07x15 - Surely Templar

[bunniefuu]

We've got a target here, Jack.

Oh, look at that.

What the heck is that?

Does it look old to you?

‐That's what
we're looking for in the swamp.
‐Very cool.

What is that, mate?
That looks like a tunnel!

There's a massive structure
going on here.

What have you found now, Jack?

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,

mysterious fragments
of human bone,

and a lead cross
whose origin may stretch back

to the days
of the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have d*ed
trying to solve the mystery.

And, according to legend,

one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

Let's go find this ship!

For brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina

and their team,
a new day full of hope

and anticipation
of a major discovery

is just beginning
at the Oak Island swamp.

So here we are.

This is the spot.

‐We're gonna dig down and trench
to 15 feet.
‐Mm‐hmm.

And I'm hoping
this would be where

I think a ship anomaly
may actually be.

Well, we're about to find out,
mate. I hope you're right.

‐Oh, look.
What is that?

One week ago, while
metal detecting in the area‐‐

the same area where,
earlier this year,

seismic scanning revealed
evidence of what appears

to be a ship‐shaped anomaly‐‐

Rick Lagina, along with metal
detection expert Gary Drayton

and Jack Begley,
made what they hope

might be
a game‐changing discovery.

Not only did they unearth
the remains of an iron strap‐‐

one that blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge identified

as possibly coming from an
18th century Spanish galleon.

‐Wow.
They also
found evidence

that the strap may have been
caught in some sort of fire,

one suggesting that
the ship it was on was b*rned,

and then sunk,
somewhere in the area.

A burnt ship in the swamp, Gary?

Yeah, and that's how you
hide a ship. You burn it.

Yeah.

This is still

majority unexplored over on
the western side of the swamp.

And if we're trenching
this whole area, though,

there's a good chance
we'll find something.

Yeah.
Something.

‐I believe we will.
‐Me, too.

‐Hey, Rick.
‐Hey.

What does it look like?

Uh, it's pretty hard.

Very dry, too, towards the top,
which is not really a surprise.

This is the heart
of the anomaly?

Yeah, the top portion of it.

So this is the shallower end
then?

Yes. Exactly.

Because the ship‐shaped anomaly

identified
by the seismic scan appears

to be buried at an angle‐‐
with one end some 55 feet deep

and the other
only 15 feet deep‐‐

the team is hoping
to find evidence of it

with their 36‐ton excavator.

Hey. Hey, hey, hey!
Look at that!

Right there.

Right there.
Yeah, I see that.

‐Can you get it out?
Looks like a wood beam.

I‐I'm not gonna get it now.

We're gonna have
to have Billy pull it out.

Yup.

Up.

There you have it.

Assuming I don't fall
in the hole.

Do you think
that's a survey stake?

‐It's definitely
different, but...
‐Mm‐hmm.

‐I don't know.
‐A different diameter,

‐or were the survey stakes...?
‐No, they found‐‐ they

‐found them this small.
‐Yeah, they were
about that size.

‐There's‐there's that one
picture that we found.
‐Yes.

A wooden stake?

Could it be connected

to the other ancient markers
the team has recently

found in the swamp?

All right, we'll keep this.

Good eye, Jack.

I saw the wood.

Hey. While you guys are
trenching,

I'm gonna go metal detecting
around here.

Okay. And then we will have
a better perspective

if we go over there
and watch the trench.

‐Yes.
‐Yeah.
I'll go help him dig.

Okay, mate.
See you in a bit.

‐Good luck.
‐Thanks.

As Rick and the team

continue their investigation
in the swamp...

some 1,000 miles west
of Oak Island

in Traverse City, Michigan...

‐Hello, Vanessa!
‐Hey, guys.

‐How you doing today?
Great.
‐Good. Good.

...Marty Lagina

and his business partner
Craig Tester

have arranged a call
with Vanessa Lucido,

the CEO of ROC Equipment,
to discuss plans

for what promises
to be the largest excavation

the team has ever attempted
at the Money Pit.

