10x16 - Striking Gold

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight on

PETER ROMKEY:
What if somebody was trying

to hide the evidence
of underground digging?

Best place to put it would be
in the middle of a wall.

-Rod's dropped.
-Here we go, Marty.
-Here we go.

We've got to be close
to a tunnel or chamber.

-Drill's going in now.
-RON: Hold it.

BRANDON VANDERHOOFT:
They hit something at 11 feet.

That could be where
the treasure's hiding.

-I detected gold.
-TERRY: Wow!
-MARTY: Wow!

-100%?
-Yeah.
-This is huge.

-Well, there you go, guys!
-Yay.
-[laughing]

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.

♪ ♪

-ALEX: Hey, Brandon!
-RICK: There he is.

BRANDON V.:
Morning, Alex, Rick.

-How're you doing?
-How's it going?

Perfect timing.
We're just getting started

-with the probe drill.
-Okey-doke.
-Cool.

NARRATOR:
Every new day
on Oak Island begins with hope

and excitement for brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina,

their partner Craig Tester
and the rest of their team.

RON:
Coming down slow.

RODNEY MACIVER:
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Right there.

NARRATOR:
However, today has been
especially anticipated

as it marks the beginning of
a new probe-drilling operation

that will be conducted
from within the Garden Shaft

by representatives
from Dumas Contracting Limited

in order to look for valuables
just outside the structure.

This dilapidated


which is currently
being refurbished by Dumas--

has not only yielded
high-trace evidence of gold

through water testing,

but may also set
within mere feet

of a possible
treasure chamber connected

to the original Money Pit.

MARTY:
It's exciting.

I'm hoping for something very
substantial in the Garden Shaft.

This is where the
treasure hunt actually begins.

So, Brandon,
this is 55 feet, right?

-Yes, sir.
-So, close to that depth

when we were drilling,
we hit a void in this area.

-So, just a heads-up.
-Wow. Heads-up?

Surprise, surprise, man.

Surprise, surprise.

How much you think we're missing
out of that last 30 feet?

I'd say approximately ten feet.

NARRATOR:
Earlier this summer,

the team drilled
into a ten-foot-high void

located several feet southwest
of the Garden Shaft.

This could be the indication
of an offset chamber.

NARRATOR: A void
that Marty Lagina speculated

may hold the fabled
Money Pit treasure vault.

-RODNEY: All good.
Let's try her out.
-RON: Okay.

-They're just lining up
and getting squared away.
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
Now, since Dumas has
reached a depth of 55 feet

in the reconstruction
of the Garden Shaft,

they are about to manually

probe-drill a number
of boreholes

that will reach several feet
outside of the structure

in the hopes
of reaching the void

and determining just
what it might contain.

If there is some sort
of connection here,

-they need to know it,
and we need to know it.
-Mm-hmm.

ALEX:
If we get lucky,
this will tell us.

RICK:
The drill's going in now.

-All right, brother,
we're in business.
-Yup.

NARRATOR:
In order to probe-drill

from within the Garden Shaft,

the team from Dumas is using
a powerful hydraulic earth drill

equipped to penetrate
hard clay, sediment and rock.

Although they are focused
on finding the nearby void,

they will drill a total
of three holes

in each of the shaft's
four walls, for a total of 12,

at different angles in order
to look for further evidence

of man-made workings
and potential valuables.

-RICK: You're grabbing
soil samples?
-Yes, sir.

But the other thing is,

-when you cut through
this tight lining...
-Yeah.

-...the old tight lining...
-The wood?

-Yes. I would like
that small piece on every hole.
-Yeah.

I just want to put it in our XRF

because we have detected
high gold values in the area.

-High gold values?
-Right.

My thought was wood
would act like a sponge.

If we test the outside
of the shaft,

we know the water samples are
indicating presence of gold.

Well, certainly
the wood should, as well.

We need to get busy.

-Hi, guys.
-Hey, Charles.

