s a hell of a lot
of material in there.
Should we jump in, Ian?
IAN: Yeah, yeah, let’s go.
Think you better go
help that old man, Pete.
Okay.
What are we into?
- Boulders, I see.
- MARTY: It’s about time you show up.
We’re right there. We’re
right at the vault zone.
So we should be around
the 148 mark right now.
What do you make...
Make of it? This clay, is it?
Yeah, it’s very, very fine clay.
- Let’s take that over there.
- IAN: Yeah.
CRAIG: So, this looks like clay.
Yeah, it’s very,
very, very, very fine.
- RICK: Is that embedded?
- IAN: Yeah.
Yeah, like the story of
ponded clay or puddled clay.
NARRATOR: Puddled clay?
Found at a depth
of nearly 150 feet?
When members of the
Onslow Company excavated
the original Money Pit in 180,
they discovered large
amounts of puddled clay
packed into the oak platforms
descending to the 90-foot level,
acting as a kind of sealant
from the believed
booby-trapped flood tunnels.
This same type of clay was
also reported 93 years later
by treasure hunters Frederick
Blair and William Chappell
just before they drilled
into the fabled vault
at a depth of 153 feet.
Is it possible that the team
has now encountered
evidence of human activity
to protect something
of great value?
If so, just what
might they find next?
I wouldn’t worry too much about
the wood looking real young,
’cause if it was in this
kind of environment,
there’s no oxygen whatsoever.
The treasure vault is very,
very precisely described.
It was puddled clay
through concrete and wood.
It certainly sounds like a vey
properly designed vault.
That’s what we’re looking for.
Here we go. Here’s another one.
Ooh, rainy with a
chance of treasure.
Is that a bunch of wood?
- That is wood.
- That’s a hell of a lot of wood.
GARY: Ooh, look at that.
That looks a little
more promising.
CRAIG: Yeah.
RICK: Oh, my goodness.
CRAIG: That is
exactly what we want.
- That’s a substantial piece.
- Yeah, a post-looking piece.
PETER: They are dense.
Yeah, that feels very heavy.
I don’t know about
that one, but...
PETER: This is dense.
MARTY: Let’s
let Billy spread it.
Let’s go over there.
NARRATOR: Given the fact that
the Oak Island team obtained
high traces of silver and gold
when they conducted
water testing
in this area earlier this yea,
could the vast amounts
of hand-cut wood
mean that they are on the
vere of recovering the treasure
people have been seeking
for more than two centuries?
CRAIG: Axe-cut.
Partially, at least.
Well, maybe that’s sawed off.
- MARTY: That is axe-cut?
- CRAIG: I don’t know.
MARTY: Feel the weight of that.
Yeah, that’s why
it’s hard to see this
as contemporary with Hedden.
MARTY: It’s very deep, too.
- IAN: It’s older wood.
- MARTY: Is it?
- IAN: Oh, yeah.
- MARTY: Well, let’s keep going.
Okay.
There’s a piece of wood.
Piece of wood
on the front there.
BILLY: A piece of
wood right on top there.
PETER: Billy’s got it.
MARTY: Wow.
Dang, that is a
big piece of wood.
IAN: It’s heavy as all get out.
MARTY: This is
wildly out of place.
IAN: Wildly out of place.
MARTY: Yeah.
MARTY: This is
wildly out of place.
That almost looks
like what we’d see
in Smith’s Cove, you know?
The clay is plastered on it.
- I mean, that’s just pure clay.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: It is a
potentially critical moment
in the Money Pit area for Ric,
Marty, Craig and their team.
- CRAIG: I’m going to go wash it off.
- MARTY: All right.
An important piece of wood.
NARRATOR: At a depth of
nearly 150 feet in the D.M.T.-2 shaf,
they have just unearthed
what is believed to be
hand-worked, puddled clay,
as well as evidence
of a possibly ancient
wooden structure.
CRAIG: What’s it mean,
Charles, bringing up
some wood from this depth?
