02x07 - The Trail of the Templars

Episode transcripts for the TV show "The Curse of Oak Island". Aired: January 5, 2014 to present.*
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Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.
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02x07 - The Trail of the Templars

Post by bunniefuu »

Previously on the curse of Oak Island in

order to dig in the money pit we have to

shut off all the flood phones and maybe

this digest will lead us in that

direction my green coming out of there

we're here to the south of France trying

to take back to find the roots of this

if you were gonna look for the treasure

of the Knights Templar it's not the bulk

item ties to Oak Island are here

supposedly it all comes together it was

Scotland you need to come get me to

Scotland

there is an island in the North Atlantic

where men have been looking for treasure

for more than 200 years so far they have

uncovered booby-trapped flood tunnels

carved stones with strange symbols 17th

century Spanish coins and evidence of a

wooden vault covered in concrete six men

have even lost their lives trying to

solve the mystery

according to legend

we'll have to die before the treasure

can

okay let's do this Jack you going in

sure Rick yeah who's getting wet Jack

Walters ever since finding evidence of a

mysterious wooden vault buried deep

within the money pit treasure hunter

Rick lagina is determined to find an

efficient way of getting to it Charles

here take this

because the object is buried more than

140 feet below ground and surrounded by

what are believed to be a network of

booby-trapped flood tunnels Rick

believes the key to shutting off the

water and getting to the money pit might

be found hidden in the Oak Island swamp

something just floated up in between my

toes it's probably an eel
due to

environmental regulations the water from

the swamp cannot be pumped into the

nearby ocean so the team will need to

divert it several hundred yards away to

the western side of the island

that's good that's good did you do it

that'll work because there is a

widespread belief that the

triangle-shaped swamp is man-made many

Oak Island researchers believe that

everything from a sophisticated

hydraulic system to a vast underground

treasure vault might lie buried under

four and a half acres of brackish water

and muck okay good job just don't drink

any of that okay good job jack

Dave you're up crank it let's go

when Rick and his partners tried to

drain the swamp one year ago they found

that their efforts were undermined by a

series of natural springs that put water

back in the swamp almost as fast as they

could pump it out this year Rick will be

using a larger and more powerful pumping

system he will also be setting up

additional pumping stations at two more

strategic points and running the pumps

for a longer period of time

we need to solve this and I've said it

before and I'll say it again I think

there's answers to be gained in the

swamp and they're not gonna come easy

but it has to be done and it will be

done we're gonna go check the road if

all goes according to plan Rick lagina

is confident that the swamp should be

fully drained in just a few days

time enough for him to travel some 3,000

miles across the Atlantic

to Scotland where he and other members

of the team have been invited to join

Marty and Marty's son Alex who have been

on a fact-finding mission of their own

gentlemen

welcome to Scotland this is our driver

Jack Jack why are we driving on the

wrong side of the road it is the right

side of the road actually looks like

we're here I see the ocean

here at Saltcoats kathleen mcgowan has

arranged for Rick Marty and the team to

meet with Alan Butler a prolific English

author who has done extensive research

on the Knights Templar and the various

myths and stories connected to them

welcome to Scotland you might want to

know why we brought you to a rainy part

of Scotland like this in connection with

that place Oak Island so far away across

this ocean but I think in order to

explain it I need to take you somewhere

where we can get a better view of the

surrounding area

okay I take it this is a lovely day here

[Applause]

