05x07 - The Lot Thickens

[bunniefuu]

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

If somebody was actually gonna
build this engineering marvel,

it would be Sir Francis Drake.

It's definitely not natural.

And it's perfectly square,
like a chest.

I say we dig it up.

-Whatever it is, it's hard.

Wow, this is really
interesting.

-What is it?
-It's a piece of a finding.

What is bookbinding material
doing at the Money Pit?

Do you think
it's Shakespeare's manuscripts?

NARRATOR: There is an island
in the North Atlantic,

where people have been looking
for an incredible treasure

for more than years.

So far, they have found
a stone slab

with strange symbols
carved into it,

th century coins,

even bits of human bone.

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.

It is the start of another
exciting day on Oak Island.

-Well, well, well.
-Hey, Rick.

-Welcome back to old friends.
-Hey, how you doing?

-Oh, Andrew. So, you must be
out of money. -Mr. Rick.

-(group laughs)
-We're here to collect,

-and I brought the muscle.
-I see that. (laughs)

-Let's walk over here.
-So you guys got some

-holes in the ground.
-We do.

Looks like a porcupine
over here, doesn't it?

NARRATOR: After drilling
an impressive

-inch wide boreholes to depths
of up to feet,

using a carefully plotted
geotech grid,

brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina,

along with members
of their team,

are convinced they are now
closer than ever

to solving the -year-old
Oak Island mystery.

So I assume one of these are the
one that we're gonna focus on?

Right here is H- .

Personally,
I think we drill down

the old Money Pit right here.

-Okay. Excellent.
-That's what I think.

-*
-MARTY: Let's go!

NARRATOR: Last week,
while running a dual induction

metal detecting device
down a borehole

-known as H- ...
-You getting readings? -Yeah.

...the team encountered
a large metal anomaly

at a depth of some feet.

The same approximate depth
where treasure hunters

William Chappell
and Frederick Blair

had reported finding evidence

of a -foot high
wooden vault back in .

We're picking something else
up right here,

which would put it
very near the vault.

NARRATOR: It was in this same
hole that the team recovered

- th century pottery.
-Wow, really?

NARRATOR: And at a depth
significantly deeper

than previous searchers had
ever been known to explore.

How are we getting pottery
at feet?

-What do you make of that?
-NARRATOR: It was also in H-

that the team
made their most incredible

and shocking discovery
to date.

We now have results
from the two bones.

Both came back as human.

So there's two different
human bones

in the Money Pit.

I was more or less shocked

that the results
of the DNA analysis on that bone

revealed it to be human.

It certainly brought H-
to-to a higher degree of--

the necessity
of further investigation.

I mean, it was an "aha" moment.

NARRATOR: Because
of these discoveries,

the Laginas and their team

have invited representatives
from Irving Equipment Limited

back to Oak Island
to help them find out

if H- really is
not only the location

of the mysterious
Chappell Vault,

but also
the original Money Pit.

So, H- . What is the target
depth on that?

to .
There's a target depth,

a range where we have to be
very, very careful.

We need to be cognizant
of what is there. Absolutely.

This is
the critical area here

that has to be as level
as we can humanly make it

because that's where the crane
sits and the oscillator sits.

That correlates
to how straight your hole is

at the end of the day.

NARRATOR: In an effort to get
to the bottom of H- ,

the team will widen
the borehole

to approximately -inches

using steel caissons,

and then drill down to a target
depth of some feet.

This surface deal
shouldn't be that much. Right?

This is, this is pretty minor.
Cost is all relative.

I mean, when you hit what you're
gonna hit here soon.

We're gonna hit it! And then the
cost don't mean (bleep)!

That's right. That's right.

Look, I think we've all got
our marching orders,

but look, we want to--
we want to say thank you.

Yes. Thank you very much
for allowing us to come back.

-Good to see you back.
-Yes. Absolutely.

NARRATOR: While preparations
for the large-scale excavation

of H- begin
at the Money Pit...

Rick Lagina and members
of the Oak Island team

have arranged to meet with
area historian, Paul Speed.

