09x12 - The Silver Liner

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight
on The Curse of Oak Island.

- TERRY: Today could be the day.
- CHARLES: We got a core.

GARY:
Oh, man. That's cool.

DAVID F.: Were there certain
boxes that would have that type

- of sheeting on it?
- Only for valuables.

Gary, what do you make of this?

Oh, yeah. We're
looking for a ship.

- That's the type of find you want to be pulling up.
- CLARKE: We know

that Phips found silver
on the Concepción,

and I believe some
of the treasure

from the Concepción
was secreted to Oak Island.

- Wow.
- That is remarkable.

NARRATOR: There is an
island in the North Atlantic

where people have
been looking for

an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.

So far, they have
found a stone slab

with strange symbols
carved into it...

man-made workings that
date to medieval times,

and a lead cross whose
origin may be connected

to the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have d*ed

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,
one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

- CHARLES: We good to go?
- TERRY: I'm good to go.

Today could be the day,
Charles. Of all the drillholes

we've drilled on this pad,

- I've got to say this is the one I'm most encouraged by.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: A new
day of exploration

has begun on Oak Island

in the fabled Money Pit area.

And for brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina,

their partner Craig Tester

- and the members of their team...
- TERRY: Here it comes.

NARRATOR: there is good
reason to believe that the answers

to a 227-year-old
treasure mystery

may finally be
within their reach.

- What's the good word, Adam? 18?
- Hey, Adam. What do you got? - 18.

- TERRY: Eight to 18. Thank you.
- CHARLES: Eight to 18.

Okay.

AB-13.5.

Two and a half feet away

on the east side from our
offset chamber, perhaps.

This is probably our best
chance to really tap into it.

Let's hope.

[indistinct shouting]

TERRY: Holy cow.

- We've never seen that before. Blowing water out.
- No, that's unusual.

NARRATOR: Over
the past two weeks,

while drilling in this area
on their strategic grid...

BRENNAN: Oh, boy.

TEDFORD: Hey,
Craig! There it is.

NARRATOR: the team has
penetrated a mysterious, air-filled void

twice at a depth
of some 60 feet.

It's got to be a void.

That's a phenomenon

- right there.
- TEDFORD: Yeah.

This same phenomena would occur

- for the famous offset chamber, wouldn't it?
- Exactly.

NARRATOR: This
has led to speculation

that they may have
encountered a secret chamber

connected to the
original Money Pit.

The general area where we
are conducting this drill program

I think is exceedingly
interesting.

And it's certainly on
the radar or marked

as a potential
"X" marks the spot

and will point us in a
very specific direction.

TERRY: Solid,
dense blue-gray till.

It isn't here, Charles.

- We didn't expect it to be.
- Yeah.

So, anyway, as we
get to target depth

around 65 or 70 feet,

I'm very hopeful we're
gonna hit something.

- Perhaps the offset chamber.
- CHARLES: Yep.

And hopefully that'll get us to
where the can placements go.

- Exactly.
- NARRATOR: Now, as they drill a new borehole

known as AB-13.5...

- CHARLES: Can this go, Terry?
- Yes, please.

NARRATOR: if they once
again encounter the void

and perhaps the source
of the gold and silver

that has recently been detected
deep underground in this area,

they will install up to four
ten-foot-wide steel-cased shafts

to recover what people
have been trying to find

since 1795.

RICK: To me, it's not
just about finding the gold.

I want to know
how this was done,

why it was done.

I want to know the whole story.

And the whole story will
be written underground

in a vault, a void, a cavity,

a-a construct, a
human construct.

To me, that's
gold in and of itself.

- Hey, guys.
- CHARLES: Hey, Alex.

- Hi, Alex.
- ALEX: What'd I miss?

- CHARLES: Not much.
- Not too much. We are now only about two and a half feet away

from where we
intersected the air cavity.

You'd think we'd hit something,
right? Because unless we got,

really, I guess, lucky
and hit the very top

of the air cavity
on the first hole,

- there should be more down there.
- Absolutely.

We could be in the
area of an offset chamber

- for, hopefully, the treasure beyond all imagining.
- Yeah.

And here comes the core.

- Hey, Adam. How we doing?
- 28.

TERRY: Thank you.

- Thank you.
- TERRY: 18 to 28.

If we drill this anomaly
and we go into a void,

even if we don't
bring up anything else,

then it'd be worth putting a
caisson down there, for sure.

Because it's not
a natural cavern.