oh it's nice yeah

if you look around you can see that this

is a really good natural harbour things

particularly important because it's

shielded by another part of the mainland

of Scotland and also by the islands it

was a place where the French would never

have dared to come according to McGowan

and Butler the Cathars a group of early

Christians who traced their origins back

to the days of Jesus placed a number of

sacred objects including the Ark of the

Covenant and the Holy Grail

into the hands of the Knights Templar

who in turn hid the objects at various

locations in France before taking them

here to Saltcoats the Templar see see

this place is refuge and not England the

most famous of the Scottish Kings Robert

de Bru's he had k*lled one of his

opponents on the steps of a church altar

that made the Pope quite cross so he has

communicated Robert the Bruce and the

whole of Scotland and that just happened

to coincide with the time when the

Templars were made illegal according to

legend on Friday the 13th 1307 King

Philip the 4th of France and Pope

Clement the 5th conspired to have the

Templars arrested and ex*cuted on

charges of heresy although it is

believed by some researchers they came

Philip the fourth really persecuted the

Templars because he had fallen into debt

with them and wanted to confiscate their

great wealth by 1312 the Knights Templar

were nearly disbanded but not before 18

ships believed to be carrying a precious

cargo of religious artifacts left La

Rochelle France and route to Scotland so

the treasure of the Cathars and the

Templars comes into this Harbor that's

very very protected and they could have

done it in a very secretive way and

these treasures were talking about

things like the Ark of the Covenant the

temple of the tables of Solomon the Holy

Grail could only be held on sacred

ground so they would have taken the

treasure from here to a sacred place and

that would be Kilwinning Abbey and

that's where we're gonna go next okay

did the Knights Templar really bring

priceless treasures including the Ark of

the Covenant and the Holy Grail to

Scotland for safekeeping

and if so was it to prepare for an even

greater journey one that would take

these sacred religious artifacts across

the Atlantic Ocean to Oak Island

when I sit back and think about these

theories honestly they're all

far-fetched and generally they're all

credible they're both so we listen and

we're gonna look okay let's go

coming up there's a tunnel here jack

yeah I'm saying dig here yeah the ark

paint here took the winning that will

ultimately lead to the finding of the

treasure

back on Oak Island as the swamp

continues to drain researcher Jack

Begley is looking for a way to get to

the bottom of the money pit without

breaching one of the supposed

booby-trapped flood tunnels

with him is veteran treasure hunter dan

Blankenship who's nearly 50 years of

treasure hunting while living on the

island makes him an invaluable human

resource jack is curious about a strange

clearing known as the bald spot a

mysterious patch of land on the island

where trees inexplicably

don't seem to grow I really like the

spot already because it's above high

tide line and it's right off the

boulderless beach we have to figure this

all out before we get the claw digger in

here oh all I need to do is to try and

help you out and tell you what I think

is there and then you know take it from

there if we're gonna be digging here how

deep do you think this well I'll just

watch I've never seen dowsing before I'm

really interested to see if there are

chambers or flood tunnels deep

underground dan Blankenship is using an

unconventional and fairly controversial

method dowsing the ground condition is

perfect for dowsing wet good

also referred to as divining dowsing

dates back to the 15th century and

entails walking in a straight line while

holding two l-shaped wooden or metal

rods parallel to the ground if the rods

cross without any manipulation it may be

an indication that a water source or a

tunnel may lie hidden down below now I'm

gripping them tight I'm perfect okay now

they come by themselves you straighten

them out

when you see the raj cross is this

attempted something is it an attraction

of something is making a Raj crowd and

in all probability is a tunnel although

not scientifically proven dowsing has

actually been employed for years in the

well-drilling and energy industries it

was by this method back in 1969 that dan

Blankenship became convinced he had

found a location that might provide an

alternate means of reaching the money

pit 10-x he digs down 235 feet and he

finds this chamber underground and best

of my knowledge all he used was dowsing

which is something I don't believe in so

then you're left with the conclusion

that I guess he was either incredibly

lucky or perhaps dowsing works there's a

tunnel here jack

if dan blankenship did just locate a

tunnel could it be one of the so-called

flood tunnels connected to the money pit

I suspect there to be another tunnel

coming out of here I want to see whether

they can fix that up

yeah I did already I picked it up here's

the cross tunnel I was telling you about

I'm saying dig here for the only reason

that it's adjacent to two cross tunnels

this is the hottest place I would say

that's what I like to hear Dan I'd like