Upon hearing the news

of last week's incredible
discoveries in borehole H- ,

Paul believes his research
can help the Laginas identify

not only what might be
buried in the Money Pit,

but why human bones
have been found there.

So, gentlemen,
Mr. Paul Speed is here.

He has developed a theory,

and he comes from the world
of pirates and privateers.

-Yay, Charles.
-And he...

He can, I believe,
shed some light

on perhaps the who,
what, when, where,

why and how of Oak Island.

And I very much look
forward to your presentation,

and I welcome you
to the w*r room.

Well, it's an absolute thrill
to be in the w*r room.

A number of years ago,
a good friend of mine and me

were discussing the Oak Island
mystery, and we thought,

if somebody was actually gonna
build this engineering marvel,

who and how could they do it?

Was there somebody that had
the technique to do this

-between the and s.
-Mm-hmm.

The Cornish miners in England
were brought to mind.

They developed a way of mining
under the ocean floor,

so close to the ocean,
that when there was a storm,

they could actually hear
the rocks and boulders

rolling over on top of them.

-*
-NARRATOR: Along the coast

of the Cornwall region
of the United Kingdom,

miners looking for tin
and copper

would dig intricate
labyrinths of tunnels

under the ocean floor

using a method known as
"coastal mining."

According to historians,

the practice dates back
some years,

and was only recently banned,

largely due to safety
and environmental issues.

Is it possible
that this technique was used

to dig the Money Pit,

as well as the maze of flood
tunnels on Oak Island,

not by digging straight down,
but by digging sideways,

either from Smith's Cove

or from another area
of the island?

*

So, again,
we're in the s.

Now I want to find myself
a pirate,

a character who is from
the Cornwall/Plymouth area.

*

And this is my guy.

RICK:
Drake.

PAUL:
Sir Francis Drake.

*

NARRATOR:
Sir Francis Drake?

The th century British
nobleman and privateer

who sailed the seas
in search of Spanish treasure

during the reign
of Queen Elizabeth the first?

At that time, Francis Drake

was raiding Spanish boats,

but his big prize was

a town called Nombre de Dios,

which was the town where
all the gold from the Incas

would go and be put on boats.

So, here's our opportunity,
guys.

He's raided
all this Spanish gold.

He didn't bring back all of it.

There was too much
for him to carry.

He can go back for it,
and he can hide it.

And where is he gonna hide it?
Well, Canada.

I had always heard that it was
merely speculative

that Drake had come
to this part of the world.

Drake's logs were never found.

-Correct.
-Is there any way,

through records,
that can prove

that Drake was-was up
in the North Atlantic?

Is there documented evidence
of that?

I'm thinking more
of re-reverse engineering.

The fact that his records
aren't there.

There was something
very seriously going on here

at that time for the English.

And they wanted to keep the
secret of Oak Island

going for a while.

They absolutely could.

Do you think that, if Drake
did this construct here,

did he do it as a bank,
if you will?

In other words, was he gonna
continue to come back?

Absolutely.
I think it was a vault,

and I think that vault

was used by numerous people
throughout history,

until a point
that it wasn't needed,

and it fell from use
and-and fell from memory.

*

NARRATOR:
It has long been speculated

that Oak Island was used

as a secret repository
for treasure

dating as far back as the days
of the Knights Templar.

Could this information have
been known to Sir Francis Drake

and explain why
he might have come

as far north as Nova Scotia

in order to hide Spanish gold?

To me though, the most
interesting, compelling thing

is that Drake, on his last
Caribbean raid,

got dysentery and d*ed
in Colón, Panama.

Here is a guy
who is a national hero,

they put him in a lead coffin
and they filled it with mercury.

They've never found the coffin.
They've looked for the coffin.

And they're still
looking for it.

And they're still looking
for the coffin.

And if Drake truly did
build Oak Island,

then maybe Drake wanted himself
interned, buried.

You think he's buried
on Oak Island?

*

You think he's buried
on Oak Island?

I think when you hit metal,
you might have hit his coffin.