TERRY: We have no
break, no disturbance.

Nothing remarkable yet.

So, we're still
about 30 to 35 feet

above where we hope to intersect

our chamber.

Let's hope we get it today.

ALEX: All right. Well, let's
keep our fingers crossed.

NARRATOR: Later that morning,

as Terry Matheson
supervises the drilling operation

in the Money Pit area...

- Scott, welcome to the w*r room.
- Thank you. Thanks, guys.

NARRATOR: Charles
Barkhouse and Alex Lagina

join Rick Lagina

and other members of
the team in the w*r room,

where they have gathered
to meet with Scott Clarke.

CLARKE: So, I've found, I
believe, significant information

that really strengthens,
uh, the idea

- of there being silver in this area.
- Interesting.

NARRATOR: Scott is a


who has traveled from Toronto

to share information
regarding the possible origins

of the Oak Island mystery.

RICK: Scott is
presenting a theory

about the William
Phips and the salvage

of the Concepción treasure.

And why it's so intriguing
at this point, of course,

is because of the silver
from the water sampling

- we've done in the Money Pit.
- Yeah.

- So, Scott, please proceed.
- CLARKE: Okay, thank you.

So, as you just mentioned, uh,

many people are
actually familiar

with William Phips's discovery

of the Concepción back in 1687.

We know that Phips found
silver on the Concepción,

and I believe some
of the treasure

from the Concepción
was secreted to Oak Island.

Very interesting.

There's no question about that.

NARRATOR: Built in 1620,

the Nuestra Señora de la
Pura y Limpia Concepción

was a 600-ton galleon

that served as the premier ship

in a Spanish fleet to
carry plundered riches

from the New
World back to Spain.

[thunder rumbles]

But in 1641,

while transporting more than


the Concepción was sunk
by a massive hurricane

off the northern
coast of Hispaniola,

known today as the
Dominican Republic.

The disaster led to the deaths

of some 300 crew members

and the loss of
the vast treasure.

More than four decades later,

Captain William
Phips, a British politician

and treasure hunter from the
Massachusetts Bay Colony,

embarked on a salvage
mission financed by British royalty.

In January of 1687,

he located the wreck
of the Concepción.

Utilizing Indigenous
free divers,

it would mark the first of
perhaps several missions

that Phips made to salvage
the sunken treasure galleon.

CLARKE: When it was
brought back to England,

the treasure was
weighed in at over 34 tons

and valued at about £205,000,

which would be 50 million
U.S. dollars in today's currency.

- That is remarkable.
- ALEX: Yeah.

CLARKE: Uh, Phips
himself received £11,000

or $2.7 million
in today's money.

And Phips was
knighted by King James

and treated as a hero in
London. It was very big news.

Yeah. It was the recovery of
that treasure off the Concepción

that actually bought his
way into higher society.

- Phips, yeah. Yeah, and being knighted. Yeah.
- DOUG: Yeah.

- CLARKE: Exactly.
- Wow. So he was pretty important.

CLARKE: Yeah. And
this is about the time

when Captain Andrew
Belcher comes into the picture.

He was to become the assistant

of the newly knighted
Sir William Phips.

NARRATOR: Captain Andrew
Belcher was a wealthy merchant

and Freemason from
Cambridge, Massachusetts,

who helped to shape
cooperative relations

between the American
colonists and Indigenous tribes.

However, according to
Scott Clarke's research,

he also aided Sir William Phips

in his subsequent efforts
to salvage the Concepción.

CLARKE: So, in September 1687,

Phips returned to the
wreck of the Concepción.

And during the second
expedition of the treasure,

Phips brought back to
England, was only valued

at £10,000.

He literally found 1/20 of
what he found the first time.

DOUG: He came back
with less than expected,

- right? Yeah.
- CLARKE: Much less. Yeah. Yeah.

And he was there
for eight months.

He was there a long time,

so they were expecting more.

- Right.
- CLARKE: Okay. So, um,

this is where my first
discovery comes in.

I basically found a 1688 letter

that shows that
Captain Andrew Belcher

was caught with
one of Phips's ships

in the Mahone Bay area

at the exact time that
Phips was coming back

from the second
attempt, where he

"allegedly," officially, did
not find as much silver.

The letter also states

that they burnt the
ship at Port L'Hebert,

which is very
close to Oak Island.

I strongly believe

that Belcher and his
comrades were actually

transferring treasure
from the Concepción

to be taken to Nova Scotia.