to hear

nearly 3,000 miles away Rick Marty and

Alex lagina along with Dave Blankenship

and Charles Barkhouse arrive with

researchers Kathleen McGowan and Alan

Butler at Kilwinning Abbey considered by

some to be among the most sacred sites

in Scotland this is a monastery built by

a group of monks called the Turin

anciens you know some monks pray some

monks farm these guys were builders

founded in Tehran france in 1109 the

tironensian order adhered strictly to

what was known as the rule of Saint

Benedict which allowed little more than

prayer and work over the years the monks

developed an astounding knowledge of

architecture and engineering which in

turn led to the construction of more

than 100 sacred Abbey's and priories

across France England Ireland Wales and

Scotland within a five-year period

but the terran indians were not only

known for their ability to build

structures above ground they were also

expert at building tunnel systems such

as the one believed to be at Rosslyn

Chapel in Scotland which connects the

chapel to a nearby castle now there's a

strong tradition that the ark came here

to Kilwinning but is there any reason

you think it's here in Kilwinning aside

from just the fact that it would be a

good spot for it

yeah I'm absolutely certain that they

would have kept it here as much as

anything else because it was so close to

the coast and they knew that there would

come a time when they had to get it out

very quickly

the Templars were very forward-looking

people if they wanted to do something

they went to see the people who were

already doing that thing they needed to

come to people who could build and those

people were the tironensians

Kathleen McGowan and Alan Butler are

among those who believe that members of

the Knights Templar brought their

treasures including the Ark of the

Covenant here to Kilwinning Abbey after

fleeing from France in 1312 they also

believe the Templars and later the

freemasons forged a secret alliance with

tironensian monks to hide these sacred

objects on Oak Island Freemasonry took

over to a great extent from the Templars

in carrying that message forward and

Freemasonry has been really important on

Oak Island I'm sure but that will

ultimately lead to the finding of the

treasure I came away thinking yes

there's a good chance there were some

amazing things that were spirited away

with the fall of the Knights Templar and

there's a credible case made that they

could have gone to Scotland it makes

sense politically at the time but we're

trying to connect the dots back to Oak

Island the next parts of called to me

one of the most amazing places in the

world is Rosslyn Chapel and Kathleen's

gonna take you that great great perfect

coming up we're really hoping to find

the top of a tunnel yeah

Scottish Knights went to the new world

before Columbus perhaps there may have

been some other purpose for that voyage

well Rick Marty and the other members of

their team are in Scotland tracing the

possible connections between the Knights

Templar and Oak Island a bald spot Drake

Craig tester his son Drake and stepson

Jack Begley are at the mysterious area

on the island known as the bald spot see

how there's no living trees in this wide

open area they are preparing to excavate

where dan Blankenship believes one of

the islands legendary flood tunnels runs

underground that's why we want to go

ahead and excavate down and see if

there's any rooms or tunnels just 1012

feet down this area has also been of

interest to Oak Island treasure hunters

because it is next to what is known as

the boulderless beach

the only stretch of beach on the island

where all rocks and boulders appear to

have been cleared away could it be

hiding another flood system like the one

found in 1850 at Smith's Cove or Dan

wanna dig first break where this dump is

it has a tunnel leading straight over to

where that other crossroads point is

about in the middle of-of this bald spot

here again in order to see if Dan

Blankenship's theory is correct Craig

tester has hired an excavator which can

dig down approximately 12 feet well the

place you want to try digging is that

stump right there

with this dig we're really hoping to

find is the top of a tunnel or a room

it's gonna be cribbed or have wood

supporting it

we're about halfway there we think take

a look

oh I'm not seeing any cribbing yeah no I

mean either yeah you might be able to

get another foot or so

although the excavator is approaching

its maximum depth of 12 feet and as yet

there is no sign of a tunnel a tunnel

might still exist dowsing while believed

to be effective at finding sources of

water underground is not generally

effective at calculating depth in other

words a flood tunnel may exist

underground what may lie farther down

than the excavator can reach

how deep you think we are now I think

we're about 12 feet I'll feed that's the

deepest of skulls yeah thank

and see how it's doing

no wood though we're not seeing anything

here so we'll move to another location

okay as digging and pumping activities

continue on Oak Island Rick Marty and

the other members of their team are

looking for important clues in one of

the most mysterious buildings in

Scotland Rosslyn Chapel look at that

absolutely magnificent

boy did they create some magnificent

