[Narrator] Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...
[Gary] Here we go.
- [Rick] Whoa!
- [Jack] What was that?
[Alex] The caisson
just hit something solid.
[Terry] Something
really hard right there.
[Gary] Let's see
what we've got. [laughs]
This might have been
around a treasure chest.
- [Katya] Oh, my gosh.
- [Rick] What is it?
[Tom] It's perfectly
on the line of the cross.
It's what
we've been looking for.
[Fiona] Ha-ha!
This is cool, Rick.
This is bigger
than what we think.
-Wow. -[Fiona] There could
be treasure down there.
[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.
♪ ♪
[Rick] Hey, Jack. Fiona.
- Hey, Rick.
- [Fiona] Hi.
-Hi. -Look at the progress
we've made.
[Rick] I see that.
[Narrator] The quest for
answers, and treasure, continues
on Oak Island
as Rick Lagina begins
his day on Lot 8 with
Fiona Steele and Jack Begley.
I think it's interesting
the way that the rocks are
structured on this side,
on the right side.
- [Rick] Yeah.
- [Fiona] And we're not getting
the same thing
on the other side at all.
In fact, I wouldn't
be surprised if that was
the only side that was actually
- holding up the boulder.
- Mm. Mm-hmm.
- [Scott] Here it goes.
- [Gary] Here we go.
[Narrator] After removing
a 40,000-pound boulder
from an artificially placed ring
of small stones one week ago...
- [Marty] Look at that.
- The team
was surprised to find
new evidence that
the boulder was covering
a backfilled, man-made feature,
or possible shaft.
[Craig] Yeah, that
looks like a filled hole.
Exactly. Yeah.
[Narrator] And when
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
scanned the soils
with a handheld
X-ray fluorescence device,
he discovered evidence
of possible treasure
buried somewhere deeper below.
[Ian] It's showing
something that I didn't see
in the other sample...
Oh.
- Which is some silver.
- Yeah.
[laughter]
We will remove the rest
of the top layer of the soil.
We'll go through
the second layer
and then, the plan is
really to start removing
some of these rocks,
as well, to really see
what's underneath here.
-Hm. -Because there
could still very well
be something underneath here
- that we just haven't seen yet.
- Yeah.
You just have to be
patient, right?
I mean, that's all you can do.
The two completely
different sides
of the hole
is really quite interesting.
- Yep.
- [Rick] Why that side
- and not this side?
- [Fiona] I know.
I can certainly say that I think
it was done a long time ago.
What's your "long time ago"?
Well, I would say
before the 1700s.
So, we have to
just keep
going forward in gathering
the information and have
-a proper analysis
of everything. -[Rick] Yeah.
There's got to be
something under that boulder.
- Yeah.
- [Rick] But the only way to know
is to continue to do
the work you're doing, so...
-Alrighty. Thank you. -[Fiona]
All right. See you later.
- See you, Rick.
- See you.
[Fiona] With the Lot 8 feature,
I feel absolutely intrigued.
It's not like
anything we see on Oak Island
or-or anything
in Nova Scotia, period.
This is motivating us
to look through the rocks,
look through the structures.
We've got to look
at everything and
make sure that we're not
missing anything in this.
There could
be treasure down there.
Look. Check this out, Jack.
- What is that?
- Well, it's the first
flattish rock that I'm seeing,
and it seems
to be at the bottom.
And if you look
at all the other rocks,
they're a little rounded
and little,
and other than those
big ones sticking out, but
that could be hiding something.
- Oh.
- We're gonna find out.
Look, it keeps going.
- Hmm.
- Oh.
[Fiona] Hmm.
It's a good thing
we are going below this soil.
It's the flattest rock
that we've seen so far.
As we've been
uncovering some of the soil,
I'm starting to see
a face of these flat rocks.
It just looks
a little odd because
it's so perfectly smooth
and flat that I'm wondering
if this is part
of the feature itself.
The fact that we're uncovering
all of these rocks in a pattern,
I wasn't expecting
to see that at all.
-Yeah. -And I don't think it
would hurt to have Dr. Spooner
take a look at this, once
it's all uncovered, as well.
He may be more familiar
with-with this type of deposit.
It seems not normal.
- Mm-hmm.
- So...
[Jack] Can this island
get any stranger?
[Fiona] It's
the strangest island
with the strangest things
that are so unexplainable.
[Narrator] As Fiona continues
uncovering clues on Lot 8,
later that morning...
