05x12 - A Key to the Mystery

[bunniefuu]

-This is "X" marks the spot.
-Yup.

Let's get that can down hole,
and find this thing.

We're good to go, guys!

It was one of the things
Fred found on the island.

Is this the key
to unlock the mystery?

Is this the key
to Nolan's Cross?

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,

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.

As a new day begins
on Oak Island,

brothers Rick and Marty Lagina
are more convinced than ever

that they are close to solving
the -year-old mystery.

Just one week ago, while
excavating a shaft known as H-

at a depth of some feet,

the team encountered evidence
of what they believed

was the so-called
Chappell Vault,

the mysterious seven-foot-tall
box first discovered

by treasure hunters
William Chappell

and Frederick Blair in .

But when the drill team from
Irving Equipment, Limited tried

to penetrate the wooden object,

they were shocked to learn
that not only did

their massive steel caisson
fail to enter the vault,

it actually pushed it farther
down and out of its path.

Something was in front
of the can,

and we were pushing it
for a while,

and that's when
the drilling got tough.

Oh, it's still in there, then?

Just pushed to the side.

NARRATOR: An even bigger setback
to the team

occurred during a meeting
in the w*r room

while choosing
the next drill site,

when Rick and Marty's friend
and partner Craig Tester

announced that he would be
leaving the island

for the remainder
of the summer.

I make a motion we dig one more
well yet this year, right here.

Do I have a second?

Well, it's up to the other guys
around this table,

because when I'm headed out
of here, I'm probably...

...not coming back this year.

You'll always be here,
whether you're here or not.

RICK:
The Testers, they have suffered

a great loss with Drake.

He loved this place,
he loved working

with his father
and his brother.

So we are pushed, if you will,

to complete the task at hand.

MARTY:
This is a chance to finish it.

You know, I don't know
how to say it exactly,

but I kind of want to try
and finish this for Drake.

Can we name it
after my brother, too?

MARTY:
Of course you can.

-Yeah.
-Thank you.

Let's find it.

For everyone.

MIKE J.: Let's take it down
nice and slow.

NARRATOR: Now, while the team
from Irving Equipment, Limited

continues the preparations
for the new, steel-cased shaft,

known simply as D.M.T....

MIKE J.:
Right there!

...brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina,

along with their team,
have gathered in the w*r room,

hoping to obtain new
information on what may be

the most important discovery
ever made on Oak Island:

a lead cross.

So, look, we're all very
intrigued by, by the cross.

The person that we should
reference, really,

is Jerry Glover.

He gave us access to--

or got us access to the prison
tower in Domme...

-ALEX: Mm-hmm.
-...and, uh, Alex,

I believe he has sent you
some follow-up photographs.

-You want me to get him
on the phone? -Absolutely.

I think we all should have
some questions for him.

-Okay.

: Hello?

JERRY:
Yes, I'm here.

Holy...

Holy schmoly, all right.

NARRATOR:
Just one week ago,

while exploring the shoreline
along Smith's Cove,

Rick Lagina and metal detection
expert Gary Drayton found

the mysterious lead object

near the area where,
just one year earlier,

they had found evidence
of an ancient irrigation system

known as a French drain.

How old?

GARY: I would say
that is somewhere between

and .

I've seen that shape before.

I saw a carving like that
in the Templar prison in Domme.

NARRATOR: Incredibly, the cross
was an almost exact match

to carvings made by members
of the Knights Templar,

which Rick Lagina and two of
his nephews were recently shown

by Templar expert Jerry Glover

on the walls of a th century
prison in Domme, France.

First time that came out
of the ground,

I said I had seen that before.

So here is
the side by side image.

That is strikingly similar.

I mean, it's not similar,
it's identical,

as far as I'm concerned.

Jerry, I believe we've sent you

a photograph of the cross,
and we were wondering, you know,

what your thoughts were on it.

MARTY: So, Jerry, I'm looking
at this pillar, from England,

and these pellets, and the sort
of crosses with the bases,

also match a lot
of the graffiti in Domme.

Do you draw any conclusion
from that?

Seems a fair conclusion, yes.

Hmm.