things in stone at Rosslyn Chapel it's

clearly ornate it's beautiful it's

inspiring

Rosslyn Chapel was designed and

commissioned by William Sinclair a

powerful member of a clan with ties to

the Knights Templar it was built by

Freemasons in approximately 1456

Wow

amazing

originally designed to be a Catholic

Church many researchers believe the

strange carvings on the walls and

ceilings of the chapel contain numerous

clues

it could be instrumental in solving the

Oak Island mystery and we're

particularly interested in North

American influence in the chapel and

that's simply because we've come looking

for a connection to Oak Island in North

America that perhaps referencing this

Sinclair voyage that there may have been

some interaction or some purpose for

that voyage or other voyages to in the

world so legend is that Scottish Knights

went to the new world before Columbus

born there are those who believe that in

1398 nearly a century before Christopher

Columbus sets sail to the Americas

William Sinclair's grandfather Prince

Henry Sinclair sailed across the ocean

from Scotland to what would become known

as Nova Scotia or New Scotland

he was accompanied on his journey by

members of the Knights Templar and their

goal was to hide not only the vast

Templar treasure but sacred religious

artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant

the golden menorah of King Solomon and

the Holy Grail one of the theories we've

heard is that the MiG Mob people the

original people in the Nova Scotia area

have some symbols that are like some

phoned in here according to the

historical timeline of the Mi'kmaq First

Nation tribes people of Nova Scotia

contact with Europeans was made in 1398

it has been reported that the Mi'kmaq

saw Henry Sinclair as a god named

Glooscap and that he taught them new

ways of fishing and navigating

this possible connection between the

native peoples of Nova Scotia and the

Knights Templar is made even more

convincing when comparing the Templar

battle flag of Henry Sinclair to the

ceremonial flag used by the Mi'kmaq they

are virtually identical the legend here

is that Prince Henry Sinclair in 1398

sailed to the New World and brought back

with him corn and if you look up here

there is what may appear to be maize or

as we have called Indian corn this

chapel was built well before Christopher

Columbus went to America

corne could this be the first important

clue directly linking Rosslyn Chapel to

the Oak Island mystery

coming up it's ten feet we'll hit it if

it's 15 feet we're not gonna hit it the

money pit is a deliberately constructed

copy of Solomon's Temple
at Rosslyn

Chapel in Scotland Rick and Marty lagina

have just been shown stone carvings of

what many believe to be corn corn is a

grain that is native to North America

and could not have been known in this

part of the world until after Columbus

is so called discovery of the new world

in 1492 so how did it come to be

incorporated into the architecture of a

chapel built in 1456 there are those who

believe that Prince Henry Sinclair a

member of the Knights Templar visited

North America in 1398 nearly 100 years

before Columbus and that the inclusion

of corn and the design of the chapel

serves as an important clue directly

linking Sinclair to the Oak Island

mystery

on a recent visit to oak island swedish

researcher daniel ronnstam suggested

that the stone slab found in the money

pit contains secret instructions for

stopping the ocean water that floods the

pit by using something as simple as dry

corn could William Sinclair have

intended these carvings to serve as a

means of instructing future generations

of Templars on how to retrieve their

sacred treasure stash honestly it looks

like you can see the little corn kernels

yes there are other carvings such as the

aloe vera and Trillium which against

North American plants and interestingly

our botanist believed the Trillium Moss

Trillium so we have to believe that the

people who carved this Chapel were far

traveled corn is a new world crop and

one of the key things is that there

appears to be a carving of a Trillium

while trilliums would been unknown to

the people who built that Chapel had

they not been to North America people

come to this chapel for many different

reasons and with many different beliefs

and we respect all the different beliefs

that people come with so we can't say

definitively contain we didn't sail to

the New World and that's part of the the

magic and mystery of the place we're

very used to non-definitive answers we

Rex were experts in non-definitive

answers

was it an inspiring and was it quite an

amazing place to visit yes it was but as

it regards this search I don't know so

what do you guys think of Rosslyn I need

time to digest at all I really do it's

overwhelming

you got a lot of dot to connect sensory


overload we need we need to discuss all

this and let it gel

I mean it's spectacular our friend Alan

Butler has been working all day to put

together a presentation for you guys so

if you're ready we can go have a drink

and meet with Alan well we definitely

need a drink

there's a wonderful bar called the Grail

down the street maybe we should go there

we seek the Grail we seek the Grail

let's go

back on Oak Island treasure hunters

Craig tester and Jack Begley are about

to dig a second test hole at the area