One thing
I'll tell you, Vanessa,

that is kind of exciting‐‐
actually, it's very exciting‐‐

is that Rick and company managed

to find this shaft
called "Shaft Two,"

and we know from the records,
it was only 14 feet away

‐from the original Money Pit.
‐Okay.

So, we really think
we're closing in

on the original Money Pit
with that information,

‐which is exciting.
‐Awesome.

Four weeks ago,

while drilling near Shaft Two‐

the 1805 searcher tunnel
dug by Daniel McGinnis

and members
of the Onslow Company‐‐

the Oak Island team
obtained samples

of unusual, hand‐cut wood.

Wood which was later
carbon‐dated

to the 17th century,

more than 100 years
before the discovery

of the original Money Pit.

So we want to discuss

what is the largest can,
perhaps two,

that we could put down
on the island

from a practical standpoint?

So, the last couple years,

we've been putting down
five‐foot diameter shafts,

but I do have eight‐foot cans
readily available.

Uh, we can do
an eight‐footer this year.

‐Perfect.
‐That'd be great.

And to be safe, I was gonna
bring up 220 feet of pipe?

Okay.

We did five‐foot cans

last year and the year before.

And an eight‐foot can
doesn't sound

like it's that much bigger,

but we're actually getting two
and a half times more material.

Well, that's a lot.
It's a lot more sampling.

So, I'm excited about it.

The‐the ability
to do this is great.

Are you fairly confident
we can get through a shelf

in the bedrock
into the cavity below?

We're gonna have
a lot better chance because

we're gonna have more
of a cutting area.

‐Okay.
‐So,

um, I think
we're gonna have a lot,

‐lot better chance to get down.
‐Good.

What about the, uh, hammer‐grab?
Is it...?

What size do you go with?

So we'll bring
eight‐foot grabs.

Bigger boy. We have a big
hammer‐grab coming.

Okay.

So, we'll look forward
to seeing you there.

‐Couple weeks?
‐Yeah.

Got a lot of trucks
coming your way.

That's great.
Get it rolling,

Vanessa. We're ready.
It's time to dig.

Yeah. We're‐we're gonna drill
shafts all over the island.

‐All over the place.
‐Okay.
‐We're gonna find it.

‐Yeah, okay. Good. I love that.
‐

See you in a couple weeks.

All right. Bye, guys.
Bye.

I've never

been back here, Gary,
when it's been this dry.

Yeah, it's really dry.

Hey!

We've got a target here, Jack.

‐
‐Rick!

‐Come here!
Check this out!

At the Oak Island
swamp, Rick Lagina,

his nephew Alex, along with
Jack Begley and Gary Drayton

are continuing to search
for tangible evidence

that can identify the nature
of the strange,

200‐foot‐long,
ship‐shaped anomaly

that was revealed by seismic
testing earlier this year.

Still in there,
so it's down there.

Oh, look at that. What is this
doing down here? Look!

What the heck is that?

Oh, look at that.

What the heck... is that?

That looks like...

I don't know what.
Some kind of metal point.

Yup.

Some kind of metal post or pin.

Yeah.

There might be wood in there.
There might be wood.

Yeah, that's not solid iron.

No. Man,

‐that is an interesting find.
‐Yeah.

See right here? To me, there's
certainly some feature there.

‐So it's got a fastener.
So this was...
‐Oh.

A pole would be in here, right?

And that pin would go
through there.

‐That and that.
‐Yup.

So something was pinned through
because something was put in.

Yup.

Initially, it looked
like a spear point.

It did.
Or a lance point, rather.

But then, we turn it about,
and it appears hollow.

And at that point,
if this can lead us down a path

towards the ultimate goal
of trying

to come to an understanding
of what happened on Oak Island,

that's certainly
worth investigating.

Gary, I... I have no clue.

Yeah, it is really, really old.

Well, it's got us all stumped.

That is unusual, and...

if you found that,
who knows what else is here?

