12x16 - Open Sesame

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...

MARTY:
I think our next target

is what we call Aladdin's cave.
All right,

- here we go.
- RICK: It's the genie in the lamp,

and all your wishes
will be granted.

- TOM: It looks like there's something here.
- KATYA: Oh, wow.

Look at the head on that thing.

That could have easily
come out of a treasure chest.

These teeth are ready
to bite on some gold.

- [laughs]
- I love it.

I think we're breaking
through the cave.

- Agreed.
- VANESSA: We're hitting something, right?

GARY: This could
be the most important

hammer-grab in history.

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.

♪

NARRATOR: A peaceful
morning has begun on Oak Island.

But in the fabled
Money Pit area,

a sobering sense of
stagnation has set in,

as more than 300 tons

of heavy digging
equipment sits idle.

MARTY: Okay, everybody,

welcome to an impromptu
session of the w*r room.

Vanessa, you've
been here before,

both in person
and on the screen.

And of course, on
the screen right now

is Craig, participating
from Traverse City.

Here's the reason we're here:

The island, as usual, has
thrown us a few curveballs.

RICK: We obviously have suffered

a... an event, we'll call it,

with TB-1. We've lost
considerable amount of soils.

And there are legitimate
concerns about the caisson.

- Correct.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: Three weeks ago,

brothers Rick and Marty
Lagina and their team

began excavating a
seven-foot-diameter steel shaft

known as TB-1.

A shaft located in an area

where they have not only
detected high trace evidence

of precious metals
in groundwater

below a depth of 100 feet,

but also where a recent
core-drilling operation

recovered possible
evidence of the legendary

Chappell Vault...

This looks like the vault.

NARRATOR: a seven-foot-high,
concrete-encased wooden chest

that was reportedly
encountered at a depth of 153 feet

by treasure hunter
Frederick Blair

and his drilling operator
William Chappell back in 1897.

However, after additional
promising discoveries were made

in TB-1, including
possible evidence

of the original Money Pit

and concrete at a
depth of nearly 160 feet...

VANESSA: This collapse
is just not stopping.

JARED: I just don't
know where it's going,

but it's going somewhere.

NARRATOR: the
earth surrounding

and beneath the
shaft began to cave in.

This has caused
the team to believe

that more than 100
cubic yards of soil,

along with the
possible treasure,

may have fallen into a
so-called "solution channel,"

or naturally occurring
cavern in the bedrock,

some 200 feet underground.

It really looks like the
culprit for these collapses

is, so far, the-the
solution channel.

Mm-hmm.

MARTY: The treasure
could easily have fallen

to 200 feet plus, and we
haven't really searched that area.

- Right.
- MARTY: If you had a chest of gold,

and it broke open,
it'd be in the last inch.

With that having been
said, I... I think we need

a very vigorous discussion
about what we do next

and an update from
both of you as to

what problems you've encountered
and how to deal with them.

VANESSA: Uh, my biggest concern

is I don't want to set up
on shafts we just drilled.

So where we're
drilling right now,

I do not want to put the crane

or the oscillator on, right?

'Cause we're going to already
have settling. We know that.

MARTY: The area around
TB-1 is clearly compromised.

If the solution channel,
which we know is quite large,

can be swallowing 100 yards
of sand and gravel overnight,

or during the day,

uh, who knows how
bad this could get?

If we're facing, you know,

the back of the
crane over here now,

turning it over here might
get us away from that.

MARTY: We're going to have
to wait for the material to settle.

It'll probably become

more stable, and we
can come back close.

And I want to come back close.

We have a renewed determination

to get down into
that solution cavity.

Or at least I do.

Okay, well, let's talk about

where are we going next, and
what are the specifics about it?

So, I think our next target is

right there.

That's what we
call "Aladdin's cave."

That's one that we had decided,

as a group, we'd
like to do this year.

Okay.

NARRATOR: Despite the
devastating setback in TB-1,

curiously, the
Laginas and their team

have discovered evidence
that multiple treasures

could be buried in
the Money Pit area.

And one of those
additional targets

has been expectantly
dubbed "Aladdin's cave."

MARTY: Okay. Go real slow.