ALEX: Jerry,
is it fairly conclusive, then,

that the graffiti
is contemporaneous

with the inscription of ?

Is that for sure?

Or is that, uh, to the best
of our knowledge?

Yeah, that's what
I was gonna say.

So if this is the same symbol
that we're seeing in Domme,

and in the pendant, you know,
is that of any meaning

if we try to put
a tentative date on our pendant?

Who might be wearing such
a thing or having such a thing?

NARRATOR: Depictions
of Jesus Christ on a cross,

also known as a crucifix,

date as far back
as the second century.

Those made of lead, and most
resembling the one found

at Smith's Cove, were also
known as mortuary crosses,

and were generally worn
during times of plague

in an effort to ward off
evil and disease.

The thing is very curious,
especially, you know,

the obvious question is,
how in the heck did it end up

on a beach in Nova Scotia?

-JERRY: It's very unusual.

If you had to opine,

is it Templar, likely Templar,
or more generically Christian?

Could you call it
a Templar cross?

We're gonna have to have experts
give us an opinion,

people who are, uh, very well
versed in religious iconography,

but the th century, really?

It's surely a very,
very significant discovery,

but again,
in terms of its connection

to a specific theory,

I don't think we're there yet.

RICK:
Well, I'll tell you what, Jerry,

we will continue our research.

If you have any more information

that you think
we may find of interest,

please remain in touch.

We, on our end,
as this moves forward,

we will stay in touch with you.

I'm sure you'd be interested
in whatever results we find.

-Thank you again,
from all of us. -Thank you.

-ALEX: Thank you, Jerry.
-GARY: Cheers, Jerry.

He said it's probably medieval,
it's ancient.

Everything he said
was consistent,

so we're gonna keep going
with that.

See where it leads,
as you always say.

Look, the obvious conclusion

-is to keep pursuing this.
-Yeah.

We're not gonna
get it done sitting here.

Back to it.

NARRATOR: While his brother
remains on Oak Island

to supervise operations
at the Money Pit site,

Rick Lagina and Charles
Barkhouse have traveled

some miles north
to Waverley, Nova Scotia.

They have arranged
for what they believe

will be
a very important meeting

with fellow Oak Island
property owner Tom Nolan,

the son of legendary
treasure hunter Fred Nolan,

who passed away
early last year.

RICK: I do think that the torch
has been passed to Tom

-from his father.
-Yeah.

And my hope is that he'll say,
"You know what?

"As a way to honor my father
and my father's legacy,

-you know, I'll work in concert
with you guys." -Yeah.

RICK:
Oh, T.J. Nolan Construction.

This would be it.

I was hoping to work with Fred,
and now we've lost part

of what my brother calls
"The Fellowship of the Dig,"

in that we would include
Mr. Nolan in that.

Now Tom will take his seat
at the table, hopefully.

-TOM: Hey.

How you doing?

-Good to see you again.
-Hey, Rick.

-Good.

-Hi, Tom.
-Charles.

-Yeah.

How's things going
on Oak Island today?

Ah, you know, the Oak Island,

what I call
the emotional roller coaster.

I wish I had "X" marks the spot,
as you well know.

It's-it's... I mean, your father
spent a lifetime doing this.

-TOM: Oh, sure.

I mean, it's been a part
of my life, you know,

as long as I can remember.

I don't know if I have the
passion for the treasure hunting

Dad had, but,
you know, certainly,

it's-it's always interested me
and probably always will.

This has to be a bit emotional
for you...

-Oh, it is. -...to look
at your father's life's work.

He spent hours, untold hours,
working on this.

Unfortunately, he just did
not... bring it to an end.

-Yeah.
-So... here we are.

Here we are.

You know, it's-it's my hope
that we can,

in some way, shape or form,
work in concert,

work together to solve this.

Whatever I can do,
Rick, you know,

to try to help you guys
to facilitate this thing

and hopefully bring it
to an end once and for all.

You know, I'll gladly step up.

What I'm really hoping
to see are...

You'd like to look at the maps.

I would. Absolutely.

Okay.

We have seen them
for a short period of time.

-Yes. -You know,
your father came down.

Well, what these are,
I mean, these are basically

years of-of his work,
you know, his survey work

down in the island,
you know, plotting everything

he thought was important.