‐Exactly.
‐Good hunting.

‐All right, mate.
‐Great find.

‐Yeah.
‐We're gonna go back

observing that trench.

You guys keep hunting.

All right, let's recheck
this hole, Jack.

‐See if there's
anything else here.
‐Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure.

As Jack and Gary
continue metal detecting,

Rick and Alex
join Paul Troutman,

Dave Blankenship
and Billy Gerhardt

as they dig for more evidence
of the ship‐shaped anomaly.

I don't like how hard
that material is.

No, I didn't hear loose

‐material in that at all.
‐No, no.

We'd have to have
a different bucket

‐on there to dig deeper.
‐Yes, yes.

You could spend hours
digging that,

‐and b*at the equipment up.
Yes.

That's just hard, hard ground.

Yeah, he's just,
he's just grinding.

Hey, Billy!

Let's, let's call it.

Let's call it.

You're grinding away.

Although they are only

a few feet away from reaching

their target depth,
Rick and the team

have just encountered
a frustrating setback.

The densely packed clay
bottom of the swamp

is too hard for them
to continue digging,

without risking serious damage
to their equipment.

But have they encountered
a natural barrier,

or one that like the swamp
itself, is man‐made?

At the end of the day, this is
about expectation management.

And as we speak, I think the
preponderance of the evidence

is indicating
there's something there.

But we need to take some time
and‐and figure this out.

Hope springs eternal.

Hope springs
eternal.

After a long day

of investigation
in the swamp...

We've invited a guest.

Jim, I welcome you
to the w*r room.

Rick Lagina and other members

of the team gather
in the w*r room

where they are
joined once again

by Oak Island theorist,
James McQuiston.

I think everyone
is familiar with,

you know,
your original presentation.

But, we look forward to what
you have to tell us today.

I, uh, I have a little handout.

Essentially, what it is,

it's how the Freemasons
connect directly to Oak Island.

One year ago,

James presented the team
with his research

that suggested
Scottish descendants

of the Knights Templar,

known as the order
of the Knights Baronet,

not only began settling
the region of Nova Scotia

in the early 17th century,

but may have been connected
to the Oak Island mystery.

Founded in 1625
by Sir William Alexander,

a Scottish royal advisor
to King James I of England,

their mission was two‐fold.

One, to establish a safe refue

for Templar descendants
in Nova Scotia.

And their second objective,

according to James McQuiston,
was to add valuables to a vast

Templar treasure vault that
had been buried on Oak Island

centuries earlier.

The story starts
with William Alexander working

on this idea of creating the
Knights Baronet of Nova Scotia.

Immediately, clan chieftains
started signing up.

They were going
to move out of Scotland,

but they were going
to get 30,000 acres,

name their own town,

lay it out the way they
wanted to, and if you're gonna

leave behind Scotland,
well, you're not gonna

leave all your valuables there.

So, you would have
clan valuables, and...

I would say the first couple
dozen of these Knights Baronet

that signed up had connections

backwards
to the Knights Templar.

So, they may have
even‐even had some

Templar artifacts
in their family.

I believe it was their best
option to literally create

the Money Pit and say,
"We're gonna bury it.

"We're gonna booby‐trap it.

Nobody's gonna know about it."

Well, on top of all that, if‐‐

as if that wasn't enough,
Sir William Alexander was

leading a secret Templar
Masonic order when he d*ed,

which may have simply
been a description

somebody made of the Freemasons.

The bottom line is
that it's more

than apparent that
the Scottish clan leaders,

who became the Knights Baronet
of Nova Scotia

had a lot of links
to the Freemasons.

Sir William Alexander,

the founder
of the Knights Baronet,

also a Freemason?

For more than two centuries,
the secret society of builders

known as the Freemasons
has been closely intertwined

with the Oak Island mystery.

Not only have prominent
treasure hunters been members‐‐

including Daniel McGinnis,

M.R. Chappell,

and Franklin Delano Roosevelt‐

but many sacred
Masonic symbols‐‐

such as the letter G,

representing the great
architect of the universe...

triangles...

and even what appears
to be the all‐seeing eye...

have been discovered
on the island.