NARRATOR: After
drilling into this mysterious,

flooded cavern some


back in 2022,

the team has not only collected

trace evidence
of precious metals

and organic
materials in the water...

PAUL: Now we have
another image coming in.

- SCOTT: Whoa.
- STEVE: Oh, that's a good opening.

SCOTT: It is. You can see
the opening coming down here.

NARRATOR: but
they have also obtained

video and sonar evidence

that it could be a
man-made chamber

with tunnels that may connect
to the original Money Pit.

What is the dimensions
of that cave, once we do

- break through?
- STEVE: So, you're about



so 20 feet north-south,


You can see it here.

Right. And then deep,
as much as 12 feet.

VANESSA: If you want
to do Aladdin's cave,

I would say do that next.

I think there's enough
room back here for us to sit

and be on competent ground.

MARTY: Hmm. Okay.

Yeah.

Craig, you're fully
on board, yes?

Absolutely.

Okay, great.

RICK: I think, given
the drill program,

the dendrochronology,
the artifact recoveries,

and the water sample
testing program,

there is a very good logic

to there being at
least two treasures

in the so-called Money Pit area.

Aladdin's cave may
be one of those sites.

All right, look, I-I hear broad
consensus, I hear no "nays."

I hear everybody saying
let's go drill Aladdin's cave.

Let's find the lamp.

And touch nothing else.

[laughter]

Let's see what happens.

MARTY: Let's go.

NARRATOR: Later that afternoon,

as representatives from ROC
Equipment and SB Canada...

JARED: Bring it straight back.

Prepare to excavate
the new shaft known as

Aladdin's cave-1 in
the Money Pit area...

JARED: That looks better.

TOM: We're going
to follow the path

of the cobble towards the water.

We're heading north,

and see what we
find on this trail.

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina,

fellow Oak Island
landowner Tom Nolan,

and other members of the team

continue another critical
search for valuables

in the northern region of
the triangle-shaped swamp.

We laid out...

you see the red stakes?

That's the line... we believe

we'll find more survey
stakes along that line.

If we find them
out here, it may be

purposeful in terms
of laying out this path.

What did we find on
the other side of the bog?

What did you find?

- The...
- The square structure.

Exactly, and I hope that,

at the end of this path,
there is another one.

Yes.

NARRATOR: While
investigating this area

over the past several months,

the team has uncovered sections

of a believed man-made
cobblestone pathway

that has led to a number

of potentially
critical discoveries.

These include several
wood-planked structures

and even an empty
brick and slate vault,

which the team believes

may have once contained
something of great value.

Okay, Alan, you're up.

[engine starts]

RICK: As we continue to explore

the possibility of the
continuation of this path

in the north, we need
to reassess and look at it

in its totality.

The hope is, as
this work proceeds,

we will find something

very definitive in terms of

why this end of the
bog was worked,

and weave the story
of what this represents.

Hopefully, there are full vaults

that we have yet to uncover.

Wait a minute. Hold up.

JACK: Oh.

KATYA: Oh, wow.
What do we have here?

RICK: I don't know.

JACK: It's a plank.

These wouldn't
have been put here

by your dad would they, Tom?

TOM: With this amount of till

on top of it, I don't think.

NARRATOR: While
searching for a continuation

of the cobblestone pathway
in the northern region

of the Oak Island swamp,

Rick Lagina and members
of the team have just made

a potentially
important discovery.

This looks exactly
like what we found

right by the square structure,

where we also found

- the big stakes.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: If Katya
Drayton's suspicion is correct...

that this planked structure

might be related to the
one that the team found

four weeks ago, just
several yards to the south...

could she also be correct
that other important clues

or structures might
be buried nearby?

JACK: What's that there, Rick?

That's not a stake, is it?

RICK: Yep, that is a stake.
No question about that.

- We're kind of on the line.
- JACK: Mm.

RICK: We are singularly focused

on learning as much we can
about the north end of the bog

and the line of survey stakes
as we currently understand them.

And maybe this line relates
to another possible vault.

Let's see how
many more there are.

Okay.

- We'll take another swipe there, Al.
- Yep.

JACK: Oh, this looks like
another stake right here.

Yep.