-This is...
-You-you ran through the fields.

-You were cutting some of this.
-Yeah, I spent my time

with the mosquitoes in the woods
cutting survey lines,

but, no, the actual survey work
was Dad, you know, %.

Wow.

TOM: These are basically
years of his work,

plotting everything
he thought was important.

You know, the fieldwork
would all be, uh,

recorded in his books
and then put on the maps.

RICK: Look at the amount
of survey lines on this map.

CHARLES:
There's hundreds.

It was a lifetime
to put it together.

NARRATOR:
A land surveyor by trade,

Fred Nolan first
became involved

in the Oak Island mystery
when he was invited

to create a detailed map
of all acres of the island

by M.R. Chappell in .

After purchasing
six four-acre lots

near the middle of the island
in ,

Fred spent over half a century

plotting evidence
of possibly man-made markers.

He also made numerous
significant discoveries,

including Nolan's Cross.

You know, I guess as a surveyor,
Dad got caught up

in what he saw and thought,
you know,

there's something to this

from a, from an engineering,
surveying background.

You know, that's what
drew him to it.

RICK: When Tom unrolled
the first map,

my thought was, "My goodness.

There's an enormous amount
of information here."

It's bittersweet.

Here's the maps.

We have now complete
and total access to them.

And yet, we've lost
the interpreter of the maps.

We've lost Fred.

I very much look forward
to coming to some understanding

of where these maps may take us.

I mean, I have-- as you
well know, and you do, too--

an interest in the swamp.

I believe the swamp
hides some secrets.

You do, too.
You've spoken of it.

Yeah. I think the swamp's a...
it's a, it's, you know,

it's a strange place.

I mean, we drained it
in the ' s a couple times,

and, uh, you know, Dad believed
there was something,

something hidden in it.

You were part of your
father's process, were you not,

about locating
the survey stakes?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. We found,
you know, the lines,

the lines of stakes
out in the swamp.

NARRATOR:
During his exploration

of the mysterious
triangle-shaped swamp,

Fred Nolan discovered a number
of identical, evenly spaced,

wooden stakes that
were later carbon-dated

to as early as the s.

Based on his professional
experience,

Fred was convinced that he had
found the actual survey markers

used centuries ago
to help create the boundaries

for what he strongly believed

was an artificial
body of water.

These stakes were there and they
formed a perfect, perfect lines,

as if they were set
by a surveyor.

Is some of that data
on the maps?

It's all in the maps.

It's all there.

Let's put this together.
Let's put it to bed.

TOM:
Absolutely. Let's do it.

That's great, guys.
Look, before you go,

there's just something
I wanted to show you.

One of the things
Fred found on the island.

I don't know exactly when,
but it's a key.

And it's, uh,
I know when you look at it,

you're going to find it
very interesting.

I've never seen anything
like that before.

It's a folding skeleton key.

It's something
I had never seen before.

It has a cross in the blade
of the skeleton key,

and when you fold the key,

you can see the cross
in the handle.

All of that
is very interesting.

NARRATOR:
A skeleton key?

Found on Oak Island?

Also known as a passkey,
the use of skeleton keys

dates back
to the eighth century BC

with the invention of the first
bronze and iron keys

during the Roman Empire.

Stripped down to their
most essential parts,

a narrow shaft and
single rectangular tooth,

they served as universal master
keys that could open and close

numerous locks on everything
from doors to safes

or as a pick for thieves who
wanted to break into them.

But what was a skeleton key
doing on Oak Island?

Could it have been used to open

a number of different treasure
chests buried centuries ago?

-CHARLES: The fact that it folds
is very curious. -RICK: Mm-hmm.

It's unique.

In many ways it's emblematic

of what we just proposed to do.

I-Is this the key
to unlock the mystery?

Is this the key
to Nolan's Cross?

I mean, working together,
I think we can do this.

-Yeah.
-Together.

And again, thanks for the trust.

-Maybe this is the start
of something. -Absolutely.

NARRATOR: One day
after their productive meeting

with Tom Nolan, Rick Lagina
and Charles Barkhouse arrive

at the home of Oak Island
resident Dave Blankenship.