So, right off the bat,
you have the Alexanders

controlling
what became Freemasonry.

The next person to take over
the Freemasons of Nova Scotia

was James Maclean.

What a lot of people don't
realize is that John Smith,

who was one of the people
who found the Money Pit,

his mother was a Maclean.

And the McGinnises were very
tight with the Macleans.

I mean, all of these families
are connected.

In 1795,

after reportedly
noticing strange lights

coming from Oak Island,

Daniel McGinnis and John Smith,
along with their friend,

Anthony Vaughn,
took a boat from the mainland

to investigate.

There, they were
stunned to find

a mysterious,
13‐foot‐wide depression

at the base of an old oak tre,

which according to some
accounts, was also carved

with strange, Masonic symbols.

Believing they had
found the hiding place

for a treasure vault,
they began to dig.

Over the course
of several years,

they made a number
of shocking discoveries,

such as platforms made of
oak logs every ten feet,

and at a depth of 90 feet,

a stone slab with strange
markings carved into it.

But could McGinnis
and his friends have found

the legendary treasure shaft,

not by chance,
but by recognizing

a number of carefully
placed clues?

Clues which they knew about
through their association

with Freemasonry,
and by extension,

the Knights Templar?

I'm proposing that
maybe they weren't just

lollygagging around
and tripped over the Money Pit,

but they were actually
here looking for something,

looking for some sign
of a buried treasure.

That it had been
carried down through

the Alexander family,
and through the Maclean family,

and maybe the McGinnis family,
and they were,

uh, looking for something
when they found it.

They just didn't trip over it.

It's really interesting now.

Yeah.

And that would explain why

they so readily grabbed shovels

and dug 30 foot down by thir‐‐

'Cause that's a mammoth
project for three guys.

I mean, it's just
a‐a big thing to do.

So, that's my story and, uh,

I appreciate you giving me
a chance to tell it.

But, um...

history continues
to reveal itself.

I have to say this, James.

It's been, uh,
an incredible pleasure

uh, to‐to be witness

to‐to what you have
accomplished.

Thank you, Jim.

‐Thank you.
‐Appreciate it.

As a new day begins
on Oak Island...

Here we are, guys.

...Marty Lagina,
Charles Barkhouse,

surveyor Steve Guptill,

and archeologist Laird Niven
arrive on Lot 21.

In light of the new research
presented one day ago

by theorist James McQuiston,

they are eager
to further investigate

the early 19th century
foundation

of what was once the home
of Daniel McGinnis.

Although any investigation
of the site has previously been

restricted by the provincial
government of Nova Scotia,

Laird Niven has been able to
help the team obtain a permit

to conduct a near‐surface

archeological excavation
of the area.

Okay, Laird, this is your show.

You are clearly in charge
at this point.

Mm‐hmm.
‐You know, examining this is

certainly a step
in the right direction

of telling the‐the true story
of what took place here.

Is there any chance
that these guys

found a treasure
or part of the treasure?

That's the speculation.

Following their discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795,

Daniel McGinnis
and his friend John Smith

each purchased land
on the island,

where they would spend
the rest of their lives

trying to solve the mystery.

Although records suggest
that they and their partners

were never able to excavate
below the 90‐foot level

in the treasure shaft,
due to the flood tunnels...

Now, I've been told they found

‐three treasure chests.
‐Really?

In 2015, Daniel McGinnis's

direct descendants
visited the island,

and presented Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team

with a stunning artifact,
which Joan McGinnis claimed

had been passed down
through generations

‐of the McGinnis family.
‐Oh, my goodness.

Well, that is quite
extraordinary.

So, we have to do this right.

‐This is under permit,
so why don't you
‐Yep.

tell us what we need to do.

So, we're setting up a baseline.

‐All right.
‐Yeah, so, here's a visual.