JACK: What were they
trying to stake out over here?

It seems to be leading away

from the end of that
cobblestone path.

We're deviating
way off the line.

JACK: Oh, you're right.

RICK: The line is here,

but these stakes are here.

Oh, they're off to the side.

Off, yep.

- Yep.
- RICK: The question is,

are we seeing two different
lines of survey stakes?

NARRATOR: Two divergent
lines of survey stakes?

Could that mean that
there are additional sections

of the cobblestone pathway...

- Here's where we are.
- Under the muck and mud

that lead to different
destinations?

And those are... over here.

NARRATOR: If so, has the
team found more evidence

that additional
vault-like structures

are waiting to be
discovered in the swamp?

It's deviating, right?

It's... this line is
here, this line is here.

TOM: It seems like
there's two different

directions going here.

RICK: What's interesting,
we have never found

two stakes side by side,

and I wonder if that's
where they diverge.

Where does it go? Who built it?

It's a complicated environment.

We have a lot of clues,

we have a lot of data,

and we just have
to sit patiently

and try to understand it.

Well, I think at this point,

what we should do is
have Steve come out...

- Yeah.
- Take a line,

pin those two stakes,

pin the lay of that
board, and then,

I would pull the board,

have Alan dig a
little bit deeper,

see what we find.

JACK: Yeah, let's do it.

NARRATOR: The
following morning...

as the investigation
continues in the swamp...

GARY: Here we go.

And the dig now proceeds
in the Money Pit area...

VANESSA: That's a full one.

Over on Lot 5,

located on the western
side of the island...

HELEN: So, you're
in the gravel, Ethan?

- Yeah, I'm just coming down onto it.
- HELEN: Okay.

NARRATOR: Jack
Begley, along with

members of the archaeology team,

are excavating a


just to the south

of a mysterious
rounded stone foundation.

I'm hoping that this area
gives us a better idea

of what this feature
was originally built

- and used for.
- HELEN: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Since
the team first discovered

the rounded feature in 2022,

they've unearthed numerous
sections and artifacts

that suggest it may have
been used as a campsite

by several different groups

between the 14th
and the 18th centuries.

And while numerous
suspects have been potentially

linked to the structure,

including the medieval
order of the Knights Templar,

several iron tools
have been found here

that were scientifically traced

to the birthplace
of Sir William Phips,

the 17th-century English
politician who some believe

buried a vast cache
of Spanish silver

on Oak Island back in 1687.

One cannot refute the fact

that the preponderance
of the evidence is indicating

some efforts on Lot 5 may be

associated with work
in the Money Pit area.

One cannot dispute that.

What it speaks to is
there are more clues

to be found on Lot 5.

Ooh.

What did you find, Fiona?

Well, I just pulled...

- Oh!
- This piece of brick out.

It's unusual for
us to get pieces

that have the glaze

on all sides,

so that's giving us a
really good indication

of the actual size of the brick.

JACK: Is there any way
that we could figure out

where those bricks
originated from?

Yeah, we've been
working on that, actually.

We've been building a database.

We're looking
at the clay itself,

trying to figure out
where the clay came from.

- Oh, really? Okay.
- Yeah.

So, we've actually
been finding brick

all over the island,
not just on Lot 5.

With the bricks that we find,

we do some specific
analysis on them.

We're looking at the composition

of the brick and trying
to actually trace where

some of the clay
may have come from,

whether that it took
place on Oak Island

or whether it was
somewhere nearby.

It may just be a brick,

but every little piece
can tell a part of a story.

- So...
- Oh, yes. Every little piece helps.

And that's why I'm
gonna get back to sifting.

- Great job, Fiona.
- Thanks.

NARRATOR: While the team
continues to search for clues on Lot 5,

back on the eastern
side of the island,

in the Money Pit area...

GARY: Oh. A lot of wood.

Following the collapse of

their first caisson
target, TB-1,

Rick Lagina and other
members of the team

are anxiously
monitoring the excavation

of their next
target, called AC-1,

where a potentially important
discovery has been made

some 100 feet underground.

RICK: Look at that.

GARY: We hit the
jackpot with wood.

That looks like an old timber.

RICK: There you go.