During a meeting with area
historian and researcher,

Paul Speed, Rick Lagina and
members of the Oak Island team

have just heard
an incredible theory.

One that suggests
that Sir Francis Drake,

the th century privateer

under England's
Queen Elizabeth,

may not only
have hidden treasure

in the Oak Island Money Pit,

but might also may have been
buried there himself.

You know they've taken mercury

out of the Money Pit
many, many years ago.

-Yeah.
-Supposedly, flasks were found.

-Yes.
-Impregnated with mercury.

On the north side of the island.
Gilbert Hedden found them.

I think that he might
possibly have asked

to be put into this
engineering marvel.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
that Sir Francis Drake

is buried on Oak Island?

And could this explain
why fragments of bone,

along with indications
of a large metal object,

have recently been found
in borehole H- ?

CRAIG: We're picking something
else up right here.

There's definitely a drastic
difference

there from the surroundings.

It went off the chart!

MARTY: There's some big chunk
of metal there.

-Yup.
-Okay.

We've entertained so many
theories and theorists.

So, when Paul suggests

that Drake is buried
on the island...

Is it possible?
Anything's possible.

Sir Francis Drake
was an accomplished individual.

There are mysterious
circumstances

around his life and his death.

So, we have to continue
to keep an open mind

and do our own research.

Well, look, Paul, you've
certainly opened our minds

to another unique possibility,

in terms of what Oak Island
is about,

and we want to thank you
very much for your time,

and we will certainly look
into it with all earnestness.

It was an honor and pleasure
to meet you guys,

and to be allowed
in the w*r room,

and I hope we did
a little justice.

RICK:
Absolutely.

*

NARRATOR:
As Rick Lagina

concludes his meeting
with Paul Speed...

JACK: All right.
Let me grab my shovel.

NARRATOR: ...treasure hunters
Jack Begley, Charles Barkhouse,

and metal detection expert
Gary Drayton

resume their exploration
of Lot .

Joining them is archeologist
Laird Niven.

-So, where are we, Charles?
-We're gonna go over here, guys.

This is Lot .

It was at one time owned
by Samuel Ball,

but he actually bought it
from Captain Anderson,

and this is a very interesting
character.

-He was like a double agent.
-Yes.

-*
-NARRATOR: Before Lot

was owned
by former th century

American sl*ve Samuel Ball,

it belonged
to privateer-turned-pirate,

Captain James Anderson.

Earlier this year,
during a visit

to the home of one of his
descendants, Alex Lagina,

Charles Barkhouse,
Peter Fornetti,

and area historian
Doug Crowell,

were shown one of Anderson's
original sea chests,

along with a set of four keys,

only one of which could be used
to open the antique chest.

STEVE: Now, all those keys
he has in his hand,

that one opens
that treasure chest.

Maybe some other ones could...

ALEX: I couldn't help noticing
there are four keys.

STEVE: Could there been more
treasure chests on the island?

That's what I wonder.

NARRATOR: Could three
of the remaining keys

found with Captain
James Anderson's chest

suggest that
as many as three chests

could be hidden on Oak Island?

Chests containing treasure
collected by Anderson

during his years as a pirate

at the time
of the American Revolution?

*

Well, I say we start
in the clearing, there.

-CHARLES: Okay.
-GARY: Let's go for it.

-*
-(metal detector beeps)

We're all really anxious
to see

if we're gonna come up with
a pirate chest, or something.

I mean,
it seems far-fetched,

but, at the same time,
this is an old pirate's lot.

I hear you passing up
a lot of bleeps.

Yeah. Trying to find...

anything that sounds good.

It's definitely chirpy
around here.

You think a lot of it's just
trash that's blown up

-from, like, storms and stuff,
or...? -Yeah.

This is the thing,
when you go to places like this,

a lot of the activity
took place down by the water.

Okay.

-So, should we go closer to
the water? -Sounds good.

-And come back to this place?
-You're the expert, lead on.

-GARY: Let's go down this little
clearing, here. -Okay.