Yeah, so, here are
the anomalies right here.

Baseline is running this way.

Test pits are in here.

We had an anomaly there.

Okay.
‐It was a very strong anomaly

‐at about four feet down.
Earlier this year,

the team enlisted ground
penetrating radar experts,

Steve Watson and Don Johnston
to scan the area,

and were stunned
to find a number

of underground anomalies,
including

a possible hidden sub‐basemen.

Could it be that
Daniel McGinnis kept

a secret hiding place for
what he found on Oak Island?

If so, could important clues
or valuables

still be hidden
somewhere on the property?

Using the collected GPR data,

Laird has designed
an archeological search grid,

which the team
will methodically excavate

in three‐foot sections known

as "test pits."

One of the most
significant names

way back in the beginning
of all this was McGinnis.

But his foundation,
the foundation of his house

has been off‐limits because
it's an archaeological site.

So, under Laird's supervision,
we'll conduct

a proper archaeological dig
of the foundation

and the surrounding area.

And the hope is that

that will provide us
a greater understanding

of their involvement
and maybe the possibility

that they may have found
something significant

long ago.

It's time to dig.

And then he does the shimmy.

What you looking for?
Bits of pottery

‐and things like that?
‐Yeah.

But even every stone
you should look at

just in case, you know.

‐This is a high activity area.
Yeah.

‐Sounds like a good place
for people to drop things.
‐Yeah.

Well, I think big picture,

we're hoping,
"Were they associated

with the discovery
of the Money Pit?"

Mm‐hmm.
‐Things that say
what happened here, right?

Artifacts or features.
Mm‐hmm.

‐Yeah.
Well, as per usual,

‐I'm more interested
in artifacts.
‐Artifacts.

Yeah, something with a date.

So, with each bucketful,

we'll be able
to maybe get some answers?

I hope so. I mean,

‐that's the intent, right?
Yeah.

All right.
Well, let's keep going.

As Laird Niven
and members of the team

begin their investigation
of the McGinnis foundation...

You can see we're still
into that thick, clay layer.

Jack Begley, metal detection
expert Gary Drayton,

and heavy equipment operator
Billy Gerhardt

have resumed search operations

in the Uplands area
of Smith's Cove.

A friend or a relative
of the cross

could be just beneath our feet.

That's why we're here, mate.

While the team reassesses

their search options
in the swamp

and with a large‐scale dig
in the Money Pit area

now just a few weeks away,

they have decided
to redouble their efforts

to locate and shut off

the island's infamous
booby‐trapped flooding system.

I notice
we're getting into thicker clay.

Natural layer.

Yeah, that's still clay.

Just be nice to find a tunnel

with a big sign saying,
"Treasure this way."

You know it's towards
the Money Pit.

That's wood.

Yeah,
a lot of timbers down there.

That's definitely wood.

‐Oh, yeah! Yep.
‐Oh, we got a big piece
of timber.

‐Yeah.
I mean,

that's deep
for a piece of timber.

Yeah, look.

Yeah. There's one
on its edge now, too.

And that looks hollow
under there

unless that's just the way it...

You think it's hollow
over there?

Kind of looks like a tunnel
down there.

Yeah.

‐Yeah.
What have you
found now, Jack?

Some kind of a stump.

I think
we have to dig some more,

expose more of this wood
and see if it does

‐end up being a structure.
‐Yeah.

I'll just pick it out.

‐We'll see what it...
‐Yeah.

Oh, that's really big.

Pull it away, Billy!

There's something underneath it.

What is that, mate?
That looks like a tunnel.

Yeah, I‐I think this is
the tunnel we're looking for.

There's stacked timbers.

I think we ran into the tunnel
that's leading...

‐That's what
it looks like to me.
I mean, it might

‐just be by searchers,
but we're in the right spot.
Yeah.

Yeah, that's got

all the makings
of being a tunnel, mate.

Timbers running that way.

The hole.

That's sweet!

A possible tunnel or shaft?