All right, we're hitting
something, right?

- Yeah.
- Okay. We're at 96 with the dig.

So, what's this wood telling us?

Looks like we busted
through a tunnel.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: A possible tunnel

located nearly 100 feet deep?

GARY: That's
impressive, isn't it?

TERRY: Very impressive.

NARRATOR: The
team was not expecting

to encounter man-made workings

until they reached
the mysterious cave

at a depth of 145 feet.

- TERRY: Can you give me a hand?
- GARY: Yep.

This raises two
critical questions.

Have they merely
discovered a structure

that was built by
previous searchers,

or have they found a tunnel

built by someone
who buried treasure

deep in the Money Pit area?

GARY: That looks
hand-hewn, doesn't it?

- RICK: Yeah. You can feel it.
- Yeah.

- These timbers look really old.
- RICK: Yeah.

GARY: And there's no iron
fasteners in them, which is interesting.

I think that's an
older construction.

- RICK: Yeah.
- GARY: Any ideas

- what tunnel this would be?
- No.

Not with wood exhibiting
those characteristics.

Yeah.

Ooh, look at what
we've got here.

This could be the most important

hammer-grab in
Nova Scotian history.

GARY: Look at that
piece in there, the pile.

That is massive.

That's gonna be heavy.

NARRATOR: An unexpected

but potentially
critical discovery

has just been made
in the Money Pit area.

TERRY: Let me
help you there, Rick.

I'm too excited.

NARRATOR: While installing a
shaft known as Aladdin's cave,

or AC-1,

which the Oak Island
team hopes will encounter

a man-made cavern

at a depth of 145 feet,

a mysterious tunnel

has just been
breached at a depth

of some 100 feet.

- Nothing, eh?
- No metal hits, no.

Could be really old.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
the team has intercepted a tunnel

that was constructed
by someone in order

to hide something of
great value long ago?

And if so, could it be
related in some way

to Aladdin's cave?

More wood, Rick.

GARY: My gut feeling
and your gut feeling

says this is some
kind of old tunnel.

Sometimes you've
got to go with your gut,

- and we're both hungry for treasure.
- [laughs]

Hopefully, it's
around this tunnel.

Maybe. Maybe.

RICK: The guys are really
excited about finding this wood,

indicating a possible
previously unknown tunnel.

It could be
critically important.

As Dr. Spooner says,

the treasure will not
materialize in solid soil.

There has to be a
structure associated with it.

TERRY: Hey, Scott,
how are you doing?

SCOTT: Hey, guys.
We're just finishing up

our spoils down there
by the wash table,

and this beautiful spike

came out of those spoils.

GARY: Ooh, that's nice.

SCOTT: Look at the
head on that thing.

- That's really, really old.
- That's nice.

GARY: If I was
guessing, I would say



- Wow.
- GARY: Yeah, definitely,

it goes back.

- RICK: That's beautiful.
- GARY: That's bloody gorgeous.

I would never expect
them to find that in the spoils

- coming out of that tunnel.
- No.

The tunnel wood,
it had no fasteners.

This must have come out of

something else.

Can you imagine that in the side

of a chest? Or a lid of a chest?

TERRY: Sounds good to me.

NARRATOR: Could Gary
Drayton be correct, that this spike

might not only date back
to the 17th century or earlier,

but also be related

to a possible container?

If so, what else
might the team find

at the bottom of Aladdin's cave?

SCOTT: That's exciting, guys.

RICK: We've had real great
examples of wood before.

We've had great
artifacts before.

We've never been able
to tie the two together,

in the same hole,
same location, verified.

We've got great dendro samples,

and we now have a
real artifact that we can

scientifically analyze,

so there's wins across
the board here today.

Yeah.

RICK: You're hoping to find

what happened here long ago,

or at least answers to what
happened here long ago.

One of the Ws. Who,
what, when, where, why?

That's why this is

a very interesting, if not
a very exciting moment,

because we don't know

what might be down here.

- TERRY: How we doing?
- VANESSA: Good, good.

- Just want to give you an update.
- Okay.

- What do you got?
- My hole is at 115.

With the dig at 115,
that makes it about



- of where we're hoping to intersect this thing.
- Okay.