I don’t know. Is that a tunnel?
CRAIG: I don’t know.
CHARLES: I’ll go
punch up a tag for it.
Great. I’m gonna go wash it off.
NARRATOR: And what makes
these discoveries especially compelling
is that a large amount of
puddled clay was reported
by searchers just
before they drilled into
the so-called "Chappell Vault"
at this approximate
depth back in 1897.
MARTY: So you see
saw marks on that, Craig?
It looks like it.
- MARTY: Look how broad those are.
- CRAIG: Yeah.
A motorized circular saw
puts a whole bunch of them.
You know, I mean, I
wonder if this was, like,
- a hand-done thing or something.
- Yeah.
MARTY: Well, what’s
it doing down there?
CRAIG: Maybe
it’s part of the vault.
It could be.
MARTY: Are we all tired of wood?
I’m tired of wood.
But this is... this is
wood that’s wildly
out of place. It really
shouldn’t be there.
It is also heavy as can be.
I mean, this thing is a
very dense piece of wood.
It’s right at the right depth.
So, the conjecture is we caugt
some little piece of
this so-called vault.
CRAIG: See how
the cut’s right there?
- I see several.
- Yeah.
Well, it’s wildly out of place.
Yeah, I know.
Doesn’t make sense.
Okay, we’ll get
Charles to mark that up.
MARTY: Excellent.
NARRATOR: As the
excavation continues
in the Money Pit area...
- Hey, Mike.
- Hey, Steve. How are you, man?
- How you doing?
- I’m good, brother.
Just 200 feet to the northeast,
near Borehole 10-X,
Steve Guptill joins
Michael John to carefully sift
through the spoils that were
just removed from D.M.T.-2.
We have a very
interesting and significant
data that happens in and around
- the 150-foot mark.
- Yeah.
A few feet above that
and 25 feet below that is
the interesting area that
could be treasure vault location.
- Uh-huh.
- So,
potentially, there
could be a very
- significant find in this one.
- Okay.
MICHAEL J.: As always,
I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
D.M.T. is close to a depth
where we’re keenly interested
in what it might show and so
we have a lot of anticipation.
And of course, every bucket,
you’re always looking for
a piece of jewelry, a coin,
and we aren’t gonna miss it.
So, we need to look closely
through the spoils piles.
- What is that?
- What you got?
Well, I think it’s just a
rock or a piece of wood.
But it almost
looks like a fossil.
MICHAEL J.: Yes.
Oh.
- Is this coal?
- Oh, wow.
MICHAEL J.: Feels like it, yeah.
A lot of coal, so we know
people were down there.
Exactly. That’s right. Yeah.
NARRATOR: Dating
back at least four centuries,
mining operations across Euroe
utilized the method of burning
charcoal in underground furnaces
in order to provide
oxygen for the workers.
In 1804, when the Onslow
Company first excavated the original
Money Pit down
to the 90-foot level,
they not only encountered
puddled clay at various levels
but also charcoal.
STEVE G.: It breaks really easy.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that
Steve Guptill and Michael John
have just found more evidence
of original workings
that were conducted
in order to hide the
legendary Oak Island treasure?
Well, if that says
anything, we know people
were in this area.
So, that makes
the next couple table
loads more interesting.
- Yeah, that’s right.
- Yeah.
STEVE G.: What is this?
Look at this. That’s interesting.
- What you got there?
- Does that look like cement to you?
Or concrete? What is that?
There’s something
wound between...
It’s not cement, I don’t think.
But I don’t know.
Yeah. It is cement.
STEVE G.: Oh, wow.
Cement’s important in
the search, because
cement itself often goes back
- to a treasure chamber, a treasure vault.
- Oh.
NARRATOR: Cement?
The very substance
reportedly encasing
the seven-foot-tall
Chappell Vault?
As the clues keep adding
up for the Oak Island team,
could that mean the
legendary treasure
is finally within their reach?
Good eye, Steve. You
know what I’m going to do?