Now this is
a little bit different.

So, what's the deal
with the wall, here?

JACK: It looks different
from the other ones.

CHARLES: Like it's flatter
on the surface.

Yeah, it's almost like you could
roll a ball down it, right?

-Exactly.
-CHARLES: Yeah.

JACK: Did Captain Anderson
build this wall?

It's quite possible. We know
he had at least one ship.

Could he have pulled his boat
right up to this

and there was a dock in there?

Look, we know Anderson
was a privateer.

Could he have been using this
as kind of a staging area?

I mean, a walkway or a ramp

that lead
right down to the ocean.

Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR:
A walkway to the ocean?

Could the team really have
discovered a stone ramp?

One that was used
by Captain Anderson

to load and unload goods,
and possible treasure,

from his boat, The Betsy, when
it was anchored just offshore?

*

GARY: I think it's time
to go over the wall.

JACK:
All right.

-GARY: Yeah, let's go down
in this clearing. -Okay.

JACK:
We'll follow you, Gary.

GARY:
Yeah, it's thick back here.

JACK: I don't think we've
detected back here before.

GARY:
Wow.

This is interesting.
What do you think of this?

Almost looks like it's been
cut out on purpose.

Yeah, it's a well-defined
rectangle, it's obvious.

It's definitely not natural,
in my opinion.

Hey, it's a really
good size for a chest.

*

erty

once owned by the infamous
th century pirate,

Captain James Anderson,

Jack Begley, Charles Barkhouse,
and Gary Drayton,

along with area archeologist,
Laird Niven,

have just discovered

a mysterious man-made
depression

in the ground.

Hey, it's a really good size
for a chest.

*

It sunk out of nowhere.

And you can see it's like...

*

...nice -degree angle.

You know, you start thinking,

"Gosh! There's probably
something there."

It could be
Captain Anderson's treasure,

'cause this is his lot.

NARRATOR: Could the strange
depression in the ground

really be an indication of

something
buried beneath the surface?

Perhaps one
of Captain Anderson's

missing treasure chests?

So, it wasn't something that
was heavy sitting down here.

-LAIRD: No.
-No one's dug here recently

and, like, backfilled it.
It doesn't make sense.

A ship could have been
parked nearby.

I mean,
it's all hypothetical.

Why couldn't this be some place
where something was deposited?

-* -I guess
the only thing you would do

is that you'd have to dig it
to see exactly what it is.

-I'd say hand dig it.
-You'd have to hand dig it.

It's a separate permit.

So, that would require
a permit to dig this?

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Because the land
on Lot was once owned

by the former th century
American sl*ve, Samuel Ball,

it is considered
a protected site.

For this reason,
in order to excavate

whatever lies buried

below the strange
square-shaped indentation,

the team will need to wait,

at least until they secure
the necessary permissions

from the Canadian government.

JACK: Oh, well,
let's keep looking.

GARY: Let's keep going
down this way, guys.

NARRATOR: While the team
continues to search Lot

for more clues...

*

...brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina

along with their partner
Craig Tester,

have returned
to St. Mary's University,

some miles
northeast of Oak Island.

They have come
to meet once again

with Dr. Christa Brosseau

and her associate
Dr. Xiang Yang

to find out if the small bits
of fibrous material

found in borehole H-
could be some sort of paper

similar to the small piece
of parchment

found in the Chappell Vault
in .

But it kind of looks like
it could be some old parchment.

I think we need to, you know,
have this tested.

*

CHRISTA: All right, so this is
a little, tiny sample.

NARRATOR: Using a high-powered
scanning electron microscope,

Doctors Brosseau and Yang

will be able
to examine the object

and magnify it as many as
tens of thousands of times

its actual size.

They will also be able
to analyze

its chemical composition.

CHRISTA: So, you can see
the elements popping up there.

There's nothing really
surprising there.

Do you see some nitrogen?

I think so. Yeah.

And the hint of nitrogen
indicates that-- I mean,

I'm keenly interested-- if this

is really is a piece
of parchment,

it throws a whole wrinkle
in this search.