Wonderful. I will
stop for the night,

and then I will see
you all in the morning.

- All right, thank you.
- Thank you, Vanessa. Appreciate it.

RICK: Two things I
look forward to tomorrow:

One is what is at the
bottom of that cave?

But the second biggest thing is,

there has to be a way in there.

If we can confirm that,

it makes it all
the more exciting.

And remember, bring
your sunglasses tomorrow.

[laughter]

We're gonna see
some shiny stuff.

TERRY: Hear, hear.

I hope you're right, Gary.

Keep our fingers crossed.

So, buckle up for tomorrow.

NARRATOR: The
following morning...

as the excavation in AC-1

proceeds toward a
target depth of 145 feet...

RICK: You know, the
bricks have been a puzzle.

NARRATOR: Rick
Lagina and Scott Barlow

meet with
archaeologists Laird Niven

and Moya MacDonald,
and archaeometallurgist

Emma Culligan in the
Oak Island laboratory.

We've found bricks
literally from Smith's Cove

all the way to the
western side of the island.

Is there any
connective tissue here

that we can make some sort of...

a greater understanding
of their importance?

Yeah, so I brought some
bricks out that we had

done some sampling on.

We have two Lot 5 bricks.

This is a sample from

the eastern drumlin,
Smith's Cove area,

and then we have two bricks
from the swamp, the vault bricks

that you guys found
earlier this summer.

NARRATOR: Moya and Emma have
analyzed samples of the clay bricks

that have recently been
found across the island

utilizing an X-ray
diffraction device...

a machine that uses
X-ray radiation to examine

the chemical composition
and physical properties

of objects in order
to help determine

the time period that
they were created.

MOYA: We did two runs

of each through the machine,

just to really cover our bases.

The Lot 5 bricks and the
sample from Smith's Cove

were, compositionally,
very similar.

And I did find a really
interesting connection.

Both of them match,
compositionally,

with a Brick Hill sample.

It's a local
brick-making company.

It's a brick kiln, and
it's from the 1600s.

RICK: That's remarkable.

LAIRD: It's a brick kiln,
and it's from the 1600s.

So it's locally sourced,

which I find really interesting.

NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island laboratory,

Moya MacDonald,

Emma Culligan and Laird Niven

have just made a
startling revelation

about the clay bricks that were
unearthed near Smith's Cove,

and inside of the rounded
stone foundation on Lot 5.

MOYA: So, we have these
two samples from Lot 5...

NARRATOR: Both were locally made

and likely date to as far
back as the 17th century.

RICK: When you say 1600s,

where are we in
that 1600s timeline?

Is it early 16's,
mid 16's, late 16's?

Or is it just a general
framework of time?

It's just a general framework.

The Lot 5 bricks are coming from

the fill...

We haven't found
a brick feature...

- Right.
- Exactly associated

with the Lot 5,
uh, circular feature.

So they're in the backfill.

LAIRD: They're in the backfill,

so it may be that there's
a brick feature close by,

and what we're finding
is just debris from that.

RICK: The bricks,

they're not ubiquitous.
They're not everywhere.

They're found in
very specific locations:

Smith's Cove, Lot 5.

Why were they
found in these areas

where a tremendous
amount of work was done?

If they do indeed
go back to the 1600s,

well, there is a connection
with the historical narrative.

It's corroborative evidence.

MOYA: So, we
have the vault brick

that you guys
found in the swamp.

It kind of fits more
in with other local


Helen and Laird

have also provided.

- Yeah.
- RICK: The brick from the vault,

you're suggesting, is younger

than the other items here

- in front of us.
- MOYA: Yeah.

If this being the
one from the vault,

this is a newer brick,

that probably better suits

the Anthony Graves
timeline than before.

Given what we know about him

and going to town and buying
things with Spanish coins...

NARRATOR: Anthony
Graves was a farmer

who purchased several
lots on Oak Island in 1857,

and built his homestead
just north of the swamp.

Although he never officially

took part in the searches
for treasure in the Money Pit,

several years after
he settled on the island,

rumors began to swirl

that he would often pay
for supplies on the mainland

using Spanish silver coins.