-Maybe our man
right here might know.
-Yeah.

-CHARLES: I see
they're drilling right now.
-BRANDON V.: Yeah.

We're drilling from here.
This is where we started here.

-Going clockwise.
-Okay.

So, I'll tell you what, guys.
I-I'm very interested

in these wood samples
and-and the soil samples.

So, I'm going to head down
to the lab, bring them to Emma.

-There you are, buddy.
It's all you.
-Yup, I'll take her all.

-There you go.
-Okay. You guys are in charge.
-Yup.

Anything comes up,
give me a call.

-We'll keep you posted.
-Will do.
-Thank you.

BRANDON V.: All right,
we'll see you in a bit.

-RICK: All right. See ya.
-ALEX: See ya.

NARRATOR:
As the probe-drilling
operation continues

in the Garden Shaft...

MARTY: All right, Peter.
This is the target.

Right here. That old girl.

NARRATOR:
...on Lot 26,

located on the western side

of Oak Island, Marty Lagina,

Jack Begley, and archaeologist
Laird Niven, arrive

at a mysterious stone wall

with forestry technician
Peter Romkey.

LAIRD:
We're doing an excavation

on the outside of the wall.

So, having the tree grow
almost directly on top

of the wall could help us say
that this wall

is at least...
this many years old.

If the tree predates
Samuel Ball's occupation,

then it changes the significance
of the wall a lot.

MARTY:
It's at least
as old as the wall.

-Yes. Yeah.
-Yeah.

LAIRD:
It's a really interesting area.

We also have a well down there.

ROMKEY:
Wow.

NARRATOR:
Over the past several weeks,

the team has been
investigating a stone well

less than 100 feet away
from this mysterious stone wall.

Because the well has
not only been dated

to as early as the 11th century,

but also contains
high trace evidence of silver,

the team wants to determine

if the nearby stone wall
could be just as old,

and perhaps contain clues

that might help solve
the Oak Island mystery.

Yup.

Any guesses before you proceed?

[laughing]:
Okay. Let me have a look.

-LAIRD: No pressure.
-ROMKEY: Yeah, he could...

He could certainly be
hundreds of years old.

-MARTY: Wow.
-ROMKEY: Yeah.

-That would be interesting.
-Yup.
-Yeah.

-Okay. Well, let's, uh,
let's bore a tree.
-MARTY: Okay.

NARRATOR:
Now, the team has asked Peter

to extract a core sample
of an adult oak tree

that has grown up
through the stone wall

in order to determine its age.

So, what we're gonna do is we're
gonna drill this into the tree,

-Mm-hmm.
-and extract
the, uh, the core

-once we bore it into the tree.
-Right. Okay.

ROMKEY:
All right, let me pick a spot.

Sure.

-[clicks]
-That's a good noise.
-MARTY: Yeah.

It's nice and solid.

MARTY:
The wall between Lots 26
and 27 is quite unique.

If we know how old that tree is,

the stone wall was there
at least that long.

Could've been there
much, much longer.

So, it's well worth doing.

And I slide the spoon in
very carefully,

and it goes in
very hard sometimes.

It's pretty good there.

It's all the way in. [sighs]

Back it off one turn.

-And then...
-MARTY: Hope for the best.

All right, we've got some here.

MARTY:
Well, that looks good.
That looks promising.

We got a piece here
that we can have a look at.

-MARTY: Good.
-Jack, you want
to take that down...

-Yeah.
-...and I'll pull the bore out?

NARRATOR:
Having extracted the core,

Peter will analyze it
in a laboratory and count

the circular features,
known as "tree rings,"

to determine just how old
the tree is.

ROMKEY:
We can estimate the age
by counting the rings.

-Can-can you see any in there?
-I can see a few, yeah.

-Are they tight or...?
-Yeah, they're pretty tight.

MARTY:
I think you're gonna have
to take that back to the shop,

clean that up to get... I mean,

they-they look pretty tight
to me, which is good.