[Terry] It's a new day.
Here we are in the Karma.
[Gary] Oh, yeah.
It's a hell of a thing.
[Narrator] ...Jack joins
Craig Tester
and other members of the team
in the Money Pit area,
where digging proceeds in
the seven-foot-diameter shaft
known as Karma-1.
Did he say
it went down real easy?
He said it's going down
like a hot knife through butter.
[Narrator] The excavation
is fast approaching
a depth of 150 feet...
Here we go, Terry.
Meaning it could soon
breach the solution channel
where the team hopes
to find a massive source
of precious metals
that have previously
been detected in this area
through soil and water testing.
[Alex] Here we go.
Let's find some gold and silver.
[Gary chortles] It's sloppy.
[Marty] I believe we're proving
that the solution channel
gobbled up
a bunch of stuff
from the Money Pit.
The karma would
be that we can finally,
in the end,
solve the whole thing.
That would be the karma I like.
- Morning, guys.
- [Alex] Morning, Adam.
-[Gary] Morning, Adam. -I see
y'all kind of watching the show.
- Yeah.
- [Alex] Yeah. What's the update?
Uh, we're just starting
to touch the 150 range
- on the dig.
- [Alex] Okay.
At 160, we'll probably
hit the bedrock plateau
on top of the solution channel,
at which point,
we'll see how well
we're cutting through it, right?
Yeah. Absolutely.
So, we're gonna get almost to
the top of the bedrock plateau
-with this one. -[Adam E.] Yeah.
We're ready to go at it.
- [Alex] Cool. -[Craig] Okay.
- All right, guys.
- We'll keep you updated.
- Thanks.
- Thanks.
- Thank you.
[Craig] Once we get to 155,
we should let the, uh, the guys
at the wash plant know
we got a lot of stuff
that they could be
looking for there.
They may have already found
a really cool, interesting find.
Yeah. Definitely.
[Narrator] As the digging
operation continues
in the Karma-1 shaft...
some 500 feet to the east,
near Smith's Cove...
[Charles] That'd be limestone.
It's a piece of pottery.
[Narrator] ...Charles Barkhouse
and other members
of the team sift through
the excavated spoils
that are being
processed at the wash plant.
Installed by
Billy Gerhardt and his team,
the industrial-grade machine
moves truckloads of spoils
through metal grates,
known as "grizzly bars,"
to remove larger rocks.
The spoils then pass through
a tool known as a chopper
to break up
and remove the thick clay.
From there,
they drop onto a shaker deck,
where they are
sprayed clean with water
and then separated by size
onto three conveyor belts,
allowing the team
to examine them
by hand for important clues.
Hey, Charles.
Look at that.
That's really cool.
That's a great find, Bailey.
Let's put it in the bag
and I'm gonna take it
- and show the guys.
- Awesome.
[Rick] In the wash plant,
you're looking for
anything out of the ordinary.
Anything that catches
your eye, you literally
pull it off the belt, because
you don't know what it may mean.
[Charles] Hey, Jack.
What do you think of that?
Oh...
Well, first glance,
I see the smaller loops
and they're not uniform...
- No, they're not.
- And you can see...
I bet this could be quite old.
Well, Jack,
if that is handwrought,
then it could be 1850s
and earlier.
- Wow.
- And it is pretty cool.
Whenever I see links of chain,
I often wonder
what was it attached to?
- Yeah.
- Right?
-[Jack] This could be
a clue to the mystery. -Yeah.
-I'll go take it back
to the lab. -Okay.
- [Charles] We'll keep looking.
- Yeah.
[Narrator] Meanwhile,
back in the Money Pit area...
[Gary whoops]
I like this new
piece of equipment.
We're getting down there.
That's some
pretty good progress.
- Josh, is it feeling hard now?
- There's something... I'm in...
[Terry] Something's
going on here.
- [Gary] Hello, mate.
- [Alex] How's it going?
-Hey guys. -Hey, Quinton.
How you doing?
[Quinton] So, we're hitting
something hard again.
We're not sure exactly
what it is, if it's metal
or if it's something else
down there.
[Terry] Oh, wow.
[Narrator] In the Money Pit
area, the Karma-1 shaft
has encountered
a strangely hard material
or possible object
at a depth of nearly 160 feet.
- Great stuff.
- [Quinton] All right,
- I'll keep you updated.
- Thanks a lot, Quinton.
- Thank you very much.