- I’m going to bag it and tag it.
- Sounds good.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, we should get that examined.
For sure.
There it goes. It’s on.
NARRATOR: Back at the Money Pit,
the excavation of
the D.M.T.-2 shaft
has now surpassed
a depth of 153 feet,
where the Chappell
Vault was reported to have
been encountered
nearly 125 years ago.
We’re ready.
With all the clues hinting
that a major
discovery is imminent,
the question now becomes
just how much
deeper could it be?
All right, Danny.
What’s the good news?
Hey. All right.
What are the numbers, brother?
We got, uh, we just put
on our five-foot piece.
That makes it 191, total casing.
- The casing is in the ground 174.
- Okay.
Did you want a measurement
of the water or do
you want us to go?
No.
- Just go? All right.
- Just go.
- Thank you.
- Thanks, Danny.
- Ready, Pete?
- Yep. Ready.
DANNY: Ooh-whee! Smoking.
- It’s going right down.
- It is?
RICK: Wow.
See how fast that’s going down?
MARTY: Geez.
That’s the fastest
I’ve ever seen
a can go down.
RICK: Holy smokes!
That thing went down
six feet, probably?
Ten.
You can actually
watch it go down.
- CRAIG: Yeah. It’s flying down.
- MARTY: Yeah.
CRAIG: It is amazing.
RICK: A void has
to be below this.
Yeah.
RICK: A void has
to be below this.
It’s flying down.
You can actually
watch it go down.
NARRATOR: In the Money Pit area,
at a depth of some 174 feet,
the D.M.T.-2 shaft
has suddenly begun to
rapidly sink into the ground.
I don’t know if
anybody witnessed that,
- but we just broke a record.
- [laughter]
For going down that
fast for that size of shaft.
That is something
I’ve never seen before.
Anything weird you can
think of happens here.
RICK: There’s some void,
some reason to believe
that there is an
open area at depth.
That might indicate
a subterranean vault.
It also could be very natural.
And I don’t think
we’ll ever be able
to understand what that is
unless we find something
down there that is man-made.
MARTY: Look at that hammer grab.
CHARLES: Wow.
- It’s just soup.
- Yep.
RICK: At this point, we’re
not much farther to bedrock.
Yeah.
MARTY: It looks like
the vault’s not there.
It’s just not.
PETER: That was
possibly the last grab.
GARY: Let’s check it out.
CRAIG: Nothing special.
GARY: This is shocking, mate.
- Nothing?
- GARY: Nope.
PETER: Four cans, no results.
That’s all she wrote.
MARTY: Are we done?
Is that the last grab?
CHARLES: We’re in bedrock.
Yeah, we are.
ANDREW: We’re
definitely there with the dig.
The fourth and last
can of the season.
We’re as far down as we can
get. What’s your thoughts? Yeah.
Yeah. You know, I’m
obviously disappointed
that we didn’t hit something
significantly better.
NARRATOR: It is a crushing
disappointment for Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team.
After recovering numerous
pieces of evidence
suggesting that they might
hae finally pinpointed the locatin
of the fabled Chappell Vault,
they have reached a dead end
in the form of bedrock
at a depth of 183 feet.
Could that mean they
were actually digging
in the wrong location?
Or could the treasure
cache have fallen somewhere
off to the side in
the mysterious void?
MARTY: Was the hole a success?
I mean, we hoped
to get the vault.
- Absolutely.
- MARTY: And we didn’t. Um...
but yet more anomalies,
highly anomalous stuff,
needs to be tested.
Maybe some more clues.
When we get
through that vault area
and it’s not there,
it’s disappointing.
So, at this point,
we’ve just accepted it.
We can’t stop. We have to
go as long as we possibly can
and figure this out as
much as we can this year.
RICK: We’ve
completed the final can
and it’s like a
broken record, right?
It keeps replaying, you know?
Unsuccessful.
Unsuccessful. Unsuccessful.
So, I don’t know
where we go from here.