(monitor beeps)

CHRISTA: So you can see
all of the fibers.

And so, you know,
the question now is,

what are the fibers made of?

So, parchment would have been
animal skin, so collagen fibers.

So the fact that we see fibers
is encouraging.

NARRATOR:
Dating back over two millennia,

the use of animal skin
as parchment

was largely replaced by cheaper

and more available milled paper

during the advent
of the printing press

in the late th century.

In the centuries that followed,

parchment was used
only for special documents,

such as correspondences
between kings,

and for rare or one-of-a-kind
legal declarations,

such as the American
Declaration of Independence.

*

The fact that Dr. Brosseau

has identified the sample
as parchment,

and not plant-based paper,

is a potentially significant
development.

It suggests that
whatever the document was,

it was considered important.

It also suggests
that its location,

some feet below the surface
of Oak Island,

was probably deliberate.

*

Dr. Brosseau's analysis
of that little scrap

that Jack and Dan Henskee found

is very, very exciting to me,
very interesting.

It looked like a piece of vellum
or parchment,

you know, to the eye.

I didn't expect it to stand up
to scientific scrutiny

that it really was some sort of
animal fiber

piece of parchment.
Very intriguing.

-Okay, so...
-XIANG: Move on.

CHRISTA: This is the piece
of black leather.

NARRATOR: Also discovered
in the H- spoils

was a tiny piece of what
appeared to be leather,

possibly from a shoe.

But, if so, what would shoe
leather, or any leather,

be doing some feet

beneath the surface
of Oak Island?

CHRISTA:
This is the underside.

But it's dimpled,
and it looks like leather.

And the other side,
we'll look at next.

-*
-(monitor beeps)

CHRISTA: Wow, this is
really interesting.

MARTY:
How so?

See, if you look
at the end here,

you can almost see the--
the fiber bundles

that have been then bundled
together to create a textile.

So, if you imagine you're
spinning wool or whatever,

you're going to spin
many strands together

to create a fiber.

So it's almost like the leather
and the textile

were bound together
for some reason.

Traditionally,
one reason would have been

to create a bookbinding.

*

NARRATOR:
Bookbinding?

Could the small pieces
of parchment,

along with the fragment
of leather-binding,

really be evidence
of an ancient book

buried deep within
the Oak Island Money Pit?

CHRISTA: This is the other side
of the same piece.

So you can see it's dimpled.

You can see the two sides
are totally different.

-Very much so.
-Look at the edge a little bit.

See how thick that-- well, there
you go, there's the fibers.

RICK: There's a little piece
right there.

Yeah, so there's the fibers...

-From the other side. -On the
bottom, on the other side.

Yeah, sticking out.

MARTY: Bookbinding?
That's really strange.

Yeah, one of the theories that's
been out there for a long time

is that
it's Shakespeare's manuscripts

that could be buried
at Oak Island.

-CHRISTA: That's pretty cool.
-Now you're showing

what could be a bookbinding.

I guess I would jump to that
theory right away.

-That jumps to Bacon.
-Bacon.

NARRATOR:
Sir Francis Bacon?

The th century
British scientist,

explorer, and nobleman?

Of the many Oak Island
theories,

one of the most persistent

suggests that Bacon,

a close friend of acclaimed
Elizabethan poet and playwright

William Shakespeare,
not only financed

the printing of the first
edition of the Bard's plays,

but also planted
numerous clues in the pages

hinting that an incredible
treasure lies buried

on a remote island
in the North Atlantic.

These clues not only suggest

that Shakespeare's
original manuscripts

are buried somewhere deep
within the Money Pit,

but that profound connections
exist

linking Oak Island
to sacred treasures

rescued by the Knights Templar

from the temple of King Solomon
during the Crusades.

But what was Francis Bacon
doing on Oak Island?

And did he learn of the island
and its secrets

from his good friend,
Sir Francis Drake,

sometime before Drake's death
in ?

I've always said,
or always believed,

that what's here on Oak Island
is not just temporal wealth,

that there's something
other than that here.