Curiously, the team
has found evidence

within the so-called
slate vault in the swamp

that suggests it may
have been constructed

in the 1700s or earlier.

However, could the bricks

that the team found
on the vault's top layer

offer a clue that Anthony
Graves discovered it

nearly two centuries ago,

and helped himself
to its contents?

LAIRD: I think your results

have squarely
placed this in the time

Anthony Graves
would've known about it.

- Yeah.
- RICK: And you know what that also says is,

if you really had
something valuable,

would you put it
only in one place?

You don't keep all
your eggs in one basket.

Exactly. So on the other side

of the swamp, I would bet you,

there's another one of those.

Agreed.

We want to thank
the three of you.

The lab has given us

such a unique opportunity

to advance the ball. So,
again, thank you very much.

But, in order for you
to do the work in here,

we've got to go out and
find more things, right?

LAIRD: Yep. Thank you.

NARRATOR: As Rick
and members of the team

conclude their
meeting in the lab,

and as the excavation of AC-1

continues in the
Money Pit area...

TOM: Okay, guys.

I think we've got
several directions here

we could go in,

based on what we're
looking at out there.

NARRATOR: in the
northern region of the swamp,

Jack Begley, Oak Island
landowner Tom Nolan,

and metal detection
expert Gary Drayton

are continuing to
search for new sections

of the cobblestone pathway,

and additional structures
that may contain

hidden valuables.

TOM: You've also
got the cobble here,

so, I mean, this
could be part of a,

could be part of
a continual path.

GARY: I'm hoping that

it's artifact central
waiting for us.

TOM: I think we'll
fire up the machine...

- Yep.
- And start digging.

Let's rock and roll.

TOM: Okay.

JACK: When looking at some of
these cobblestones around here,

they kind of diverge in
two different directions.

Uh. Is that a rock?

So, as we follow
the lines of stakes,

we're gonna have to
search a wider area,

just to make sure
we don't miss any.

Yeah, definitely
more of that cobble.

TOM: Looks like it, doesn't it?

JACK: Well, that doesn't

cleanly converge with

this other cobble path.

This isn't leading to anywhere.

If this is more cobble,

say a path, it stops.

Is it possible they stopped

and they built a
platform to cross over

to the other pile of cobble?

NARRATOR: A platform?

TOM: It looks like
there's something here.

NARRATOR: Could it be an
extension of the cobblestone path,

as Tom Nolan has suggested?

TOM: Gary, do you
want to come over

and give this area a sweep?

- I sure do, mate. Coming over.
- TOM: Okay.

NARRATOR: Or might
it be covering something

that was hidden beneath it?

JACK: Yeah, try and get your...

- [metal detector
whoops] - JACK: Oh.

Yep, there's a piece of
iron there, by the sound of it.

In that area, just there.

Let's see if you moved it.

[metal detector whooping]

Well, let me try
with my pinpointer.

- See the...
- See if it's in that side.

GARY: Maybe there.

- [beeping] - Whatever
it is, Jack, it's just there.

JACK: Oh, that's pretty big.

- TOM: What is it?
- JACK: Some type of metal object.

What is this?

It's got a head on it.

Here. You know best, Gary.

- TOM: Is it old, Gary?
- GARY: Yeah.

It's really, really light.

- You feel how light that is.
- Yeah.

TOM: Could that be some
sort of a wharf pin, Gary?

GARY: Yeah, it could
be. It's got mushrooming

on the other end, so you know

it's been wacked into
a something or other.

It just,

got a really, really
old feel about it.

- Predates your dad.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: The team's inspiration
to search the triangle-shaped swamp

came from Tom's late father,

the legendary surveyor and
treasure hunter Fred Nolan.

After draining the
swamp in 1969,

Fred discovered not only

numerous 16th-century
survey stakes

but also parts of
large sailing vessels.

These finds led him to
believe that Oak Island

had once been two
separate landmasses.

And that the swamp had
been created in order to hide

evidence of where treasure
had been unloaded long ago.

Could this possible wharf pin,

and the mysterious
wooden structure

that the team has
just uncovered,

be the remains of a dock

where valuables were
offloaded onto Oak Island?

Yeah, we'll set that aside.