But you mustn’t be deterred
and we each have to
step back and assess
for ourselves what are our
thoughts moving forward.
Sempre avanti:
keep moving forward.
It’s the only way
we’re going to solve it.
So, let’s do that. Don’t quit.
MARTY: I like
your spirit, hombre.
NARRATOR: Later that evening...
So, guys. A unique
opportunity has presented itself.
Rick, Marty and Craig
gathr in the w*r room
with members of their team
to strategize the few remainig
weeks they have left before
they will have to suspend
search activities for the
remainder of the year.
I know that we’ve all been
a bit troubled by the fact
that the four cans...
To date, at least...
Have not yielded much.
There may be an
opportunity here for
a possible fifth can location.
Everyone can weigh in, but
I think we should possibly,
you know, take
advantage of this.
Yep.
Oh, that’s without
question, Rick.
I didn’t know we
could fit that in.
I mean, I’m a
proponent of digging
whenever we can dig.
RICK: So, yes, I’ve
spoken with Irving
and they’ve confirmed
that it is indeed possible
and we have a little
bit of wiggle room there.
I mean, that’s a great
idea if we can do it.
Yeah, but... do we have a good
idea of where we want to go?
- Maybe close to C-1.
- CRAIG: Yep.
My thought would be
to go up in that area,
the C-1 cluster, to
try to confirm that it is
indeed possibly the
original Money Pit.
- Yep.
- JACK: C-1 has
the highest amounts
of gold and silver
of any other drill
hole that we have.
So why not continue
to search around there?
MARTY: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Although the
team has already excavated
two ten-foot-diameter
shafts in the C-1 Cluster
without making a
breakthrough discovery...
We’re going to mix between
- Right.
- Earlier this year...
- Let’s hope.
- While conducting water testing
in the existing boreholes
around the C-1 shaft,
the team obtained high
readins for silver and gold.
Additional
core-drilling in the area
then yielded fragments
of metal containing gold,
as well as evidence of
man-made tunnels that could date
to as early as 1488 at a
depth of nearly 90 feet.
Is it possible that digging oe
more shaft in the C-1 cluster
will solve the Oak
Island mystery?
So, I’ve calculated
the positions of
TF-1 to the west
and EC-1 to the east.
But I’ve left enough room
so we can go to the north.
"Yes, let’s do it,"
is what I would say.
Put it a foot off of EC-1.
- Right there?
- There you go.
- Right there?
- Yep.
Well, if we’re
going to put it there,
I guess we’re pretty near
gonna be centered on B-4.
All right. Well,
we’re kind of burning
the very minutes we’re
talking about to dig, so Scott,
how about you name this one?
Well, if we’re going
to position there,
if we roll that closer to EC-1,
B-4 is going to be basically
the center of that caisson.
So, B-4,
call it B-4C for B-4 caisson.
So it’s the hole we dug just
before we found the treasure,
is that what you’re saying?
- Just before. That’s right.
- [laughter]
Before we see the treasure.
- There we go.
- Before we see the treasure.
- I love it.
- MARTY: Works for me. Yeah.
- Now, make it so.
- Make it so.
- MARTY: Okay, gentlemen.
- RICK: All right. Very good.
MARTY: Excellent.
Thank you very much.
- JACK: Ready or what?
- GARY: Yep. This is it.
Last can of the year, mate.
- It’s in a great location, just north of C-1, mate.
- Yep.
That area, to me, was
one of the most interesting
areas of the whole campaign.
They said it couldn’t be
done, but here we are.
NARRATOR: A new
day begins on Oak Island,
and also with it,
a renewal of hope
for Rick, Marty,
Craig and their team
as they begin
excavating the B-4C shaft
in search of the fabled
Money Pit treasure vault.
DANNY: How’s that?
Perfect.
Okay.
DANNY: Okay, ready? Bring it up.
RICK: We’re approaching
the end of the year.
Mother Nature’s closing in.