So, this brings me to
my second discovery,

which I think is the
most interesting.

I discovered this,
uh, map from 1701.

Basically, I've discovered
a literal treasure map

created 320 years ago

that strongly appears to
tie the Concepción treasure

to the Oak Island area.

Wow.

I find that interesting.

NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island w*r room,

theorist Scott Clarke is
presenting his research

that the English
nobleman Sir William Phips

may have transported a
vast cache of Spanish silver

to Oak Island sometime
in the late 17th century.

Silver that was salvaged

from the famed treasure
wreck known as the Concepción.

So, the map is titled "The
English Empire in America."

It was published in an


Newfoundland, Canada,
Hudson's Bay and Colonies.

It was created by Herman Moll,

published 13 years
after Phips's 1688 voyage

to the Concepción site.

Aside from being an
excellent, prolific mapmaker,

Herman Moll was known
for his interesting circle

of merchants, seafaring
men and intellectual friends.

It is written that from
these friends of Moll,

uh, Moll gained a fair bit
of privileged information

that was sometimes later
conveyed on his maps.

I believe that's exactly what
occurred on this particular map.

Overall, the map seems normal

except for two very
interesting additions.

It specifically shows the wreck
of the Concepción on the map.

The specific location of
the Concepción shipwreck

is labeled "Sir William
Phips Plate Rack."

So, "plate"
specifically meant silver

and was derived from
the Spanish word "plata,"

and "rack" was an
old-fashioned term for "wreck."

The second anomaly
is especially interesting.

In New Scotland,

along with the usually
labeled Port-Royal and LaHave,

Moll has added La Plata.

Like, he literally named
it La Plata, "the silver."

- That's right where Oak Island is.
- CLARKE: Exactly.

When you look at
the-the modern map,

La Plata, it almost certainly
is in Mahone Bay area.

RICK: That is remarkable.

NARRATOR: A map created in 1701

of New Scotland or Nova Scotia

depicting an area in Mahone Bay

where Oak Island is located

as "La Plata" or "the silver"?

You'd think they'd label it
"the gold" for "gold river,"

but that's the silver for...

He specifically
mentions "the silver."

- So, why would he do... why would he that?
- JACK: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Could
Scott Clarke be correct

that he has found an
actual treasure map

made prior to the
discovery of the Money Pit

connecting Sir William Phips
and the vast silver treasure

to the Oak Island mystery?

If so, could that explain
the high levels of silver

that the team has
recently detected

in the Money Pit area?

- Wow.
- CLARKE: So, Captain Andrew Belcher

was intimately connected

with Sir William
Phips. So, basically,

the accomplice that Phips
had, it's Captain Andrew Belcher.

DOUG: Wow.

RICK: Wow. That's
very interesting.

CLARKE: He was one of the most
connected men in-in New England.

He-he owned 20 ships.

He had a vast shipping network.

His son was the first
American-born Freemason.

So, they were the
highest Freemasons.

They were the governors.

They were directly
tied to Oak Island.

NARRATOR: From the beginning
of the hunt for treasure on Oak Island,

Freemasonry has been at
the center of the mystery.

Not only have Masonic symbols...

Such as triangles and
carvings of the letter "G,"

representing the
divine creator...

Been found across the island,

but many of the most
prominent searchers,

including Franklin
Delano Roosevelt,

were members of
this secretive fraternity,

which curiously descended
from the medieval order

of the Knights Templar.

Has Scott Clarke, a
Freemason himself,

just revealed why
that connection

has been so prevalent
for more than two centuries

and also what they
were looking for?

I think because
Captain Andrew Belcher

now has arisen to,
certainly, a person of interest,

we need to dedicate some
assets to trying to figure out

who the man was, what
his connections were.

There must be more information
about him and his progeny,

and that may lead us somewhere.

I like it because
you have treasure

and you have people

and you have Oak
Island all tied together.

Whereas a lot of times, we have

the theory of treasure
and the people

who could have done it,
but the tie to Oak Island

- is a little sketchy.
- Right.

- You've given us a lot to consider.
- RICK: Yes.

- ALEX: Yeah.
- CHARLES: Yeah.

RICK: Thank you, Scott.

- We appreciate it.
- Thank you. Thanks, guys.

DOUG: Impressive research.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

CHARLES: Here's Craig

- coming in now.
- NARRATOR: Craig Tester

joins Charles Barkhouse,

geologist Terry Matheson and
treasure hunter Dan Henskee

at the Money Pit to
continue monitoring

the drilling operation
in Borehole AB-13.5.