Oh, yeah. Everything
we find in here

- is going back to the lab.
- Yep.

GARY: Good start.

JACK: You want to scrape
it down just a little bit more?

- Yeah, maybe one more scrape.
- Okay.

NARRATOR: As
the search for clues

and hidden valuables continues
in the Oak Island swamp,

in the Money Pit area...

VANESSA: All right,
John, where we at?

Pressures are spiking
a little bit, then it drops.

I think we're breaking
through the cave.

Agreed.

I'm gonna go let the guys
know, and you keep going.

Sounds good.

NARRATOR: The AC-1
shaft may have finally breached

its intended target some


a large, potentially
man-made cavern

known as Aladdin's cave.

So there was no, like,

aha moment, like,
there's no pressure.

- No fall down.
- But...

while we were cutting
all the way down,

we were at 150 pressure.

The last five feet today
we've been at 120.

So that is a sign of
either a cavity or a cave.

Yeah. Right.

So, the hope here, to me,

would be, if we can
get a camera on that,

we can say definitively, yay
or nay, what might be there.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

That's great cause these teeth

are ready to bite
into some gold.

[laughter]

RICK: The hope is
to get proper visual,

introduce a camera or the


This is about getting as
much information as possible

and using that information
to further the search agenda.

Proof that human
beings were in this void

where the treasure could
be and then recover it.

Water clarity obviously is
gonna be a problem here.

And I think you
earlier mentioned

- that you had a flocculent?
- Yeah.

RICK: You know, to
precipitate the water

and get it down
and get it clear.

That would be of immense help,

because the camera
certainly would need that.

Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Flocculent is a substance

that causes loose
particles in water

to clump together
and float to the surface,

thereby increasing
visual clarity.

RICK: There is a-a sense
that having eyes on a target

could well and truly break
this mystery wide open.

You know, my brother
named it Aladdin's cave, well,

think about what Aladdin's
cave means to you.

There's a genie in
a bottle, in a lamp,

and all your wishes
will be granted.

And I have but one wish,

find the one thing.

VANESSA: So we
leave it overnight,

hope that the
flocculant does its work.

Hope that, you know,
just leaving it will help

clear it out and
then we are ready for

the camera tomorrow morning.

Okey doke. Well,
let's give it a try.

- Okay, let's do it.
- Keep your fingers crossed.

Yeah.

- RICK: We'll pick it up tomorrow.
- TERRY: Yep.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

as the team from
ROC Equipment begins

adding flocculant
to the interior

of the AC-1 Caisson...

RICK: We are in AC-1 and

between 90 and 110 feet,

lo and behold, a
spike was found.

NARRATOR: In the w*r
room, Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with other
members of the team

are meeting once again
with Emma Culligan.

Emma is about to share

her scientific report
on the iron spike

that was recovered one day
ago inside a mysterious tunnel

during the excavation
of the AC-1 shaft.

Emma, I'll turn it over to you.

Okay, uh, well,

first off, the XRMs,
CT scans of the nail.

We see the wood-like
grain structure,

so it is wrought iron.

We see the striking
of the different angles

of the head, which... it is does
indicate that it is a rosehead.

Cross section is square,
means it's hand-forged,

not machine cut.

And the composition,
it's really minimal.

We have a lot of sulfur
and phosphorous content,

which indicates more
of a likely English origin.

We see a potassium content
throughout which does indicate

that it's a charcoal-fueled
furnace and not coal.

So, all of these combined,

give it a most recent
date of mid-1700s.

And possibly earlier.

- Great.
- That's crazy.

- It's amazing.
- Yeah.

That's great. What
other data do we have?

Uh, we've got some data

from an old English
metal detectorist, Marty.

I don't know how trustworthy
that might be, but go ahead.

Emma, you said pre-1750s.

I'm saying 1750s, but
could be earlier, yeah.

I've found a lot of these.

When you see this,
this thick chunky spike

with that big rosehead
on that, that's an oldie.

You go anywhere in Europe,
you see this type of iron spike

in cabinets, doors,

- and chests.
- Mm-hmm.

That could have easily
come out of a treasure chest.

This is your
typical 1600s spike.

I like 1600s.