-Hello.

I don't have your spendables,

but this might lead you
to the spendables.

This is Mr. Nolan's maps.

NARRATOR: Now,
armed with Fred Nolan's maps,

Rick is eager to examine them
for possible clues.

There's a lot of information
on here,

-as you well know.
-Mm-hmm.

So, why don't we, uh,
take a look.

To be able to hold,
in our hands,

Fred's life's work,
it's almost, uh,

bequeathed to us from beyond
the grave.

Here's a man who committed
a large portion

of his adult life to this
passion, to this pursuit.

And there's an enormous amount
of information,

and enormous doesn't begin
to quantify

Fred's years of research.

I can't even imagine how much
work was done.

Look at, look at the amount
of survey lines on this map.

CHARLES:
There's hundreds.

There's probably
a couple thousand here.

He ran every one of these lines
physically through the island,

and there are probably
thousands.

Not every one was important.

We're gonna have to parse out

what's relevant
from what's not relevant.

That's the initial process.

Look over there.
Check that out.

Look at the triangle
of stones right there.

RICK:
I see that.

There's so much information
on here.

He must have surveyed
practically every rock

that was visible
on his property,

thinking it connected
to something.

There's almost survey lines
to every rock that's here,

that's on the surface,
obviously.

Yep.

NARRATOR: Unlike most Oak Island
treasure hunters,

including his rival
Dan Blankenship,

Fred Nolan believed the key
to solving the mystery

could be found by examining
evidence above the ground,

rather than below it.

He also believed
that the real treasure site

was likely to be found
at the swamp,

rather than in the Money Pit.

Here's what I think: I think
these are the survey stakes

-they found. -CHARLES:
You think those are? Okay.

Unless those are them
right there.

Yeah, those.

: If only he
were here. -CHARLES: I know.

I would do anything for time
with him again.

Me, too.

There's information there,
but there's no legend,

there's no scale,
there's no orientation.

So, and there's a lot of work

that remains to be done
with the maps

before we actually use
the information in the field.

We have to be diligent
and we have to be patient.

His gift to us is
we have these maps,

and now we can duplicate
his processes

to see if these maps
are really to scale.

Yeah.

RICK: Look, we've done
as much as we can do.

Let's roll 'em up
and get after it.

CHARLES:
Okay.

a moment
of great anticipation

for brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina

as they, along with
Charles Barkhouse

and metal detection expert,
Gary Drayton,

head to Lot to begin
their new search efforts

on property now belonging
to Fred Nolan's family.

All right, guys.

Today is the day. Right?

Yup, I'm all for it.

NARRATOR: For the first time
since Fred Nolan's death,

his son Tom has granted
the team access

to all of his father's
acres.

This includes the areas

where Rick believes
Fred made several

of Oak Island's
most important discoveries,

including Nolan's Cross.

Here comes Jim with a backhoe.

NARRATOR:
Tom has also arranged

to have his associate,
Jim Meagher,

aid the team's search efforts
using a seven-ton backhoe.

Hey, Jimmy.

How about if you just
dig a trench two feet down

all the way to roughly
to where they're standing

-JIM: Right.

And we'll try to locate
where this thing might be.

All right, sounds like a plan.

NARRATOR:
Noted on Fred's maps

as a location
of particular importance

is an area the veteran
treasure hunter once described

as an ancient dumpsite.

It was here
that previous searchers

reported finding evidence
believed to be connected

to the original construction
of the Money Pit.

Where is this dump?

It's here.
You just haven't found it yet.

MARTY: We have several sources
that describe a dump-like area

right near Fred Nolan's house,
now Tom Nolan's house.

We have Tom himself describing
his dad digging in there

when Tom was a young-young lad.

We're looking for clues
in that area

as to what happened here
long ago.

-So, Charles, you know,
about the dump... -Yeah.

-I know there's not much
written about it... -No.

...but what do you know?

CHARLES:
Gilbert Hedden, in ,

he finds shards of pottery
with traces of mercury in them,

and mercury has actually been
found in the Money Pit, too.

That goes back
to that whole theory

of, you know, Sir Francis Bacon
preserving documents in mercury.