CHARLES: We got a core coming.

- Yep.
- NARRATOR: A borehole

where they hope to encounter

a man-made cavern or chamber
some 70 feet underground.

- TERRY: How you doing, Craig?
- Good, good.

- How deep are we?
- We're down to, uh, 67 feet.

There's no bubble or
blowout. Not this time.

Oh, look.

TEDFORD: Let me take it.

All water.

- TERRY: Hey, Adam. - Hey.
- What you got, Adam?

- 77.
- CHARLES: 77.

- Thank you. - Okay.
- CRAIG: Okay.

I-It's-it's dense
above and below.

Yet, at the same time,

you see no particular artifact

- or anything to punctuate.
- CRAIG: Yeah.

TERRY: Unfortunately,
no cavity. No opening.

It's that cobble right there

and all the cobbles
we're encountering,

I think, have a
lot to do with it.

NARRATOR: Although the team

is currently drilling
only two and half feet

from where they
hit a mysterious void

at a depth of some 70
feet just one week ago,

it appears AB-13.5

has missed the target.

MARTY: Maybe we
just missed because

having found and
having ascertained

that there are these
very anomalous amounts

of gold and silver in the water

and on the metal in the
area of this exploration,

that does lead me to
believe we might be close.

CHARLES: Do you have
another hole lined up?

- We'll go north.
- Okay. - Okay.

- Another mystery rather than an answer.
- CRAIG: Yeah.

NARRATOR: While members
of the team prepare to drill

their next target
in the Money Pit...

GARY: This looks like a
good starting point, guys.

- Start down here.
- NARRATOR: metal detection expert Gary Drayton,

along with Rick
and Marty's nephews

David and Peter Fornetti,

have returned to Lot 4,

located on the western
side of the island.

It is in this area that the
team has recently found

a number of compelling clues,

including a cutting
and shaping tool

known as an adze

and a gold-plated
English button,

both of which were dated

to as early as the
late 17th century.

RICK: Lot 4 has, uh,
given us some surprises

in terms of Gary's
metal detecting finds

and I think we need to take
another hard look at this area.

I think it's always important
to-to revisit, recheck.

And this might provide
us with a few more clues.

[beeping]

GARY: There we go.

We've definitely got...

a piece of metal
here worth digging.

- Right under there.
- Right there?

GARY: Yep.

Oh, there it is. Yep.

That's a tin can lid.

Dang.

All right, into the
trash pouch it goes.

And then we don't
have to flag that.

No, we don't have
to flag any trash.

- That's probably just washed in.
- Yep.

[beeping]

GARY: Got a signal here.

You can see it on
the surface there.

It's right on the surface, mate.

Wow, this is fantastic.

GARY: Oh, man. That's cool.

Old piece of copper sheeting.

NARRATOR: While searching Lot 4

on the western
side of Oak Island...

Not sure what it's off.

Gary Drayton,
along with brothers

David and Peter Fornetti

have just found a
potentially significant clue.

Cool little find. Right
on the surface as well.

I do believe some of this stuff

is coming from
this beach erosion.

I always like finding old pieces
of copper sheathing like this,

especially on the beach,

because, uh, most of the
time it's marine-related.

'Cause back in the
day, it was used to line

the hulls of the boats to
protect them from the worms.

And it's called
sheeting or sheathing,

and it was basically
the duct tape of the day.

- What years did they do that?
- Uh, mainly in the 1700s.

- Mm-hmm.
- Golden age of piracy, actually, 1650 to 1750.

NARRATOR: Possible copper
sheathing from a large sailing vessel?

And potentially dating
back to the 17th century?

Could Gary, David and
Peter have just found

more ship-related evidence
predating the discovery

of the Money Pit by
more than a century?

And if so, could it
also help support

Scott Clarke's theory
regarding an operation

by Sir William Phips

and Freemason
Captain Andrew Belcher

to hide a vast cache of
silver and possibly gold

on Oak Island?

GARY: I have actually found,

on Spanish galleon sites,

copper sheeting
that's this thin.

But we'll take it back to
the archaeology trailer.

DAVID F.: Great.

GARY: That's a really nice find.

NARRATOR: The following morning,

as the drilling
operation continues

in the Money Pit area...

GARY: All it takes
is one good find.

PETER: Maybe in
this scoop right here.

GARY: You got that right, mate.