- Appreciate it.
[Alex] It's kind of
exciting to think there's some
stronger obstacle down there
that's stopping the equipment.
Even the teeth and the tools
that we brought out
this year on this equipment
is designed to chew through
bedrock, and the fact that it is
having a hard time
going through it
suggests maybe there's
something else down there.
- Hey, Marty.
- [Marty] How's it going?
Hey. They did say
that the caisson
just hit something solid.
According to ROC,
caisson's at 155,
dig's a little bit past it.
Uh, they felt
the ground solidify.
[Marty] What's it
looking like, hard clay?
- [Terry] Possibly metal.
- [Marty] Good.
I hope we get lucky.
We well could. Absolutely.
[Alex] Here comes the bucket.
-Another bucket, another chance,
guys. Here it comes. -Yep.
[Alex] That looks
like solid material
right at the bottom
of the bucket.
[Gary] Okay, mate.
Let's see if there's
anything in this load.
[beeping]
- We've got a signal, Terry.
- Yep.
[detector whines]
[Gary] Yeah, just there.
[whines]
Think it's in the deck, Terry.
No, it isn't.
It's a piece of metal plate.
Or it could be part of
a shoe from an old shaft.
[Terry] Interesting. Yep.
There's something here.
- [Gary] Careful, it looks sharp.
- [Terry] Yeah.
[Narrator] Metal pieces,
possibly from the bottom brace,
or shoe, of an old shaft?
[Gary] I think
I found a piece of shoe.
[Alex] Could be off the bottom
of the Chappell Shaft.
So we may be at the bottom.
-Yeah. -Getting close to the
bottom of the Chappell for sure.
[Narrator] In 1897, treasure
hunters Frederick Blair
and William Chappell drilled
into a believed seven-foot-high
concrete-encased vault
at a depth of 153 feet.
In 1931, with the help
of William's son Melbourne,
the three men constructed
a nearly 160-foot-deep shaft
in an unsuccessful attempt
to retrieve it.
Is it possible
that the team
has recovered a clue suggesting
they may be close
to rediscovering
the so-called Chappell Vault?
[Terry] We're thinking
that treasure fell to the bottom
of the solution channel.
Hopefully, today
or maybe early tomorrow,
we'll be down there.
-We're gonna find out. -Yeah,
and this is the moment of truth.
[Gary] Oh.
Another load coming up.
- Here it comes.
- Yep.
[Terry] Look at that.
That, my friends,
is gypsum, right there.
[Gary] Yeah.
[Alex] Yeah,
that would mean we are
-probably into the bedrock
plateau a little bit. -Yeah.
[Narrator] The bedrock plateau
is the thick layer of gypsum
some 160 to 170 feet deep
that the team
has previously encountered
just above the solution channel.
This means they have
just a few more feet of digging
before reaching
their target zone
where silver has been detected.
We're getting to the heart
of the matter now, guys.
Here we go.
We're gonna be
boring through the edge
of the solution channel
on the bedrock plateau,
crunching down through.
That's gonna be
tough cutting from here on in.
We have done a lot of caissons
around here,
but very few of them
have extended beyond
the bedrock plateau.
That is very difficult to
drill through, and that causes
an immense amount of difficulty
for the drillers
to try and carry on that hole
and down into the actual
solution channel itself.
Oh.
[Jared] I think I'm on the rock.
[Marty] Hey, guys, looks
like a report coming in.
We're in that kinda bad material
to drill that we've seen.
- Oh, yeah.
- [Adam E.] So we're going
a little bit slower right now
'cause we're pushing
through some hard stuff.
We're happy to report we're down
to 171 feet with the casing.
[Marty] The quicker you break
into the solution channel,
I think, the more likely
we are to find what we seek.
It's about time, right?
[Marty] That's right, Gary.
Wouldn't that be karma?
[Terry] Karmic, yes.
Absolutely. Very good.
[Marty] Thanks, guys.
[Narrator] As the dig
pushes deeper
in the Money Pit area...
[Tom] Well, this is
a pretty exciting spot.
This is Cone D.
We know it's part of
the alignment for the cross.
[Narrator] ...in
the northwestern region
of the swamp, Tom Nolan
is leading a search
on his property near Cone D,
one of six massive boulders
that make up
the megalithic feature
known as Nolan's Cross.
We're gonna stay in the line of
the cross and we're gonna move
towards the headstone.
Gaspani has a theory
about the cross.