But as I have said before,
we’re not going to give up.
It ain’t over till
it’s over, mate.
We’re positive that there
is treasure down there.
JACK: I feel good
about this caisson.
NARRATOR: As the excavation
of the B-4C shaft gets underway...
later that morning...
- Hi, guys.
- [greetings]
Hey, guys.
Rick, Marty and Craig
have assembled
members of the team
in the w*r room for a meeting
via video conference
with their associate
and Oak Island
researcher Corjan Mol.
Hi, everyone. Thank
you for having me.
NARRATOR: Also joining
the team is Judi Rudebusch,
the research partner
of the late author
and Oak Island
theorist Zena Halpern.
Doug, as you are
well aware... and Judi...
Are continuing to
make connections
as far as a possible
Portuguese connection,
but Doug in particular
has reached out to Corjan,
so I’m going to
turn it over to Doug
and I think we’re going to learn
some very
interesting facts today.
So, Doug, if you
want to take over...
Yeah, well, I guess
what I’m excited about
is that we’ve got
some scientific reason
to look towards Portugal,
because of the dating
we’ve attained on objects
both in the swamp
and the Money Pit.
We have historic reasons
now to look towards Portugal.
NARRATOR: Over
the past two years,
in addition to finding
compelling evidence
that vast quantities
of precious metals
lie buried deep
in the Money Pit,
the team has also unearthed
numerous structures
and artifacts suggesting that
someone of Portuguese origin
visited Oak Island as
much as five centuries ago.
These discoveries include a
fragment of a ship’s cannon
found on Lot 4,
two pieces of stone
shot, one of which was
recovered from the Money Pit,
and the massive stone
road or ship’s wharf
in the triangle-shaped swamp.
In talking with Corjan,
he has a very interesting
theoretical reason
why Portugal may
play an important role,
so I think you’re going
to be really intrigued to
hear what he has to say.
I’m looking forward to it.
Corjan, I’m going
to turn it over to you.
Okay, thanks.
I wanted to start with
the, u, the first image here.
I believe your team
discovered a few
Portuguese things on Oak Island.
Portugal has an incredible
Knights Templar history.
I’m sure you are aware
that the Order of
the Knights Templar
was dissolved in 1312
in every country in
Europe but Portugal.
In 1307, the arrest
warrant went out,
first all across France
and later all across Europe.
They were arrested,
sometimes they were
ex*cuted and imprisoned.
NARRATOR: Between the
the military order of monks
known as the Knights Templar
accumulated a vast treasure
in the Holy Land
during the Crusades.
Some researchers believe
this treasure included
priceless religious artifacts
such as the Holy Grail,
the golden menorah
from Solomon’s Temple
and the Ark of the Covenant.
However, when the
order was disbanded
by King Philip IV
of France in 1307,
it has been suggested that
a number of Templar Knights
fled with their vast
treasures to Scotland
before taking
them to Oak Island.
Although little of the
Templars’ true history
is known following their
persecution in France,
it is well established
that a new sect
would soon rise
again in Portugal.
Many Templars fled
from Spain, from France
and maybe other
countries to Portugal,
because they were
under protection
of the Portuguese king.
King Dinis, who restarted
the Knights Templar
as Order of Christ in 1319,
changed their logo.
He kept sort of the same cross
and put a white
cross on top of it,
which became the emblem
for the Order of Christ.
But under the hood, this was
exactly the same brotherhood.
And what you see in Portugal
is that the Order of Christ
became very much involved
in the Portuguese explorations
and discoveries
across the globe.
They sailed on their
caravels, their man-o’-wars
with the familiar red
crosses all across the sea.
What they did on their
journes was make maps.
If you want to have good
you need to go to Portugal.
The one you see here
is the Cantino map.
This is from 1502.
And you can see that already
they have Newfoundland here,
which is called Terra
del Rey de Portugal.
And Nova Scotia
is on the map here.