Could it be
from previous search efforts

to intercept
the main flood tunnel?

Or could it be a structure

used to create the flood system
centuries ago?

All right, what do we got?
What do we got?

I think we've opened up
a wooden Pandora's box here.

I mean,
look at all these timbers.

All different sizes and shapes.

I think we might have hit

a collapsed tunnel or some sort

of linear feature of wood
that got disturbed.

Huh. Excuse me, Gary.

I‐I'm gonna go have a look.

And we've only just got into it,

so we figure
we'd give you a call

and see what you make of it
before we dig it out.

Maybe we cut through
the fabled flood tunnel.

Now we have to follow it back.

It could be yet another clue

as to where
the original Money Pit was.

So let's go dig it up.

Come here. Look at this.

Is this coconut fiber?

I think there's big chunks
of coconut fiber.

That is very interesting.

Look at this, Rick.

Think that's coconut fiber?

That is interesting. Well,

‐it's hairlike.
Yeah.

Yeah. And it's clumped, as well.

Yeah, no, that's...

‐That is very interesting.
‐Yeah.

The presence of coconut fiber
is curious

not only because the nearest
indigenous coconut trees

are more than 1,500 miles away
from Oak Island

but also because
it was discovered

by Daniel McGinnis and his tem

some 60 feet deep

in the original Money Pit
in 1804

and then by members
of The Truro Company

at Smith's Cove in 1850.

It was there that a massive
layer of it was discovered,

covering and acting as a filter
for the five stone box drains

which converge
into the main flood tunnel

that the team
is currently looking for.

If the material
the team has found

can be scientifically verified
to be coconut fiber,

it could mean the team
is closer than ever

to finding
and shutting off the booby trap

that has thwarted efforts
to excavate the Money Pit

for more than two centuries.

How much of it
is there, Jack?
‐Um...

There's a lot of it over here.

You'd need a lot
to pack a lot of treasure.

‐We need... we need to bag this.
‐Mm.

So, let's try

to get a sample
without touching it.

Yep.
Yeah. Just open the bag

and use the bag like a glove.

Oh, yeah.
There's a big chunk of it.

‐
That's it.
Grab a big clump.

Look at that.

‐And there's still a bunch more.
‐Yeah.

‐There's a whole bunch more
right there.
‐Yeah.

Yep. This bit of coconut fiber

makes me think that we might be
into original works.

There's a lot
going on right here.

Rather massive structure
going on here.

Yes.

There are only a few things

that I find absolutely unique

to this quest, to this search,

and one of them
is coconut fiber.

I want a definitive test,

science‐based,
that it is indeed coconut fiber.

So do I, Rick.

‐Is that enough of this, Rick?
Yeah, that's enough.

‐I'll put it to safety.
‐Good.

I'm actually kind of excited
about this.

Absolutely.

The following day,

as members of the team
continue to carefully excavate

in the Uplands...

It's like ye old times.

We're back again
at Carmen Legge's.

...Marty Lagina,
along with his son Alex

and Gary Drayton,

travel some 20 miles north
of Oak Island

to the Ross Farm Museum,

located in the town
of New Ross, Nova Scotia.

They have arranged

for blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge

to examine
the mysterious metal object

found two days ago in the swap

near the area
where seismic scanning

detected a 200‐foot‐long,
ship‐shaped anomaly

earlier this year.

We got some stuff
we're trying to figure out.

‐Should I put them
on this table?
‐Yep.

Right.

This came out of the swamp.

And the story with this

is Jack and I saw
this conical boulder

sticking out
of the edge of the swamp,

and it just drew attention
to it.

And that was found
right at the side

of the conical boulder.

Does it look old to you?

‐There you go.
Sweet.

‐Yeah, I love those dates.
‐

Yeah, 'cause when
we first pulled it out,

we thought maybe it was,
like, the...

the bottom of the leg
of a survey stake,

but it's so chunky.

It's so heavy.

Too heavy?

Mm‐hmm. Mm.

Wow.