NARRATOR: Gary, David and Peter

have joined treasure
hunter Michael John

and heavy equipment
operator Billy Gerhardt

as they continue
investigating the southern edge

of the mysterious
triangle-shaped swamp.

GARY: Pete, you
and I, we've found

a lot of ship spikes and
wharf pins all along this stretch.

- Yeah.
- That's why I'm surprised

we haven't found
any of those yet.

Yeah, and those were only, what,

six inches to a foot down?

- Yeah.
- And now we're digging

- six feet down.
- Yeah.

GARY: But what
we have been finding

is some really cool,
interesting pieces of wood

- from, uh, like, an old sailing ship.
- Yeah.

GARY: Let's find some
good stuff. You ready?

All right, mate.

NARRATOR: In recent weeks, the
team has recovered a number of clues

in this area that could
also help validate

Scott Clarke's theory,

including possible
deck planking,

as well as tools
related to ships

and a trapezoid-shaped piece

from a believed cargo boat that
was dated to as early as 1680.

Come on, metal, where are you?

Well, yeah, that stands out.

One more for the pile.

That's a very
interesting piece of wood.

It's very similar to
some of the planking

that we found,
but this is irregular.

It's wider at this end
and thinner there.

Obviously, it was shaped
by man, and that stands out.

- Yeah.
- I mean, what would you call that?

Decking or siding?

- MICHAEL J.: Probably decking.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: Could
Gary be correct that Billy

has just recovered another
piece connected to a large ship?

In 1969,

the esteemed landowner
and treasure hunter Fred Nolan

drained the swamp

and was astonished to
discover his own trove

of ship-related artifacts.

These included scuppers
and even part of a mast.

The operation made Fred
speculate that the swamp

may have been
artificially created

in order to hide an
entire treasure galleon.

Could the potentially
ship-related discoveries

that the team continues
to make in the swamp

not only support Fred's
theory but also Scott Clarke's?

GARY: Well, definitely
a-another piece

that we can maybe have C-14'd

and have the
marine archaeologist

put some eyes on it.

We'll definitely
get it looked at.

- I'll put this to one side.
- Yeah.

GARY: I'd like to see some coins

- coming up here.
- Yeah.

This is the edge of the beach.

Anything that got washed
off that stone roadway as well

would be really cool.

All right.

- I'm gonna get stuck in.
- Okay.

GARY: Now, that is interesting.

- PETER: Yeah, you got something?
- Yeah,

I do think this is something.

Look, shaped at both ends.

Oh, yeah.

GARY: Looks like it's
beveled, it's got that bow in it.

NARRATOR: At the
southern edge of the swamp,

metal detection
expert Gary Drayton

and other members of
the team have just made

a potentially
important discovery.

What are you thinking?

GARY: Definitely shaped.

It kind of looks like it would
be inside a small boat, maybe.

- Mm-hmm.
- The rails across.

- That's definitely man-made.
- PETER: I was thinking that, too.

NARRATOR: A wooden fragment,

potentially from a smaller
type of nautical vessel?

Could it be connected to
the trapezoid-shaped artifact

dating back as
early as the 1680s

that was found in this
area one week ago?

It was the opinion of
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner

that it may have
been part of a longboat

used to unload cargo from
a much larger sailing ship.

BILLY: That's from
that two to three feet.

Yeah.

Seems like we're finding
most of the pieces of wood

at about two to three feet deep.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Could
these finds be related

to the pieces of cargo barrels

found near the stone
wharf one year ago?

And if so, could
they also be related

to the traces of silver recently
detected deep in the Money Pit?

MARTY: There are all
kinds of things of significance

in the swamp at this point.

We are finding bits and
pieces in there from a ship.

So, is there a ship in the swamp

or are there bits of
a ship in the swamp

that were used for other things?

We haven't got an
answer to that yet.

- PETER: That one's really interesting.
- GARY: Yeah.

- Yeah. Put them together.
- GARY: Well...

Let's keep these to the side.

- PETER: Yeah.
- Perfect.

GARY: God, this is fun.

NARRATOR: As the investigation
in the swamp continues...

later that afternoon...

- ALEX: Hey, Carmen.
- CARMEN: Hey, how's she going?

How are you? Good to see you.

Thank you for stopping by.

NARRATOR: Alex Lagina
and his cousin David

are meeting with blacksmithing
expert Carmen Legge

in the research center.

So, here they are.

NARRATOR: to get his
analysis on one of the team's

most recent finds.

So, for background,
this is from Lot 4.