That would give us the best data
we could... we could hope for.

LAIRD:
Can't wait to see the results.

ROMKEY:
Absolutely.

Sounds great.

NARRATOR:
As Marty, Jack, Laird
and Peter finish their work

on Lot 26...

-The next flag is back
in the bush.
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
...Rick Lagina

and metal detection expert
Gary Drayton arrive on Lot 4,

also located on the western
side of the island.

-[beeping]
-Ooh.

Yeah, that sounds great.

That's definitely
"come and get me" material.

NARRATOR:
Earlier today,

while detecting
and flagging potential

buried clues on Lot 5,

where the team has
recently made a number

of ancient discoveries,

including
half of a Roman coin

that is nearly


Gary also identified
several targets on Lot 4.

Okay. Let's see
if you got it out.

[beeping]

NARRATOR:
Now, after alerting Rick Lagina,

they have returned together

in order to find out just what
those flagged targets could be.

-[rapid beeping]
-It's in my hand, mate.

-This is my favorite time.
-[beeping]

A shoe? The heel of a shoe?

That's my guess-- it's a shoe.
You can see the little...

Yeah, you can see
the little nails right there.

GARY:
Yeah. Nail holes.

Yeah, it's leather
and metal around there.

That toe tap around
the outside on the toes--

that's what they did
back in the day.

-It's normally a copper alloy.
-It is copper.

-See the patina?
-Yeah, I see it. Green, mate.

NARRATOR:
A leather and copper boot heel
found on Lot 4?

But who did it belong to?

And might it have been someone

who visited Oak Island
prior to 1795?

Brilliant find. I like it.

We got two chances of dating it

with the leather and the metal.

-I'm going to bag it. Oh, well.
-I'd put it in a shoebox

-if I were you.
-Ooh. I like that one.

Wow. Lot 4...
producing again. All right.

-And the next flag is
over here, mate.
-Okay.

Way back here.

All right.

[beeping]

Not too bad sounding, mate.
Right there.

[grunts]

[beeping]

-Fingers crossed.
-[beeps]

GARY:-That's it.

-Oh! Nice.
-Yeah, an axe.

Oh! Dang.

NARRATOR:
While searching
for clues on Lot 4--

located on the western side
of Oak Island--

Rick Lagina
and metal detection expert

Gary Drayton have just made a
potentially important discovery.

-GARY: That is a gorgeous
axe head.
-Mm-hmm.

You can see it's hand-wrought.
See that?

Yup, I do. Yeah.

RICK:
We've never seen one
like that design, either.

No. That's an oldie, as well.

All the way back to Viking days.

Vikings used to swing axes

-that are very similar to this.
-Mm.

That is either a trade axe
or a ship's rigging axe,

which makes sense.

We're not too far
from the shore.

-To cut away the lines?
-Yeah.

NARRATOR:
A hand-wrought rigging axe
from a ship?

But could Gary's notion
of its potential origin be true?

[beeping]

-It's that.
-JACK: Whoa.

Oh, yeah.
This is fantastic!

NARRATOR:
Earlier this year
while searching Lot 8--

also on the western side

of the island--
Gary and Jack Begley

unearthed a metal artifact

featuring mysterious
ornate symbols.

The possibilities of such
an object coming to your island

really increase
starting in the 1500s.

NARRATOR:
And when renowned archaeologist

Dr. Edwin Barnhart
examined the artifact,

his analysis stunned the team.

It could be some sort
of older object.

The other possibility is...
the Vikings.

There could be some friends
of this here.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible
that Gary and Rick

have found a potentially
related artifact on Lot 4?

If so, how did they come
to be on Oak Island?

And what might
their true connection be

to the 228-year-old
treasure mystery?

RICK:
There's a lot of information,

a lot of artifacts
to be found in this area,

and we're gonna do it,
and we're gonna do it

in a very disciplined way.

I want to make sure
we don't miss anything.