That's what we're looking for
in the swamp.

‐From the right time period.
‐Yeah.

Wow.

An 18th century pike pole

possibly used
to maneuver a large ship?

Also known as a boat hook,

a pike pole was a long wooden
or metal tool

with one end featuring a hook
and blunt‐pointed tip

for pushing and pulling
faraway objects.

Commonly found
on shipping wharfs,

these pike poles would serve
as a docking aid

to guide sailing vessels

in and out
of a boat slip or pier.

But what
would a pike pole be doing

in the Oak Island swamp?

Could it be
another key piece of evidence

that a ship could have been
deliberately sunk there

in order to hide it

along with the precious cargo
it contained?

He's quite certain
it's off a sailing ship.

All right. What does that mean?

I guess it could mean

that there was once a ship
in the swamp.

The data's getting overwhelming
that something happened

mid‐1700s here.

You know, Carmen,
right about the time

I give up on the swamp,
it produces something like that.

Because there's been
bits and bobs

of ships coming out of there
since we started.

Just tiny bits like this.

But the bottom line,
thank you for analyzing it.

I appreciate it.

And we'll be back.
We'll be back.

We're gonna find
some more stuff.

We'll definitely be back.
We need to know

‐what this stuff is.
Yeah.

Thanks for the great news.

Seeing anything else, Rick?

There's a board here.

Another piece of wood
right here.

Following his visit
with blacksmithing expert,

Carmen Legge, metal detection
expert Gary Drayton

has joined Rick Lagina,
Jack Begley

and heavy equipment operator
Billy Gerhardt

as they continue
their excavation

of a mysterious wooden shaft

located in the Uplands
near Smith's Cove‐‐

a shaft that may be connected
to the main flood tunnel

believed to feed seawater
into the Money Pit.

Definitely
a heck of a lot of timber here,

and it's been...

smashed.

Yeah, 'cause if this is
one structure...

this is one of the biggest ones
we've run across.

Yep.

Whoa.

Yeah, thick clay.

It's not the clay.

It's wood every...

everywhere.

You got a board here,

a board here, a board here,
a board here.

And then there's a...

log or beam...

right here.

When you look
from the top, it all seems

to be running
towards the Money Pit.

Maybe we are in...

one of those old tunnels
or close by.

I think that...
we'd be foolish

not to investigate everything
as though it were.

I think we're
on the right path here.

Expose, so Billy gets a line,
and then...

just keep creeping in
and try to find

a structure well‐defined.

All right, how about...

‐we step out of the way and...
‐Yeah.

...let Billy do his thing.

We're hitting wood

in the Smith's Cove Uplands,

and I'm hoping
this could be the activities

of the original depositors.
I mean,

we have to keep digging.

This is a very interesting,
uh, development.

Uh, who knows
where it will lead?

Hey, Rick.

‐What you guys got?
‐Actually, Marty,

we're continuing to dig up
this collapsed tunnel.

In the middle is clay,

and we hit a layer of‐‐ whoa!

Look at that!

You hit a gusher.

Wow.

What's interesting
about it is, there's rocks.

And there's rocks here.

Yeah.

Kind of like what we found
in Smith's Cove.

Could the massive
and sudden water flow mean

that the team
has finally intercepted

the main flood tunnel
connected to the Money Pit?

It just started
gushing water out.

Just a lot of organic material.

It's a big hole.

Oh.

It goes way down
beyond the shovel.

It just keeps going.

Is that actually a hole?

Watch.

This is how deep it is.

Well,
that's a little odd, isn't it?

There's no bottom, either.

What if it's a shaft,
not filled?

So maybe this is...

a spot where the shaft
transcended down into a tunnel?

This might be Shaft Five.

The one that intercepted
the flood tunnel.

Shaft Five?

In 1850,
following their discovery

of the five stone box drains,

which converged
into a single flood tunnel

beneath Smith's Cove,

members of The Truro Company

began sinking a wood‐cribbed
shaft in the Uplands area

hoping to locate‐‐
and cut off‐‐

the booby trap that fed
seawater into the Money Pit.