NARRATOR: One of the
most persistent theories

as to the origins
of the Oak Island mystery

points to Sir Francis Bacon,

the renowned th-century
philosopher, scientist,

politician and nobleman.

Bacon was also a leading member
of the Rosicrucians,

a secret society
of intellectuals

who were believed
to have come into possession

of the priceless
religious treasures

of the Knights Templar.

Some researchers believe

that Bacon was also
the secret author

of the works credited
to William Shakespeare,

and that he buried
both the Templar treasures

and the original Shakespeare
folios on Oak Island.

In his scientific work
Novum Organum,

Bacon described a method

of preserving documents
in mercury,

allowing them to be securely
buried deep within the earth.

Could the traces of mercury,

discovered at the dump
by Gilbert Hedden in ,

support the theory that
important historical documents

could be hidden on Oak Island?

And might that explain
why the Oak Island team

found pieces of parchment

and possible
leather bookbinding

deep in the Money Pit area
earlier this year?

Small, scrappy iron.
Let me get a pin point.

Whoa.

No. Crusty nail.

Okay guys, trench time.

All I'm picking up
is small nails.

So I'll start at that end
and work my way back.

We need some shiny gold things.

-Something with a date on it.
-Yeah.

I'm getting something here.
It's like iron.

That's it. Yup. Square nail.

I got some pottery here.

-Yup.

-Perhaps we could have a look.
-Oh, my God!

I could have the whole
dinner service here. Look.

-There's a big piece. Look.
-Yeah, definitely.

Look.

-Oh, wow, that's a lot of
pottery. -Look.

Well, looks like
we've hit the dump, guys.

-Oh. Another piece.
It's a pu-Ooh, more.of wood.

-Here, take-take that.
-Good eye, Charles.

I think you're
the pottery shard champ, now.

I kind of, like,
hit the jackpot here.

There's another little piece
right here.

I think our dump
is right there, Rick.

It's this perfect cross section,
we found it,

it doesn't go through
to this way.

You're finding all kinds
of bits of pottery

-and stuff right there.
-Another piece.

Locating the dump,
finding it,

realizing that the stories
were true...

Yeah, this is a successful day.

We got to figure out
the oldest thing here,

-because that might tell us
who was here... -RICK: Sure.

-...at the times we're
wondering about. -RICK: Yup.

-The date.
-Yup.

-It's always about the dates.
-Mm-hmm.

RICK:
From the beginning, we've tried

to look to the past

and tried to confirm
what the past has taught us,

and now, today,
we've taken story,

gone into the field,

and corroborated
that the story is real,

and that's important
as we move forward.

NARRATOR: While Rick, Marty,
and members of the team

continue their search
of the dumpsite

on Tom Nolan's property...

Alex Lagina and Jack Begley

have traveled miles north
to the Dawson Printshop

at the Nova Scotia School
of Art and Design

in the city of Halifax.

Well, I'm anxious to meet him.

This is, like,
right in his wheelhouse.

NARRATOR: They are meeting
with Joe Landry,

an expert
in medieval bookbinding,

who specializes in the study
and restoration

of ancient manuscripts.

We have found some interesting
things

that we think you'd
be able to help us with.

Um, Jack's got them.

And I would love
to take a look if we can.

JACK: It kind of looks like it
could be some old parchment.

NARRATOR:
Several weeks ago,

while searching the spoils

excavated from Borehole H-

in the Money Pit,

Jack Begley and Dan Henskee

discovered both parchment
and bits of leather--

leather, which when examined
under an electron microscope,

resembled possible
bookbinding material.

-Please have a seat and we'll,
uh, have a look. -ALEX: Thanks.

NARRATOR:
It is the team's hope that Joe,

along with his apprentice,
Katherine Taylor,

can make a positive
identification

of these artifacts and perhaps
determine their origin.

So we have what
we think is parchment

and what we think is leather
from possibly a book-binding.

Okay.

The parchment? -Yeah, sure.

So, there you go.

Yes, yes.
This would be parchment.

ALEX: I guess I've been b*rned
so many times in the past

that I was almost
expecting him to say,

"Oh, it looks like parchment,

but, you know,
on closer examination,

no, that's not what this is."