known as the bald spot so named because

large trees have never been known to

grow there after dowsing the area dan

Blankenship believes that one of the

reasons for the scarce vegetation might

be that one of the man-made flood

tunnels that feeds ocean water into the

money pit could lie underground dan talk

about it was it was over he put some

some sticks in the ground and okay

there's like a crossroads he thinks that

that the tunnels that are here they

crisscross but they're not at the same

level he thought that that was gonna be

the highest one and then this was the

other hotspot he had and pretty much

right in the center of all just these

sticks a good place to start

right here that stick is the center of

the whole yeah correct

I'm still enthusiastic about this area

but we don't have a good idea how deep

these rooms or tunnels might be it's ten

feet we'll hit it if it's 15 sheep we're

not gonna hit it

take a look

Wow

coming up I would back to mother stone

that ax marks the spot

suppose it took exactly your life

savings to dig it up

would you do it

at the strange treeless area on oak

island known as the bald spot

Craig tester and Jack Begley are hoping

to unearth one of the islands possible

booby-trapped flood tunnels let's see

how it's doing

Wow okay seven or eight feet you know

like halfway there

this one's been going pretty good no

wood though yeah a lot of boulders

unfortunately the excavator they are

using can only reach a depth of 12 feet

and there is no telling how deep the

flood tunnel could be assuming one

exists to test and Blankenship's

findings the team will have to return to

the site with larger and more powerful

digging equipment well I think we're at

12 feet here again and that we're not

finding anything so it could be natural

but there's not no trees here but it

could be that the tunnels are a little

deeper so we'll look at maybe running

seismic maybe a ground-penetrating radar

but I'm not done bringing it here for

sure I sure hope they're having better

luck in Europe than we're having here

right now

on their last night in Scotland Rick and

Marty lagina have arranged to have a

final meeting with researchers Kathleen

McGowan and Alan Butler time for a pint

of bitter plain of something Rick Marty

and the team have spent the last two

days investigating the theory that the

treasures of the Knights Templar

including the Ark of the Covenant and

the Holy Grail it could have made their

way from France to Scotland and then

possibly to Oak Island it's time to

connect the dots I hope you think it's

worthwhile when you heard what we've got

to say when I read the account of how

McGinnis and his friends first started

to dig at the money pit

the first thing they came across a

couple of feet under the turf was a

platform of flat stones why is this

significant well it's got to do with a

threshing floor often referred to in the

Holy Bible a threshing floor is a paved

surface where sheaves of crops are

spread out and trampled in order to

separate the edible grains from the

st*lks

but threshing floors also came to

represent spiritual truth and were used

to mark very symbolic religious

locations

one of the greatest examples was the

foundation used in building the original

temple of King Solomon on what is now

known as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

he said the dimensions of that were the

size of a threshing floor or the

dimensions of the original dig are quite

small yeah

that's all they were yeah yeah fresh

applause were very small who are they

always circular yes I've never seen one

that wasn't while exploring Oak Island

in 1795 Daniel McGinnis and his friends

Anthony Vaughn and John Smith found a

circular depression 13 feet in diameter

in the ground at the foot of an old oak

tree

because the area had been frequented by

Spanish and Portuguese pirates they

believed they had found buried treasure

they began to dig and two feet deep they

found a layer of flat paving stones not

found anywhere else on the island

could they have really uncovered a

threshing floor meant to mark the

location not of pirate treasure but

something of great spiritual and

religious significance

it's rung a bell in my mind especially

in connection with how much interest

Freemasons had shown to Oak Island it's

got to do with a particular part of

Freemasonry which is called the Royal

Arch of Enoch in the Old Testament of

the Bible Enoch is the great-grandfather

of Noah

the man who on God's command built an

ark to ensure humans and animals would

survive the Great Flood according to the

so-called legend of Enoch an ancient

series of texts used by freemasons enoch

built a structure deep underground that

would ensure that all the important

knowledge and treasures of the world

would also survive

the first eight chambers Enoch

constructed were meant for protection

but in the ninth and final chamber he

placed a triangle of pure gold known as

the Delta on which the name of God was

written he also placed a collection of

great scientific and historical

knowledge alongside it time rolls by and

along come the children of Israel and

King Solomon builds the temple they find

the entrance to the Enochian chambers

some Masonic legends say that Solomon

added to the treasures that were there