DAVID F.: We were
just on the beach

at Lot 4, it was not buried.

It was just sitting
on the surface there.

We'd be curious to
get your thoughts.

ALEX: Hmm.

There seem to be some
nail holes and other things.

ALEX: Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Ah...

ALEX: Very interesting.

So, is this the
corner of the box?

DAVID F.: What would
you use copper sheeting for?

DAVID F.: Were
there certain practices

or certain, um, boxes that
would consistently have

that type of sheeting on it?

- Treasure.
- [chuckles] Right.

When you say, "very
old," how old do you mean?

Um...

ALEX: Wow, that's pretty old.

- Yeah.
- [laughter]

NARRATOR: Copper sheeting
from a possible treasure chest

that could date as
far back as 1100 AD?

Although the team has
found a number of clues

believed to be of


they have also been
searching the area for evidence

to support the research of
the late author Zena Halpern.

In 2016, Zena presented
the team with two maps

indicating that members
of the Knights Templar

had visited Oak Island
on numerous occasions

between the 12th
and 14th centuries.

Could this potential piece
of believed treasure chest,

just like the paved area
discovered two years ago

in the swamp, which Dr. Spooner
dated to as early as 1200 AD,

and the 14th-century lead
cross found at Smith's Cove

all offer evidence that Zena's
theory could have validity?

And if so, might it suggest
that Sir William Phips's partner

Captain Andrew
Belcher, a Freemason,

may have had secret knowledge

of an existing Templar
treasure vault on Oak Island?

It's always been suggested
that Oak Island was a repository,

perhaps over generations

by multiple people.

So these finds that are
being made from Lot 4

may be some evidence
that multiple people

may have deposited a
treasure here on Oak Island.

I don't know that I'm
correct, but it's a possibility.

Small.

See, that's more the size
of what I was thinking of

as a treasure chest, because...

It'd be heavy.

Right.

ALEX: But it-it's on
an area of the island

that nothing, in our
records, happened there,

other than the Zena Halpern map.

- Right.
- So...

Okay, well, that's tantalizing.

DAVID F.: It's incredible.

And it just kind
of validates Lot 4

and the interest
that we have there.

- So, we certainly appreciate you coming out.
- Yeah.

Well, as always,
we will go back out,

we'll look and we'll give you
a call when we find something.

- ALEX: Thanks, Carmen.
- DAVID F.: Thanks, Carmen.

ALEX: See you.

NARRATOR: As a new
day begins on Oak Island,

and while Rick Lagina oversees

his search for clues
and possible valuables

at the southern
edge of the swamp...

RICK: You gonna
go over it again?

GARY: Yeah. Just in case.

NARRATOR: in
the research center...

MARTY: I got all the brains
that we need right here.

We need them
all for this project.

NARRATOR: Marty
Lagina has called a meeting

with their partner Craig Tester
and project Manager Scott Barlow

to discuss the current drilling
operation in the Money Pit.

MARTY: Well, I have a theory

that I want to run past you
guys, and it's about that hole

we drilled where we
got the air... what is it?

- AB-13.
- AB-13.

I've been thinking about it.

So, we drill these
wells and we hit this air,

and we're virtually sure
that it's some kind of gas trap,

and it's not natural.

Got to be man-made, right?

- Yeah.
- Okay. So, let's say I'm wrong

about the possibility that
there's an offset chamber.

What argues against
that is it seems

like we'd have
more air, then, right?

If it filled up an
entire chamber.

- Right.
- Yeah.

You know I've been a
flood tunnel doubter...

- CRAIG: Mm-hmm.
- Forever,

but maybe the flood
tunnel does exist.

Right.

NARRATOR: One week ago,

when the team drilled
into the mysterious

air-filled void
some 70 feet deep

in the Money Pit area...

TERRY: What the heck?

They made a
surprising discovery.

TERRY: It almost
looks like grass,

maybe eelgrass or
something washing in.

NARRATOR: Eelgrass,
along with coconut fiber,

was discovered in


These materials were
covering five stone box drains,

and were believed to
be acting as a kind of filter

to keep debris out of a
man-made flood tunnel.

A flood tunnel feeding seawater
directly into the Money Pit.

I mean, if you guys don't mind,

I'm gonna draw you what I
think may be, as a possibility...

- Sure.
- And then you tell me if I'm crazy or not.

MARTY: Okay, we got
the elephant's nose, right?

Yeah...

Tell me if I'm about
right, Money Pit-ish?

- Yep.
- Smith's Cove,

here's our cofferdam.