We could find some artifacts
on this and maybe
something even bigger than that.
- Okay.
- Let's do it.
[Rick] I'm very enthusiastic
about what we will learn today.
[Narrator] One week ago,
archaeoastronomy expert
Professor Adriano Gaspani
presented his analysis
that the eight-sided wooden
survey stakes found in the swamp
may have been put in place,
along with
the boulders of Nolan's Cross,
in the 13th century by members
of the Knights Templar.
[Marzia] The two sets
of stakes were dated...
[Narrator] Now, because
Cone D sets in the swamp
near the stakes,
Tom hopes to find
more clues in the area
that might help prove
this incredible theory.
[Al] I think I'm good for now.
Lots of rocks.
Now, what is this?
[Tom] What is this? Hmm.
- This looks, I mean... split.
- Yeah,
it looks split
and then it doesn't look
- natural, does it?
- No.
But it's perfectly
on the line of the cross.
And the one leaning up here
looks almost like
it's been perfectly cut,
doesn't it?
Maybe we should give Rick a call
just to have a look at it,
see what he thinks.
- Yeah, that's an idea.
- Okay. Yeah, I'll-I'll text him
to come down,
have a look at this.
[Narrator] Could Tom be correct
that they have found
an artificially split stone
near Cone D?
If so, who split it in two?
And for what purpose?
-Hey, Tom. -Hey, Rick. Might
get you to have a look at this.
The reason this stands out
is because it is right
on the line of the cross.
Pretty substantial, too.
An unnatural look to it,
for sure.
You know,
every time my dad found
a stone formation that fit
with the line of the stakes,
you know, he assumed
that the original creators
of this placed these stones.
I mean, we know the boulders
of the cross were placed,
but to me
this might be part of the works.
[Rick] Maybe Al can just
do a little dig here
- and see, see, see what's what.
- Oh, absolutely.
[Tom] That's weird.
Just a sec, Al.
Look at this, Rick.
Almost the coloration
has totally changed
in this one area.
Oh, yeah. Very gray-looking, eh?
[Tom] Yeah, the rocks
are kind of grayish.
The soil even looks grayish.
[Rick] That's almost
blue clay-looking.
Maybe it matches
- the Lot 5 clay.
- Yeah.
[Katya] Lot 5
and the Money Pit as well.
[Rick] Maybe it matches
the Lot 5 clay.
- [Tom] Yeah.
- [Katya] Lot 5 and the Money Pit
as well.
[Rick] That would be
quite something.
[Narrator] While digging
near the Cone D boulder
of Nolan's Cross, Rick
and other members of the team
have just discovered
a possible clue.
Potentially
hand-worked blue clay
that has previously
been uncovered
in the rounded feature on Lot 5
as well as during
in the original Money Pit.
It's concentrated
right in this one spot.
[Rick] That's definitely
different, though.
You haven't seen that
- anywhere in that dig, have you?
- No. No.
It follows that rock split.
[Rick] Well, we should bag
more samples of that stuff.
[Tom] Yeah.
[Rick] We know that blue clay,
when used correctly,
will seal a box,
a treasure chest,
a chamber from
the penetration of water.
We know it because they used
blue clay on the shafts.
And I hope this is
the connection to the Money Pit,
and I find that
exceedingly interesting.
I think what we might do, Al,
is just do a side profile.
Just to see if we see
that continuation
- going that way.
- Okay.
Hey, Al!
What is it?
I don't know.
Stake.
[Katya] Oh, my gosh.
[Tom] It was pounded
right in alongside the rock,
right on the line of the cross.
If this is the line, as you say,
then somebody wanted to make
sure it was laid out perfectly.
[Tom] This stake definitely ties
to the line of the cross.
Yeah. Let's see it,
Tom, if I can.
And your dad
never used these, right?
No. He just used
the factory-cut ones.
- [Katya] Axe-cut.
- [Rick] Yeah.
Finding that here,
that-that's...
- that's quite something.
- [Katya] Mm-hmm.
Oh, it can only be
in association with
the layout of the cross.
What else could it be?
It makes sense to find
one here because if they
were laying out the cross,
they're staring
right across the bog.
You'd want to set a post here
-to make sure you were
on the right line. -Yep.
[Narrator] Given that
the team has now found
another survey stake
located some 25 yards
from one of the boulders
of Nolan's Cross,
could it be connected
to the others previously found
nearby in the swamp
and support Professor Gaspani's
theory that the wooden stakes
and Nolan's Cross
are directly related?