That has to be depositor.

- Yep.
- That is exciting.

RICK: It's quite amazing.

GARY: That could have easily
come out of a treasure chest.

This is your
typical 1600s spike.

I like 1600s.

That is exciting.

- Wow.
- NARRATOR: In the w*r room,

the Oak Island team
has just been informed

by archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan

that the spike recovered
from some 110 feet

in the AC-1 shaft is
likely of English origin.

Well, this is unexpected.

NARRATOR: And could date
back to as early as the 17th century.

MARTY: This spike
could be an important

clue, uh, and it could be
either pointing to an early

recovery effort or
perhaps original deposit.

Yeah, I agree.

DOUG: Yeah, there
are several theories

that fit that time
frame, 1600s into 1750.

- Yeah.
- It could well be William Phips.

Right.

RICK: When you say 1600s,

it fits the timeline
for Sir William Phips.

We've found an incredible amount

of hard-to-refute evidence

suggesting Sir William Phips

had a presence within
the round feature on Lot 5.

People associated with Lot 5

may have been
living on the island

possibly for the original
construction of the Money Pit.

Well, now we may have
evidence of William Phips

depositing a treasure on
Oak Island in the Money Pit.

NARRATOR: In 1687,

under the direction
of the English crown,

Captain William Phips
located the famed wreck

of the Concepción, a
Spanish treasure galleon

which sank off the coast

of the modern-day
Dominican Republic

in 1641,

along with 100 tons
of Spanish silver,

gold and jewels.

After recovering


Phips was knighted
and ordered to return

for the remaining valuables.

However, when he
and his assistant,

a high-ranking Freemason
named Andrew Belcher,

completed the second
salvage operation,

they reported that locals
had looted the wreck

and that they recovered

only five additional
tons of treasure.

This is where my first
discovery comes in.

I 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 officially

did not find as much silver.

NARRATOR:
According to the research

of 32nd-degree
Freemason Scott Clarke,

Sir William Phips and
Captain Andrew Belcher

buried the missing Spanish
treasure on Oak Island,

based on their knowledge

of an existing vault
that had been deposited

in the Money Pit
centuries earlier

by members of the
Knights Templar.

Could this spike that
was recovered in AC-1,

along with the tools and
bricks unearthed on Lot 5,

not only help explain why
the team has found evidence

that multiple treasures could
be buried in the Money Pit area

but also suggest what might
await them in Aladdin's cave?

MARTY: It certainly
fits with the Phips theory.

If it's from the 1600s,
then it fits a lot of stuff.

But none of that matters to me.

What matters to
me is that that spike

would indicate that somebody
was down deep in the Money Pit

well before the discovery
of the Money Pit.

That's the most
significant conclusion.

The treasure could be
below us yet, in the cave.

Mystery upon
intrigue upon mystery.

Yeah.

That is what makes this,

ladies and gentlemen,
a really beautiful...

story, mystery, treasure hunt.

Absolutely.

RICK: We're at the precipice

of opening the
door of that cave,

and everyone around
this table has high hopes,

uh, of what might lie within.

I-I think together, all of us

will do the best job
possible to see and retrieve

whatever might be
in Aladdin's cave.

Open sesame.

Let's get out there and find it.

Agreed.

Well said.

NARRATOR: What began
as a devastating setback

in the Money Pit area

has now led to a
series of surprising

and potentially
critical revelations

for Rick, Marty,
Craig and their team.

Is it possible that
after 223 years,

the murky truth behind
the Oak Island mystery

is on the verge of
coming into clear view?

Or could there be something
much darker lurking below

that will keep them at bay?

Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...

IAN: How does Lot 5
connect to the Money Pit?

This may be that pathway.

This could be the connection
we've been looking for.

- HELEN: Wow.
- TODD: I don't know what that is.

This is very unusual.

EMMA: Everything
suggests an earlier date,



GARY: Here we go. Look at this.

- That could easily be off a box or a chest.
- TERRY: I agree.

When are we gonna find
what fell out of those chests?

- Ready to go diving.
- KEN: Let's go diving.

RICK: We want to see if there's
treasure within Aladdin's cave.

TERRY: Oh, my God.