However, what he told us is,

"Yeah, this is parchment."

He immediately recognized it.

He said "Yup, that's exactly
what this looks like."

-Now, this is, yeah... -Do you
want to take a look at this?

-This is some of the leather
we found. -Oh, yes, yeah.

JOE:
Yeah, so this-this is, uh,

quite, uh, typical of
a vegetable tanned leather,

espec-especially a calf or hide.

This material lasts and lasts.

I mean, one
of the suppliers I use

when I'm restoring medieval
books sort of guarantees

his alum-tawed skins
for , years.

-Wow. -Whereas goat skins
are only good for , so...

-Got to save those receipts.

Yeah, so you better write
the receipts on parchment, too.

-Yeah.

We actually brought
one more piece, though,

and we were wondering

if you could give us
any information on it.

This might be kind of
a long sh*t.

Yeah. It's a purple piece
of wood. Any idea?

Look at this, Dan. Purple wood.

NARRATOR: Along with the samples
of parchment and leather

found in the H- spoils,
Jack and Dan Henskee

also discovered
a mysterious piece of wood,

which appeared
to have been stained

or dyed the color purple.

DAN:
It's not a florescent, exactly,

but it's definitely
an unusual purple.

Um, this is also...
this color is very similar

to an ink used in parchment.

JACK:
Whoa.

JOE:
This is from Egypt.

ALEX:
How old is this scroll?

Oh, , years.

: My God.

JOE:
The blue is tyrian blue,

the royal blue that the church
and the royalty would use.

It was quite literally worth
its weight in gold,

-so it wasn't commonly used.
-Mm-hmm. -Boy, that's...

-But it's amazing how similar
the colors are. -Yeah.

Although I feel
it might be more likely

from a, you know,
a vegetable source

-like a rich, red wine, I think.
-Mm-hmm.

JACK:
How often was

this color purple used?

Well, just in important
church documents

and royal, you know, documents.

You're kidding, right?

Only for important church
and royal documents?

That's right.

It looks like the same color
as the piece of wood.

ALEX:
It does look identical.

NARRATOR:
Dating back over , years

to the ancient Phoenicians,

the production of purple dye
was so time-consuming

and costly
that it was reserved for,

and became
synonymous with, royalty.

In fact, in the Middle Ages,
so-called "sumptuary laws"

restricted the use
of purple dyes

to those in the aristocracy.

Could the presence
of this purple wood,

along with parchment
and leather bookbinding,

be evidence
that important historical

or religious documents are
buried deep in the Money Pit?

If this was a... a book board

and it was covered with, uh,

ecclesiastical purple leather

and it got wet,
there could be staining.

So, wait, hold on.
That seems important.

This... there's leather
that's dyed this color?

There is, yeah.

And we have leather,
wood and parchment.

You said that there's leather
stained that color.

Is it possible that this wood...
is an analog for this wood here?

The thickness is about right
for a book... book board.

In combination, this is
the most exciting, that is true.

-Yeah.
-'Cause without this,

that could be a shoe, and...

without these,
this isn't gonna tell us

as much as...
as we want to know.

ALEX:
I think Jack and I

got some really good info today.

We got a lot of answers, and
we had our theories confirmed

about what these scraps
of leather and parchment

really are.

So I think the guys
back at the island

are gonna be really interested
in what we learned.

Of course, things just
keep getting more interesting.

-Yeah.

Well, that's-that's the nature
of the game, isn't it?

You never know what's
gonna show up next week.

We'll get out of your hair.
Thank you guys very much.

Bye-bye, now.

NARRATOR:
As Alex and Jack conclude

their informative meeting
with Joe Landry,

Rick Lagina and Gary Drayton
head to the home

of veteran Oak Island treasure
hunter Dan Blankenship.

-RICK: Knock-knock.

Come on in!

Hi, Dan.

What do you say, Rick?

-Don't get up. Good.

-Excuse me for not getting up.

-No, no, you sit down.

NARRATOR:
At the age of ,

Dan has spent
more than half a century

living and working
on Oak Island,

determined to solve
the -year-old mystery.

Although not as active
in the search as he once was,

Dan remains
an invaluable source

of information and guidance

to Rick
and the Oak Island team.