where the Ark of the Covenant ultimately

found its way into the temple and when

the Knights Templar were eventually able

to build their own new Jerusalem the

money pit was deliberately constructed

copy of Solomon's Temple and the

chambers of Enoch in 1804 the Onslow

company excavated what became known as

the money pit

and found nine platforms made of oak

logs every ten feet at the ninth and

final level the so-called 90-foot stone

was discovered on which mysterious

carved symbols were found could these

nine platforms really have been

constructed to represent the nine

chambers of King Solomon's Temple if

it's ever possible to say that x marks

the spot I would bet a modest sum that

what you're looking for is another shaft

with another chamber which is 996 feet

due west of the money pit

they hate to do this to Marty but the

prophecies about the New Jerusalem say

that the New Jerusalem will be built on

an island of swamp

x marks the spot

what you're looking for is another shaft

with another chamber on there last night

in Scotland Rick Marty and the other

members of their team have just been

told by researcher Alan Butler that a

secret chamber that connects to the

money pit can be found 996 feet due west

right on the edge of the Oak Island

swamp

but how did Alan Butler arrive at such a

precise measurement everything about the

money pits the structure itself with its

paving slabs the size of it lead me to

believe the whole design is based on a

linear unit of measurement the

megalithic yard equal to two point seven

two feet the megalithic yard is believed

by some researchers to have been used as

an ancient unit of measurement in the

construction of many mysterious

megalithic structures including

Stonehenge in later years the Freemasons

adopted this unit of measurement in the

building of other often sacred sites

including Rosslyn Chapel

we know the gap between Rosslyn Chapel

and Rosslyn Castle is 366 megalithic

yards that is equivalent to 996 feet and

I think that is the situation Oak Island

so if we look at what the Templars are

doing creating a new Jerusalem using the

Enochian model there would be a chamber

that is 366 make looks yards away the

other end of the tunnel is at a fixed

Compass Point from the origin which

makes me think it's more likely it would

be due west am I to understand looking

at this that we're back in that bloody

swamp yes No tell me it isn't true

it's surprising really how many

different theories keep landing in that

swamp and it's been no secret I'd like

to stick a big fork in the swamp we'd be

done with it I hate that swamp

so how sure are you of this me yeah

absolutely sure suppose it took exactly

your life savings to dig it up would you

do it considering I'm as poor as a

Churchmouse it wouldn't be much of a no

but that's still the measure is I'd I

would well then on that note let's you

big brother says okay big brother the

question was asked earlier would you

commit to this endeavor

and the answer for me is I will we're

going to drain the swamp anyway I don't

care still a mucky mess but I don't care

how difficult to this I really don't I

mean I'll go in there by myself

Matt Rick lagina is why you are going to

find this treasure we are going to the

dots were not as close as I would have

liked but these people came with a

theory rather elegant theory at the end

of the presentation they gave us

information that we could act on they

put an axe on the Mary that's rare

yeah one thing occurs to me that is

interesting is that how many people

actually get to say that I spent a

portion of my life seeking the Grail

legitimate anyway so thank you very much

Cheers

to the quest to the question for Rick

Marty and their partners the trip to

Europe has been both informative and

motivating finally the troops arrived

they are heading back to Oak Island more

convinced than ever that something of

great significance may lie buried deep

inside the money pit here's the plan

we'll sh**t this and that an important

key to reaching it might be found at the

bottom of the swamp a swamp that has so

far been able to keep its secrets hidden

life takes a lot of twists and turns

it's kind of what makes it interesting

so it's hugely important that we listen

to theorists yay but we need to get data

in credible usable definitive data I

would like to be able to say there's

something to excavate here in the swamp

at the end of the day you have to prove

the theory take it into the field take

theory into practice take theory to

result there's a story here a

magnificent story something happened

long ago I would like to play whatever

part necessary to find out what that is

will the laginas and their partners find

sacred treasures hidden away by the

Knights Templar or will it be something

else something so incredible that

finding it will not represent the end

but only

the beginning next time on the curse of

Oak Island right here's where we're

gonna start

I'm just so sick of this slop something

right there he just got a reading he's

saying we got multiple hits in the same

area

you got some divers coming in and we'll

concentrate on 10x you're ready to go

let's do this

what's in the bottom of 10x

we're getting into analysis paralysis I

am wanting to quit what do you mean you

want to quit
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