It's stunning.
It's what five
highly accredited astronomers
and archaeoastronomers said.
They agree with the professor's
calculations and conclusions.
-It's what we've
been looking for. -Yep.
[Rick] The stakes found in close
proximity to Nolan's Cross,
which was possibly
built in the 1200s,
might be more
concrete evidence that
it was done
at the same moment in time.
That needs to go
- to the lab.
- And we've got more to dig.
[Rick] Okey doke.
[Narrator] Later
that afternoon...
[Ian] Hey, Peter.
- Hi, Fiona.
- [Fiona] Hi.
- What do you think of this?
- Wow.
[Narrator] ...Dr. Ian Spooner
arrives
on Lot 8, where Fiona
has now uncovered
a tightly packed layer of stones
that were hidden
beneath backfilled soil
and the massive boulder.
Now, I would like to know
if you think I'm crazy
because I don't feel like
this is natural at all.
It's not natural, first of all.
It just can't be
'cause of the organic matter
- all around those stones.
- Mm-hmm.
I've never seen
anything like this here.
And you can also see
the cradle of rocks
around the top quite nicely now.
- Yes.
- It's wild. I'm blown away.
Well, you can even see
a circular formation of rocks
- right around the base here.
- Yeah.
[Fiona] I'm gonna be
removing this soil shortly
and I would like to see
if that pattern continues.
Right.
We're just wondering
if there's something underneath.
-Right. -You know, was there
something intentionally buried?
[Ian] Yes. You know,
we did some XRF, a portable XRF.
We got high lead, and
that's interesting to me.
- Why the high lead?
- Yeah.
[Narrator] Three weeks ago,
after taking soil samples
beneath the large boulder,
Dr. Spooner found high traces
of lead in the material.
This suggested evidence
of burning fire underground,
which is a mining practice
that was used centuries ago
to circulate air
in shafts and tunnels.
So, what do you think it is?
The stone is either
a marker or something
- to protect something.
- Yeah, I agree.
[Narrator] Is it possible
that the team
has revealed
an artificial covering
for a shaft or some kind
of structure hidden below?
There's something about this,
makes me feel like it's ancient.
Yeah. And this, it'd take
an extraordinary
amount of effort.
It would be with incredible
purpose and intent. That's why,
to me, there should
be something more...
- Mm-hmm.
- Here.
- Maybe there is.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Got to go deeper. Yeah.
- Yeah.
Anyway, I'd love to come back
when it's further developed.
Great. Thank you for
your set of eyes on this.
I think it's really cool,
you're involved in
one of the coolest things
I've seen.
- It is very cool.
- Yeah. Yeah.
[Peter] Uncle Rick needs
to take a look at this.
[Fiona] I agree.
[Narrator] As a new morning
dawns on Oak Island...
[Fiona] This is cool, Rick.
[Rick] Wow.
- So, they did make a cradle.
- Yeah.
[Narrator] ...Rick arrives
on Lot 8
with other members of the team
for his first look
at the stone formation
that was covered
by the 40,000-pound boulder.
- It's like a mosaic.
- Yeah.
- It's really quite well done.
- Yeah.
[Rick] My mind's racing
with a number of questions.
Who did it? Why was it done?
What does it mean?
Is it a totally different story
than the-the treasure story?
It exhibits
a mosaic-like appearance
which is really quite unique to
support a 40,000-pound boulder.
There is a reason
why this was done.
So, what do we think?
I think this
is culturally significant.
- Yeah.
- [Fiona] It's either here
to cover something
or it's here to mark something,
and we can't rule out
a number of ideas
for this at this point.
I mean, it could
have been ceremonial.
[Laird] Standing alone,
this doesn't make sense,
because for all intents
and purposes,
it's in the middle of nowhere.
-Have you ever seen anything
like this before? -No. No.
[Rick] I've worked with stone
for a number of years.
I see it and I think how
in the world would you do that?
Why would you do that
if you're not going
to inter something
underneath it?
And if there is
something underneath it,
then it's got to be valuable
to those persons.
This is done by somebody
who has sufficient resources
that they can
pour everything into it
in terms of manpower.
- It's almost certainly European.
- [Fiona] Yeah,
that's what... I would agree.
I think it's European as well.
This could be changing
- Nova Scotian history.
- Mm-hmm.