We were out in Smith's Cove,

and we were metal-detecting,
and I'd like to show you

what we found.

Look at that, Dan.

*

RICK:
Whenever we find something

that we deem to be, uh,

an important find,

we always go to see
Mr. Blankenship.

And we all find the cross
quite fascinating.

It's a significant find

in our opinion,
and we wanted to show it to Dan.

Lead.

-Yep, it's lead.
-Yep.

I went to France,

to a Templar prison,
and I saw something

carved in the wall
exactly like that.

I think I have a picture of it
here on the phone.

*

-This is the carving
in the prison walls. -Yeah.

The Templars were
imprisoned there in .

The similarity of it
is striking, that's for sure.

GARY: You know, I'll be honest,
I came here looking

for basically pirate treasure,

treasure coins, artifacts.

I wasn't a big believer
in the Templar connection.

That changed my mind.

Never did I ever believe

that I could find something
like this on Oak Island.

Something like this here
substantiates that theory.

-Just another piece of the...
-Yeah.

of the puzzle that seems to...
to fall in.

Well, we're gonna get
more than one, uh, expert

to weigh in on this.

There may be
some scientific method

that can date lead--
I don't know if there is or not.

My God, they poured lead.

For hundreds of years,
they've poured lead.

I don't how long they go back.

A long time.

It'll be interesting to see

what the experts have
to say about this.

-Very much so.
No question about that. -Mm.

RICK: I came here
just absolutely committed

to giving Dan and Fred
some answers,

and unfortunately
Mr. Nolan has passed,

and Dan is, uh...

None of us are b*ating
Father Time.

I mean, we're all
getting older, so...

this could be an answer.

We find something,
we'll be back.

-Not if. When.

Good to see you, Dan.

SCOTT:
Down a little bit.

NARRATOR: For Rick and Marty
Lagina and their team...

-So it started.
-It has started.

...the anticipation
for a major breakthrough

in the Oak Island mystery
couldn't be higher.

You go that way
just a little bit.

DANNY:
Good.

-Yeah.
-SCOTT: There it is.

Today marks the beginning

of their sixth massive
exploration shaft

in the Money Pit area.

Known as D.M.T.,

the dig location has been named
for Craig Tester's son

and Jack Begley's
stepbrother, Drake,

who tragagally passed away
last year.

-Mike. Morning.
-Rick. Morning.

So, cans up?
Ready to start oscillating?

She's ready to rock.

RICK: Based on all
the information we know,

based on last year's work,
based on this year's work,

this is "X" marks the spot.

-Yep.
-As good as we can discern.

NARRATOR:
Using the information gained

from the exploratory
boreholes completed this year

as a part of their
Geotech drilling program,

the team has identified
the D.M.T. location

as a promising search area,

where they believe
the legendary Chappell Vault

may have moved
after being dislodged

during the excavation of H- .

RICK:
Now we know

because of the work this year,
the pattern-drilling, the H- ,

we're honed in on, if you will,
the bottom location

-of Chappell's Vault.
-Mm-hmm.

RICK: There's certainly still
questions swirling around H- ,

and, you know,
I hate walking away

with, uh, those...
those questions unanswered.

And I do believe that...

that, uh, the D.M.T. hole
holds much promise.

RICK:
Look, everything's lining up.

Let's get that can down hole
and find this thing.

-We're ready to go. Thank you.
-Thanks, Mike. Appreciate it.

We're good to go, guys!

Let's hope that D.M.T.
solves the puzzle.

Hopefully his luck's
on our side.

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

digging the D.M.T. shaft
in the Money Pit area

may be their final test

in solving
the -year-old mystery.

Will they soon find where
a vast treasure lies buried,

a treasure consisting
of everything

from valuable objects
to priceless documents?

Treasure of historic importance

brought to Oak Island
centuries ago

and from thousands
of miles away?

Or might they find
that the keys

to unlocking
Oak Island's secrets

lie somewhere much closer
to the surface,

and in a different and more
ingeniously protected location

than anyone ever knew?

Next time
on The Curse of Oak Island...

We're on an obstruction.

RICK:
Houston, we have a problem.

-GARY: Oh!

Yeah.