And, you know,
is it ancient knowledge?

Is it Shakespearian folios?

I mean, I don't know. But what
is bookbinding material

doing at those depths
in the Money Pit?

I mean, I-I find that to be
more than intriguing.

It's fascinating.
And I think--

I'm hopeful that there are
documents down there.

It's in what I think to be
the Money Pit.

We need to try and date it.

And, like you suggest,
Christa, have somebody who knows

what bookbindings
are supposed look like.

Yeah, or someone who works
with textiles. Right.

We need to pursue this one,
that's what I'm saying.

I think of all the artifacts,

or items we brought
to Dr. Brosseau,

the results are, um,
very positive.

Most of them would indicate
that there's something

significant about H- .
Highly significant.

I think it verifies my concept

that we're in the original
Money Pit with that hole.

-Okay. Well, that's great.
-Thank you.

RICK:
Thank you, again.

*

NARRATOR:
Three days after receiving

scientific verification

that fragments of ancient books
and manuscripts

have been found in
the Oak Island Money Pit...

All right, Jack, show us where
this depression is.

NARRATOR: Marty Lagina,
and his son Alex,

-along with Jack Begley...
-It's just right over here.

NARRATOR: Metal detection
expert, Gary Drayton,

and archeologist, Laird Niven,

head to Lot to resume
their exploration

of the mysterious square-shaped
indentation in the ground

they discovered
one week earlier.

Yeah, here it is.

What do you think of this,
Marty?

*

It is peculiar,
I give you that.

-And it's perfectly square.
-MARTY: Yeah.

-Like a chest.
-It is a bit like that.

We did find a chest

and a ring of keys,

one of which opened one chest,
but there's chests,

presumably, still missing.

*

ALEX:
This is so cool.

STEVE: Ah! That one opens
that treasure chest.

Could there have been more
treasure chests on the island?

That's what I wonder.

*

So, he could've buried something
here, or someone could've.

Definitely made my toes tingle,

talking about treasure chests
and then seeing the depression.

-JACK: Right?
-Well, look.

We have an odd feature on the
ground, we're on Oak Island,

we have equipment, we have
people. I say we dig it up.

-And we're okay to dig it up,
right? -Yes.

I think we can get the backhoe
in here pretty easy.

Because there's only
little trees

-right through this slot here.
-Mm-hmm.

So I'll get the chainsaw,
if I can get you guys to

pull the stuff out of the way.
So let's do that.

ALEX:
Cool.

MARTY: Jack found a depression
in the ground

and this is in this continuum
of what's worth doing out here.

-*
-(chainsaw revs)

I mean,
maybe it's a subsidence,

maybe it could be a place where
somebody buried something.

But it's worth doing, because
the reward could be huge

and the risk or the effort
is minor.

-MARTY: That's good, guys.
-You want to try this?

-I think so.
-Okay.

You want me metal detecting the
area so we can dump the spoils--

Yeah, I'm thinking, if I put
the spoils right here,

I should be able to swing into
here, dig, put the spoils there.

-Okay. -So yes. Why don't you
metal detect that area?

GARY:
Not even getting any iron.

Well, that's good,
we got a clean area.

So hopefully
all the good signals

come out of the depression.

JACK:
Here comes the backhoe.

-(backhoe beeps)
-*

ALEX:
That's good.

GARY: He could peel a banana
with this thing.

-*
-There you go.

*

-GARY: You ready? I'll scan it.
-MARTY: Yup.

*

-JACK: Anything?
-No, no signals whatsoever.

GARY:
Quiet as a church mouse.

Come on, Captain Anderson.
How deep did you dig this thing?

-No, not yet, guys.
-All right.

-(control beeps)
-*

(metallic scratching)

Hey, hold up, I think there's
concrete down there.

Yeah, we saw something, Marty.

It looked like
a big chunk of cement.

*

NARRATOR:
Concrete?

Could Marty and the team
have just found evidence

of man-made workings
at the bottom

of the mysterious depression
on Lot ?