I've done a lot
of research on different
megalithic structures
and megaliths
across North America
and even in Europe.
I believe strongly
that what we're seeing
is a European
megalithic construction.
The Indigenous people,
I don't think, would have
the technology to do it.
You'd need an intimate knowledge
of physics and geometry,
nor would they bother
to move a boulder like that.
So it has to be
a European construct.
That makes the most sense to me.
[Rick] Well,
this is very interesting.
You all know
-that Marty had a keen
interest in this. -Yeah.
We should show him
what this feature
is beginning to develop.
I think he'd like to be
brought up to speed on that,
so I'll give him a phone call.
[line ringing]
Hey.
Big brother, what's going on?
Well, we're about to show you.
You can guess where we are.
You got that exactly correct.
I'm gonna hand
the phone to Fiona,
and she can give you a visual
of the work they've done.
Oh, Marty, I can't wait to show
you this. I'll turn it around.
Okay.
You're looking at the...
a rock-lined,
cradled area
underneath the boulder.
It's entirely rock-lined,
absolutely man-placed
and extremely intentional.
-[Laird] Yeah. -[Fiona] Well,
that idea... I certainly think
it's absolutely intentional
and purposeful.
[Narrator] Could Marty
be correct
that the stone feature on Lot 8
might have the same design
as the stone road
that was uncovered
in the southeast corner
of the swamp back in 2020?
A road that may be
at least 500 years old
and of Portuguese origin.
If so, could both be connected
to the 14th century
silver Portuguese coin
believed to have been
recovered from the Money Pit
back in 1849?
[Marty] The boulder on Lot 8
doesn't appear to have been
manipulated by any of
the known earlier searchers.
There's nothing in the record,
which means we might be
dealing with something
that we know is untampered with.
We're the first people
to look at this thing
in a modern sense.
We found what might be
the most significant thing.
It's just not
anything you could make up.
I'm hoping
there's a breakthrough.
[Fiona] Yeah, I mean, sometimes
you'll have a rock-lined,
um, feature if you have
a cache of something underneath.
It could be a marker
of some sort,
but I think it's old.
I feel like
it's probably European.
Yeah, I think we're, we're
all feeling the same with it.
[chuckles] I know.
[Rick] Yeah, it-it's...
No artifacts yet.
That alone is also indicating
that either somebody was really
trying to hide
what they did here
or they really didn't
have things to lose,
which is also giving us
implications that this
could be really, really old.
I'll give this back to Rick.
Well, once it's fully exposed,
we may have
some more insight for you.
- [laughter]
- [Rick] Bye.
Okay.
[Fiona] So, we just
need to go around this
in a very, very careful way
and not miss anything.
What are the next steps here?
[Laird] We have to draw
this cross section first
very quickly,
uh, and then take out
the rest of the soil
because the, the rocks
are quite dramatic.
[Rick] We all want answers,
but I don't
want to accelerate
the process in a destructive
or invasive way
just to get an answer.
Let's keep at this work.
So let's see what comes of it.
There might be
a secret right there.
- Please continue.
- [Laird] All right. Thank you.
- [Rick] All righty.
- [Fiona] Yeah.
[Narrator] Later that morning...
[Gary] I love
the smell of Money Pit dirt
-in the morning. -[Terry] Smells
like victory. Eh, Gary?
-Yeah. -[Narrator] ...in
the Money Pit area,
members of the team
are closely monitoring
the excavation
of the Karma-1 caisson,
which has now
reached the solution channel.
- How you doing, Rick?
- Nothing yet?
We've broken
through the bedrock plateau,
we're down
into the solution channel.
I mean, exactly
what we were looking for.
The teeth are only at about
We've still got about
- the very dead bottom.
- We're probably 215 here,
-I would say, so, yeah,
another 35 feet. -35-ish. Yeah.
[Gary] All right, Terry.
Our time to shine.
Off we go.
[detector beeping]
Got a signal just there, mate.
Every metal detecting hit...
- it's exciting now.
- Yeah.
Something really hard
right there.
Let's see what we got.
Wow.
[Gary] There it is,
it's in the clump.
- Oh, that's a pipe.
- [Terry] Okay, very good.
[Narrator] After reaching
a depth of some 180 feet
in the Karma-1 shaft,
the Oak Island team
has made a potentially
significant discovery
in the solution channel.
Just some pieces of pipe.
That's very deep.
Does that look
very old to you, Rick?
-All I can tell you is,
Dan never used that size. -Okay.