At a depth of 35 feet,
they encountered

a large boulder
that blocked their path.

However, when it was removed,

the shaft suddenly began
filling with ocean water,

leading them to believe they
had intercepted their target.

Unfortunately,
the effort proved unsuccessful

in stopping the water flow,

and Shaft Five was abandoned.

The earlier searchers knew

where the finger drains
converged,

at least in a general sense.

And they literally were trying
to shut off the flood tunnel.

Now, what I'm hoping is...

that we find
the flood tunnel itself.

Because we do know that they
thought they were very close.

And we need to excavate
and see what they found.

So let's see how deep it goes,

and then... decide what to do.

As a new day begins
on Oak Island,

and as the excavation
of what could be Shaft Five

continues near Smith's Cove...

Guys, thanks
for assembling on quick notice.

I appreciate it.

...brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina

have gathered members
of the team in the w*r room

to hear a scientific report
via telephone conference

from geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner

regarding the potential cocont
fiber found there two days ag.

Yeah, Ian.
You've got Marty and Rick

and Doug and Steve and Alex.

Well, we‐we'd like
to think so. Sure.

Anyway, I know you had
some information.

Okay.

Wow.

So it's coconut fiber?

That's cool.

News that the material

that the team has found is,
in fact,

coconut fiber is a potentially
historic development.

It suggests that,
after years of searching,

Rick, Marty and the team
may finally be on the verge

of locating
the main flood tunnel,

which was constructed
more than two centuries ago,

in order to protect something
believed to be of great value

buried in the Money Pit.

You've never seen
anything like it, and you've dug

a lot of stuff out of the walls
of soil, right?

Wow.

No, that's fabulous. I mean,

we found lots of structures
in Smith's Cove,

but the difference is,
this one we found now

has all this coconut fiber, and
that's a pretty key difference.

Absolutely.

Hey, thanks
for the quick info on that.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah, okay, good deal. Thanks.

‐Cheers.
‐Bye.

‐Bye.
You've been questioning

the lack of coconut fiber,

so it's kind of cool
to come up with.

At least that says,
yeah, at one time there was some

‐of this here.
‐It's something different.

It's confirmation

of the old stories

that they found tremendous
amounts of coconut fiber

when they were looking
for the box drains.

And it appeared
to have been placed as a filter.

‐The Restalls noted
that there was gobs of it.
‐Not only that,

but nobody else put a bunch
of coconut fiber down

while they were doing anything
in Smith's Cove, so...

it represents original work.

Represents original work.

And very cool.

At the end of the day,

we were looking for...

evidence...

that would corroborate
or confirm

‐the old story, right?
‐Yes.

Now we have this evidence

that it is indeed
coconut fiber.

So there's some kind

of original something
going on here.

We're certainly finding

what people
were originally looking for.

I think we're
absolutely closing in.

Okay, let's go.

We're gonna find it out.

For Rick,
Marty and their team,

a week that began with finding

a promising new clue
in the swamp

has ended with a potential
breakthrough discovery.

One that means they could be
closer than anyone before them

to intercepting‐‐
and disabling‐‐

Oak Island's
legendary booby traps.

But even
if they are successful,

will they finally be able
to uncover

Oak Island's
centuries‐old secret,

somewhere deep inside
the fabled Money Pit?

Or will they find that this
mystery is much more complex‐‐

and more dangerous‐‐ than
they could ever have imagined?

Next time
on The Curse of Oak Island...

Time to look into the Eye.

That's a big boulder.

Nolan's Cross stones
aren't that big.

‐We're the first ones
to ever see these.
‐Exactly.

This year
it's go big or go home.

What are you doing
with this itty‐bitty thing?

‐We ordered a big excavator.
‐

Geez, that's long!

It's all about
the flood tunnel.

Oh, yeah!
Did you see that rush

of water come in down there?

You can see it squirting up
like a geyser.