If there was a flood tunnel,
it would've gone more or less

the shortest distance, right?

- Mm-hmm.
- And I believe

there's the Cave-In Pit.

Okay, if I do an elevation view,

here's sea level
in Smith's Cove,

here's the Money Pit, original.

And let's say the flood tunnel

comes in down here
somewhere, right?

Okay, so let's say, when
they dug this flood tunnel,

all they would've had to do
is have a bump in it like that.

You know, either
intentionally, boulder,

for whatever reason you want.

This wouldn't have interfered

with its ability to
function at all, right?

No.

- Mm.
- MARTY: No. Okay.

Over the years, we
put all kinds of air

down here, right?

We drilled all kinds of holes.

Now, if that air
happened to find its way

into this flood tunnel,
it would work its way up

and get caught right there
just like a little bubble in a level.

And this would be an obvious
place for introduced gas

to try and find
its way out, right?

If there's still
something that exists.

I mean, it's just,
it's just perfect.

It'd start working its way up
and get trapped right there.

So, here we come along and
we just drilled into that, perhaps.

- That's my theory.
- Hmm.

MARTY: If the flood
tunnel came from the shore,

it wouldn't necessarily come
down perfectly, would it?

Let's say it was constructed,
they had to go up and over

a rock, whatever, any
number of reasons.

And if it has just
a little bow in it,

that would be a perfect
place to catch air.

We introduced a lot of
air into the Money Pit area

when we were drilling
with air several years ago.

That air, if there
is a flood tunnel,

could've encountered it, it
would've went straight up.

When it got to
that little bubble,

it would've gotten trapped

and it would've
been under pressure.

NARRATOR: Could Marty be correct

that the team's
drilling operations

over the past several years

caused air to be trapped
in a man-made flood tunnel?

A flood tunnel connected

to the legendary
Money Pit treasure vault?

I'm more of a
believer after all that,

that the flood
tunnel does exist.

Maybe we just found it.

I think that's very reasonable.

It's certainly one of the
more interesting spots

that we've drilled
into in the Money Pit.

MARTY: And it's about the
only thing I can think of, honestly,

- that would be just designed to catch air.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: With the
team's plans to begin digging

up to four ten-foot-wide
steel-cased shafts

in less than two weeks,

confirming the location of
the legendary flood tunnel

and cutting it off could greatly
improve their ability to recover

the source of silver and
gold detected earlier this year.

The difficulties in the Money
Pit have always have been

associated with water flooding
in from a possible flood tunnel.

If we can find a tunnel
and block the ocean water,

that would be huge.

Do we have enough
time for one more hole?

I would think so.

- I think so, yeah.
- MARTY: Okay.

Sounds like a plan.

We'll just see
how things unfold.

- CRAIG: Sounds good.
- MARTY: Okay.

Well, thanks, guys.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

TERRY: Here it comes.

- I've got high hopes for this one.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: as members of
the team begin a drilling operation

in the hopes of cutting
off the flood tunnel

to aid their upcoming
excavation of the Money Pit...

GARY: Next shovel,
we go for glory.

At the southern
edge of the swamp...

metal detection
expert Gary Drayton

along with members of the team

continue searching
for vital clues

that could also help solve
the Oak Island mystery.

What do you think of this, Dave?

Oh, that's interesting.

- We should definitely show Gary.
- PETER: Yeah.

- It looks like there's a pretty good hole in it, though.
- Oh.

PETER: Gary, what
do you make of this?

Oh, yeah.

That looks like a-a square hole.

Oh, that's interesting,
mate, 'cause older fasteners,

especially iron,
were square-shanked.

We haven't found that many
pieces of wood with holes in.

So, do you think that's marine?

Yeah, I mean,
we're right at the side

to the southeast
corner of the swamp,

we're looking for,
potentially, a ship.

That's the type of find
you want to be pulling up,

wood with square holes in.

Circular-shanked fasteners

came in round
about the early 1700s,

and then in the
Industrial Revolution,

everything was round.

So it could possibly be
earlier than the 1700s.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, that's actually
the date range I'd put it in,

um, mid-1500s to mid-1700s,

with the square-shanked nails.

NARRATOR: Another wooden
artifact potentially related to a ship?

And possibly dating
to before 1700?

If Gary is correct,
could this discovery

offer more evidence
that the remains

of a treasure galleon really
lies buried in the swamp?

And might it also
further validate

Scott Clarke's incredible
theory that Sir William Phips

hid a vast cache of
silver on Oak Island?