So it's probably older.
[Rick] Back in the 1960s,
when Dan Blankenship
was drilling in the Money Pit,
he was able to get down
to 190 feet,
deeper than previous
searcher efforts.
He used six-inch pipe, but
this appears to be
much thinner than that.
-I'm just curious why
they went so deep. -[Gary] Yeah.
[Rick] The question is:
who was here?
There was another
big chunk of pipe come up.
- Terry's got it.
- Big old chunk there.
- Very heavy pipe.
- Boy, she tore off, though.
- Look at that.
- [Terry] She broke away, yeah.
It's a little bit of searcher
history, that's what that is.
This seam up the side,
you see this seam in all of it.
And the threads really
don't look finely machined.
I'm thinking that could be
- relatively old.
- [Steve] Good.
The last time we found
a drill bit, you'll remember,
we were not far
from this location.
Emma dated it to mid-1800s.
That actually could have
been the drill rod
that found the Pitblado coin.
Yeah. Possibly. Yeah.
There was a reason they were
drilling here, same reason
we're drilling here.
We have enough evidence
to believe
that this is a prime location.
-Somebody before us
thought the same thing. -Yep.
- What is that?
- That looks like
- some steel to me.
- [Narrator] Earlier this year,
while core drilling
in this area,
the team recovered pieces
of an iron drill rod
that were dated to the same
period that the Truro Company
drilled into the original
Money Pit back in 1849.
It was during that operation
that drilling foreman
James Pitblado
reportedly found a silver
on the end of his drill bit.
Is it possible
that the team has recovered
another clue to suggest
they are digging in the location
of the original Money Pit?
And perhaps also mean
they could be closing in
on many more
It's filled full of material.
-Yeah. -[Steve] Well, we can
test all of that material.
[Terry] And see if it has
any precious metals
or associated base metals.
Yeah, we'll set this aside.
We'll get it back to the lab.
[Steve] Well, guys, I'm gonna
head down to the wash plant.
- [Terry] See you later, Steve.
- Yep.
[Rick] If the treasure's
found right here,
it would be good karma.
I mean, after all this time
and all the efforts
by so many people
over literally two centuries.
Until that can gets down
to the bottom
of the solution channel,
you've got to cross
your fingers a little bit.
- So we're in a good space.
- Yeah.
We'll just keep pushing
till you get to the very bottom.
I'm hoping it's a medieval
treasure we're gonna be finding.
And it might be
religious artifacts.
[Rick] I think we've proven,
and we will continue to prove,
that the Old World
was in the New World
- long before Columbus.
- Yeah, for sure.
[Rick] And maybe they worked
hard for a special reason,
a special purpose to safeguard
something special.
We have found some
very interesting artifacts.
Some of them were very old.
You know, Roman coins,
Venetian glass beads,
a hand cannon.
And then you have
the so-called Pitblado coin,
and you have to wonder,
is there a connection?
I think something
very early was undertaken here.
My hope is that as
the work continues in Karma-1,
we will find artifacts that will
solve the Oak Island
mystery at large.
Now,
if you find one of those coins,
one of those
so-called Pitblado coins,
- we're off to the races, right?
- Yeah.
-Maybe it'll be
right over there. -Yeah.
[Gary] That's what
we're here for. Coins, mate.
[Rick] There you go.
[Narrator] Meanwhile, at the
wash plant near Smith's Cove,
Steve and other members
of the team
search for clues
in the cleaned and sorted spoils
from the Karma-1 shaft.
[Aaron] Well, look there.
What you got?
Check that out.
- Well, that's an old chain.
- Wow.
[Steve] This is now
the second chain we've found.
[Aaron] Cool.
-That's a good find
at this depth. -Yeah.
[Narrator] A second
piece of chain
found in the spoils
of the Karma-1 shaft?
How old could it be?
And just what was its purpose?
So what I'd like to do is
I'm gonna give Gary a text
and have him come down
and take a look at it.
-You want to hold that
for a second? -Sure.
Wow.
[Gary] When Steve
called me to go down
to the wash plant, that
could only mean one thing:
they made a great find.
- Hey, Gary.
- Hello, mate.
- Thanks for texting.
- Yeah.
So we had a cool find.
Aaron found this.
Another chain.
What do you think of that?
Oh-h*, that's sweet.
Oh, look at that.
-Yeah, this is old. -[Steve]
Yeah, it looks really old.