The lot that once belonged

to the notorious
pirate and privateer,

Captain James Anderson?

As I'm digging, all of a sudden
Alex says, "Whoa, stop!"

And, you know, you get a little
jolt of excitement.

These sorts of things happen,

and you can't help
but get excited.

It's not a piece of cement,
is it?

-I think it's a piece of slate.
-Oh.

NARRATOR: The fact
that the object is slate

indicates that it is part
of a natural formation,

as opposed
to man-made concrete,

as the team first suspected.

But then, why does
the indentation

appear so perfectly
square-shaped?

Could it have been placed
on top of something

buried even deeper
below ground?

I'm gonna go right
down the middle there.

All right!

-*
-(loud thump)

LAIRD:
Whatever it is, it's hard.

I think that might be bedrock,
Jack.

LAIRD:
Close enough, I'd say.

Guys, we got us here a hole,
with nothing in it.

-ALEX: Yup.
-GARY: Yup.

NARRATOR: Now that the team
has encountered bedrock,

their search of the mysterious
depression in the ground

has hit a disheartening
dead end.

MARTY: In the case of
Captain Anderson,

there are treasure chests
missing.

Just because we didn't find it
doesn't mean it's not there,

or possibly it was moved
previous to us getting there.

NARRATOR:
Could Marty be correct?

Could the square-shaped
impression really be evidence

not of something
buried here now,

but of something buried

and then later dug up some time
ago? Perhaps by Samuel Ball?

After earning his freedom

by fighting on the British side
during the American Revolution,

Samuel Ball moved to Oak Island
in ,

where he began a new life
as a simple cabbage farmer.

But within the next five years,

Samuel Ball began
buying up land,

not only on Oak Island,
but on the mainland as well.

So much so, that when he d*ed
in ,

he was one of the largest
landowners, and wealthiest men,

in all of Nova Scotia.

Could it be that Samuel Ball
discovered

one of Captain Anderson's
legendary treasure chests?

Or did Captain Anderson
reveal the whereabouts

of his fabled treasure
to Samuel Ball

shortly before Anderson d*ed
in ?

Perhaps the answer
still lies buried

somewhere deep
beneath the ground

on Oak Island's Lot .

I am not disappointed.
What have I said, all year?

Put an "X"
through a few things.

We can put an "X" through
this spot on the ground.

-Okay. Good job.
-All right.

*

NARRATOR: Two days after the
team's exploration of Lot .

-LAIRD: Good morning.
-Good morning. How are you?

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina
and Dave Blankenship

have invited area archeologist,
Laird Niven,

to the w*r room.

They are there
to receive the results

of further DNA testing
on the two pieces of human bone

recently recovered
from borehole H- .

RICK:
Let's get Marty on the phone.

*

-Hey. You there?
-Hey, guys.

NARRATOR: Also joining them
via video conference

is Rick's brother, Marty,

who has been called away
on important business.

I'll call up Dr. Frasier.

-(line rings)
-Hello?

Yes, Dr. Frasier, good morning.
I have my brother here,

Marty Lagina,
David Blankenship,

and Laird Niven,
who's our archeologist

that we're working with
on the island.

NARRATOR:
Dr. Timothy Frasier

is an associate professor
of biology

at St. Mary's University.

He has recently performed more
advanced DNA sequencing

on the two bone samples

in hopes of learning
the geographic

and genetic origins
of the humans

who presumably lie buried

some feet deep underground.

That makes sense.

Middle East? Really?

*

Wow! That Middle Eastern thing
is pretty eye opening.

Interesting.
That is extremely interesting.

The Middle Eastern thing
clearly supports

the Knights Templar
and things like that.

NARRATOR:
The Knights Templar?

Formed in the th century,
the Knights Templar

were a powerful
religious m*llitary order

that traveled and settled
across Western Europe

and the Middle East,
guarding Christian Pilgrims

and fighting for control
of the Holy Land.

They are believed
to have amassed

a vast collection of priceless
religious artifacts,

like the Holy Grail,

the Golden Menorah
of King Solomon,

and even
the Ark of the Covenant.