So, if you want to think
about the Templar theory,
when the Templars were
suppressed in France in 1307,
if a group of Templars
managed to escape from France
with a treasure during that
suppression, some believe
they brought it here to
the New World somewhere.
So, the Portuguese
Order of Christ...
They may have been in search
of that Templar
treasure themselves.
The Portuguese Order of Christ...
They may have been in search of
that Templar
treasure themselves.
Yeah. For sure.
But also, you know,
there’s another reason
I’m interested in Portugal.
A lot of Templar
archives in France,
you know, in Italy, in
England, were destroyed.
They were not
destroyed in Portugal.
NARRATOR: In the w*r
room, theorist Corjan Mol
is presenting
research suggesting
that clues which
could help solve
the 227-year-old
Oak Island mystery
may be located in Portugal.
There’s some areas in
Portugal that I think have
a lot of Templar archives
and would give
us a lot of reasons
to put boots on the ground
and check it out for ourselves.
One place is the
Convento de Christo,
the Convent of Christ in Toma,
which became the Knights
Templar’s successors,
the Order of
Christ, head office.
I believe, you know,
we could find a ton
of information there.
And we also looked
at this church.
It’s called Fonte Arcada.
This is a very
interesting place.
Fonte Arcada was the earliest
Knights Templar commandery
in Portugal; it’s
very well preserved.
I think it would be very, very
interesting and useful
to go to these places,
see if there’s any inscriptions
or documents about
Templar explorations
that can build a bridge
back to Oak Island.
That would be astounding.
- Yeah.
- Doesn’t sound so bad.
It’s certainly interesting.
I think what I found
most compelling
about Corjan’s presentation is
he makes a very
plausible connection
between the Knights Templar
and Portugal during
the Age of Exploration.
You have this incredible
Portuguese history
of navigational skillset
that allowed them to
visit the New World
probably before anyone else.
It’s incredibly invigorating,
because we have
a tangible possibility
that suggests a who
and maybe a why.
MARTY: I think
there’s enough here.
If we have the time
and the resources,
I think we should
go on an expedition.
You won’t get an argument
from me, not on that.
All in favor, say "aye."
ALL: Aye.
Aye.
[laughter]
RICK: Corjan, would you agree
that it’s valuable to the point
where you might be
willing to assist us?
Yeah. I think that’s a
fantastic opportunity.
So, yes, please.
MARTY: So, here’s
a thing too, Rick.
While you’re gone, I’m
going to stay on the island
and dig and drill
all over the place.
Is anybody against that?
RICK: I have high hopes for it.
You know, and with
everyone’s enthusiasm,
I think... I think we
may just come back
with something that’ll
be an eye-opener.
- Yes.
- RICK: Okay.
Well, I think we’re
all in agreement.
Uh, Corjan, thank you
for the presentation.
Thank you for the
offer of assistance.
- Thank you.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
- Take care, guys.
Thank you.
NARRATOR: Will a year that began
with new scientific evidence
of a vast treasure buried
deep in the Money Pit
soon culminate
with the revelation
of Oak Island’s
ultimate secrets?
Might Rick, Marty, Craig
and the team not only discover
what that
long-sought-after treasure is
but also answer the
questions that have persisted
for 227 years?
Who put it there?
When? And why?
And, finally, what
might they unearth
about the true history
of North America?
Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...
- CORJAN: Welcome to Portugal.
- ALEX: Thank you.
If there is a
Portuguese connection
to the construction of
the road in the swamp,
- maybe this is the blueprint.
- DOUG: Yeah.
That’s exactly what
we have on Oak Island.
- Wow!
- Oh, man.
Oh, my God. That’s brilliant!
- All right!
- That’s a trophy find, mate.
The 90 Foot Stone definitely has
- this symbol on it.
- CORJAN: Oh, wow.
It looks the spitting image.
- ALEX: Yeah.
- It’s perfect.
- You’re looking right into it.
- MARTY: Whoa!
- It’s not English?
- No.
- Portuguese?
- Yeah.
That is amazing.