[Gary] Yeah, this is
an old piece of chain.
I've found old chain
like this in England.
Maybe 1700s, 1600s,
but I'm hoping
this could be older.
- Oh, good.
- Yeah.
And you can see,
it looks like every link
was individually made.
This is hand-forged, and, look,
- you can see the striations.
- Mm-hmm.
What I like about this chain
is the size.
Because this isn't
for hauling anything.
- The size of it is small.
- Yeah.
Look at that big link there.
Why would you need
a big link here?
- Yeah.
- I think
this was the end
- of a securing chain.
- Okay.
I mean, we're searching
for treasure, mate.
This is the type of chain
that might have been
around a treasure chest.
That's really, really sweet.
[Gary] I've found old chain
like this in England.
- Yeah.
- This is the type of chain
that might have been
around a treasure chest.
- Yep.
- That's really, really sweet.
[Narrator] At the wash plant,
members of the team
examine a discovery
that was unearthed
nearly 180 feet deep
in the Karma-1 shaft.
[Gary] The chain could have gone
around a chest and been attached
- to there with a lock on it.
- Mm-hmm.
To stop somebody
from opening it.
[Steve] This shows hope
that there's treasure below.
-That's a good find, then,
by Aaron. -Yeah, really cool.
Yeah, that's got
a lot of potential.
Especially in the area
where we're drilling.
-Yeah. -That's a really,
really nice find, mate.
Well done.
- I appreciate it, Gary.
- All right, mate.
[Narrator] Meanwhile,
back in the Money Pit area...
[loud clanking]
[Jack] What was that?
[Narrator] ...the excavation
in Karma-1
has now reached
a depth below 200 feet
in the solution channel.
[Adam E.] I think
we hit that hard bedrock.
[Jared] Yeah.
- [Adam E.] Hey, guys.
- [Rick] Hey.
So, where are we?
[Quinton] So,
we are down to 212 feet
and we think
we've hit the bottom.
- Okay.
- We're gonna have Jared pick up
the can a foot or two for
the night and let things settle.
-[Rick] 100%. -[Quinton] That
auger's going all day,
spinning stuff up.
It suspends a lot of material.
If we let this settle overnight,
there's a good chance
we could see ten feet,
could be anything in there.
[Narrator] The massive auger
has ground through sediment
and hard clays,
causing the caisson
that now sits on the bottom
of the solution channel
to become full of spoils
and possible valuables.
Now the team from SB Canada
will lift the caisson
several feet to let
the materials settle overnight
into a pile on the bedrock.
Then they will use
the dig bucket to remove
the accumulated spoils
and any possible treasure
that may be
contained within them.
[Rick] Think of it
as a giant Mixmaster.
Things get stirred around.
Things might, you know,
be held up higher
in some of that clay.
And if we let it
settle out overnight,
we can now actually
search for what we believe
has fallen to those depths,
whether it be one coin or
a whole chest full of coins.
[Gary] We know
materials move around
at the bottom.
And just letting it settle
- will be good karma.
- [chuckles]
[Rick] We want
to know that we got
- every last bit of it.
- Yeah. Yeah.
[Rick] So, that's a good plan,
and we'll clean the bottom
and then let's let it settle
out, see what happens tomorrow.
And then we'll count
the coins, right?
- [laughter]
- This could be monumental.
are good, we're good.
Yeah, we're good. We'll start
it back up in the morning.
- Yep. Okey doke.
- That's great.
- All right, guys.
- Thank you.
- See you, guys.
- Thank you.
[Narrator] After digging deeper
than any previous searcher
on Oak Island,
could Rick, Marty,
Craig and the team
finally be within reach
of the precious metals
they detected
in the solution channel?
And if so,
does a discovery await them
that will link the Money Pit,
the triangle-shaped swamp,
and the boulder feature on Lot 8
to priceless, sacred treasures?
One thing is certain.
They will settle
for nothing less
than the truth
behind
this 231-year-old mystery.
Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...
[Aaron] Oh, wow.
- Check that out.
- [Charles] That's a great find.
That could be
really, really old.
[Carmen] This was used
to build a wooden vault
or some sort of structure
down below for safekeeping.
[Laird] You've got
something big on your hands.
- It's absolutely intentional.
- [Laird] It matches
Lot 5 and the Money Pit.
-And they were trying to conceal
it. -[Rick] Which makes it
even more spectacular.
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13x17 - The Missing Links
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Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.
Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.