Could DNA evidence
of a body from the Middle East

add fuel to the notion that
the Templars came to Oak Island

to bury the sacred treasures
of the Holy Land

some eight centuries ago?

The treasures the Templars had

supposedly came
from the Mid-East.

It's not a giant stretch
to think one of their band

might have come
from the Mid-East, too.

So, you know, the Mid-East
opens up all kinds of...

things that were
maybe farfetched.

We need to do further testing,
but right now

in this moment,
it-it's an amazing find.

Okay, I think we've come
as far as we can with this.

It's hugely interesting. Thank
you very much. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Dr. Frasier,
appreciate it. Bye.

Wow! Middle East.
Middle East. Really?

-About knocked me off my chair.
-(Dave laughs)

I believe he's come our way,
David. Or my way, for sure.

Well, holy smokes, Rick,
I'm a data guy.

I mean, you know, and I--
him saying European,

I get that. But Middle Eastern
people hanging out here.

Wow. I-- wow. You know,
I wasn't ready for that.

Exactly.

It's classic Oak Island,
isn't it?

It's just classic Oak Island,
you know.

Throws up something you
couldn't have even envisioned.

You have somebody
of European descent,

somebody of Middle Eastern
descent here on this island.

Way deep in the Money Pit,
below searcher depth,

so it just corroborates
and verifies

and underscores that H-
is the place to dig.

-And getting to the bottom of
it, that's what's next. -Mm-hmm.

Guys, that is really,
really exciting,

and super, super interesting.

All right, guys,
thank you very much.

-RICK: All right. See ya.
-DAVE: Thank you, Marty.

-LAIRD: Take care.
-MARTY: Bye.

NARRATOR: On the heels of what
has been a major breakthrough,

Rick Lagina
and Dave Blankenship

head to the Money Pit, where
preparations to the dig site

are now complete.

-How've you been doing?
-Good, you?

-Andrew, how you doing? -Billy.
-Hi, Andrew, I'm David.

NARRATOR: Joining them
once again are representatives

from Irving Equipment Limited,

who have come to give the final
inspection of the area

before the first load of
digging equipment arrives.

We got the pad prepped.
So, what do you think?

Looks great.
Looks real good.

Just what we asked for,
just what you guys said

you were going to do, so...

-Where's all the equipment?
-It's coming.

Five, six loads today.
Five, six loads tomorrow.

All in all, we're gonna have
about this year.

We're very excited.
We're hoping,

hoping that this is gonna be it.

-We're standing on an answer.
-Yup.

-The shiny stuff. -Well, that's
what we're here to find.

That's what we're here to find.
And that's why you're here.

H- is the place.

And I think,
if we're gonna find something,

it's gonna be in that hole.

You're just about
standing on it right now.

Good, good.
"X" marks the spot.

Yeah, that's good karma.
Let's get after it.

-All right, good. Thanks, guys.
-Yup.

RICK:
Here we go.

-(truck beeps)
-*

NARRATOR: For Rick, Marty,
and the Oak Island team,

borehole H- has already proven
itself a worthy target

in their quest to find
the original Money Pit.

So far they have found bits
of ancient pottery,

evidence of potentially
priceless books

and manuscripts,

and the remains
of two individuals

whose identities could help
solve this -year-old mystery

once and for all.

But now, as an even wider hole
is about to be dug,

another series of questions
remains:

Will the Laginas
and their partners

uncover an incredible treasure,

or evidence
of an ancient curse?

NARRATOR: Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

MARTY: Gentlemen, we're almost
there. Dan's breakthrough.

-Time to make history.
-This hole, it starts this day.

Well, I'm dumbfounded.

Those bones
and now this dating...

That fits with Knights Templar.

GARY: Here we go, guys.
Another signal.

Looks like a piece
of amm*nit*on to me.

That's from a cannon.

"Rochefoucauld."

They're a prominent
French family.

This was a family
of crusader kings.

We now have a pathway
from the Holy Land

to Oak Island.