GARY: That's fantastic.

Pretty cool find,
Pete. Well done, mate.

- Yeah.
- We got two more coming.

PETER: Hey, guys.

Hey, guys.

MARTY: Come on over, Billy!

We don't see any
chests piled up.

GARY: Eh, no, and
I wish I could reach

for my top pocket, but...

the lack of metal's
a little bit frustrating.

I mean, you guys found
some intriguing things.

So, we found some
interesting things here,

but obviously there's still
more on the search agenda,

so I'd be curious
what-what's next.

MARTY: Well,

the reason Rick
and I are here is...

I mean, we found
all kinds of neat stuff.

You've done a great job,

um, but for this year,
we're wrapping it up.

But we got cannisters coming,

and, uh, we need the water so
we can use it at the wash plant.

So, I think we're running
out of time in the swamp.

- That's frustrating.
- PETER: Yeah.

NARRATOR: It is
a difficult moment

for brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina

and members of their team.

Despite all the
compelling evidence

of ancient ship-related
activity recently unearthed

in the triangle-shaped swamp,

they will need to
suspend their search

of the area in less
than two weeks.

MARTY: Unfortunately,
we have to quit digging

in the body of the swamp
because we're going to need water,

and lots of water, to run
through the wash plant.

We can't use seawater,
so we need fresh water

to clean all the stuff
that's coming out

as we dig in the Money Pit.

NARRATOR: As Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team

begin excavating the
massive ten-foot-wide

steel-cased shafts
across the Money Pit area,

the tons of earth, or spoils,

will be carefully
sorted and sifted

for potential valuables in an
industrial-sized wash plant.

The process, which the
team hopes will reveal

tangible evidence
of the gold and silver

detected earlier this
year in the Money Pit

will require thousands
of gallons of water.

Because the team is
not legally permitted

to use ocean water
for the operation,

the swamp, which today is
fed by a freshwater spring,

is their only option.

The enormity of the work

that's about to proceed
in the Money Pit,

I mean, it's all incumbent
upon washing that material,

and... I think we
need to let this refill,

to supply all the water.

Yeah, no, that's right.

So, finish up best you can,
Billy, you know, and, uh,

we're gonna call it
a day and move on.

- Yeah.
- MARTY: It's been good stuff.

Good stuff came out of here.

A whole bunch of science
has to be applied, yet.

- Yep.
- A bunch of carbon dating.

I think we yielded some
pretty interesting pieces.

Right.

GARY: And look how much material

you've moved, Billy,

in-in just a small
area of the swamp.

- I know.
- We, we'll never get out of here.

- [laughter] - This is a
place we're coming back to.

MARTY: If you look at the
percentage of the swamp we've dug,

even though we've done a
lot of digging in the swamp,

I'd say percentagewise,
certainly single digits.

Five percent, maybe.

And every time, I
believe without fail,

every time, it's-it's
yielded interesting things.

RICK: I don't know, necessarily,

that there's a treasure
component to the swamp,

but I do believe that
there's more information

in the body of the swamp.

And so, I don't
think we're done yet.

Before we go, I do
want to get to that area

where the railing came from.

- Right.
- How close are you?

We're basically right
on top of that now.

Okay. Well, let's finish up,

because we're
running out of time

and we've got big
work to do up there.

- Yeah.
- You guys ready?

- I'm ready for that.
- Yep. We're ready. - All right.

- Let's finish up here.
- DAVID F.: All right. Sounds good.

NARRATOR: If Rick, Marty and their
team can now be certain of anything,

it is that answers surrounding
a 227-year-old mystery

could be revealed
anywhere across Oak Island.

But even though they must
soon suspend their search

in the swamp, where
evidence of an incredible secret

has been unearthed, it will aid

their most historic dig ever
conducted in the Money Pit.

There, they have
found scientific evidence

of just what that
incredible secret could be.

Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...

BRENNAN: Looks like
we got something, boys.

- Three pieces of wood.
- TERRY: The only thing,

usually, that will give
us that is a tunnel.

- So, we ran C-14 on it.
- CRAIG: One time frame.

Old, old, old.

- [laughter]
- [horn honks]

MARTY: We are about to embark

on the attempt to
recover valuables

- lurking in the Money Pit.
- DAN H.: Here they come.

MARTY: We've got ten-foot cans

coming in and we can dig it up.

There is definitely,
without a doubt,

- gold down there.
- [laughs]