-That's pretty cool.
-It bloody is, isn't it?

This is exactly what I was
hoping that we would find here.

RICK:
Okay. Now I'm excited.

I want to find more.

All right, mate. We'll bag this
for sure. You know what?

We're going to need
a bigger top pocket.

And the next flag's over here.

RICK:
There's probably
some surprises yet to find.

NARRATOR:
The following morning...

RON:
All right. Yeah. We've got


NARRATOR:
...while the core-drilling
operation

from within
the Garden Shaft continues

-in the Money Pit area...
-RODNEY: We're doing good.

RICK:
Hey, Peter, Laird.

-Hey, Rick.
-Hello.

-Uh, you both met Peter Romkey.
-Yup.
-Yup.

NARRATOR:
...Rick Lagina returns to Lot 26

with forestry technician
Peter Romkey

to share information
with Laird Niven

and Rick's nephew Peter Fornetti

regarding
the mysterious stone wall.

Peter has made an observation
about this wall.

-Yup.
-Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR:
Although Peter is still awaiting

the dating analysis
of the core he took

from the large oak tree
one day ago,

after spending the morning

closely examining
the wall itself,

he is eager to share a theory
about its possible construction.

Peter, if you can impart to them

-what your perceptions
were about the wall.
-Sure. Sure.

Well, my primary employment
was forestry,

but I've always had
a real interest in-in stone,

and built a great deal
of walls myself.

And some of the components
of the wall struck me.

Just the way that the outside
rocks are sort of structured

to-to lean in on a wall,
which is a classic way

of holding a rubble wall
together.

Almost more significant was
this, uh... this smaller rock

that was at the bottom
of the wall.

It was almost like it had
a foundation of small rocks.

-Mm.
-And that would be, uh,
very similar to, uh,

uh, castles
and-and large structures

that were built
in-in England and Scotland.

They were all built
on rubble foundations

where they excavated
below frost,

filled it full of coarse gravel

like this, and then built
the castle walls on top of it.

So, it's rather interesting that

this wall seems to be put
together in that same fashion.

-Yeah.
-RICK: You've just pointed out

that how unique
this type of construct is.

But that well feature there
is also unique

because it, too,
is representative

of this type of construct.

But all the other wells on
the island are very different.

They're stacked granite stone
about this big.

Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR:
Could Rick Lagina's speculation

that the stone wall
might be related in some way

to the nearby stone well,

which may date as far back
as the 11th century, be correct?

People have been building wells
with this kind of technique

for thousands of years.

NARRATOR:
One week ago,

Terry Deveau, the president

of the New England
Antiquities Association,

examined the stone well

and made
a startling observation.

You know, the well that does
look a lot similar to that

is the one at New Ross.

-Go lower?
-RICK: Yep.

It's very good clarity.

NARRATOR:
Terry believed that the well

on Lot 26

matched the design of one
found at a property

located nearly 20 miles
north of Oak Island

in the town of New Ross.

A site where some
researchers believe

a fortress was built by members
of the Knights Templar,

who brought sacred treasures

to the New World from Scotland

more than seven centuries ago

and buried them on Oak Island.

So, there is another part
of this wall

that I'd like to show you.

-Great.
-Just down here.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible

that Peter Romkey is correct,

that the stone wall on Lot 26

may be of a medieval
Scottish design?

And if so, could it offer
more evidence

that the Templar order

was connected
to the Oak Island mystery?

So, one of the fundamentals
of, uh,

dry-stone wall laying
and any stone wall laying

is the principle of
one-over-two, two-over-one.

And when I looked at this
little bit of a wall,

you can see this construction

is very purposeful,
so you can see here:

one rock over these two.

Two rocks over this one.

One rock here over these two.

And there'll always be
little anomalies.

There might be
three rocks over one.

But you can see that it's,
uh, it's certainly

been laid by somebody
who knows how to build a wall.

But the wall was to be used.

It wasn't just a border.
It wasn't just a boundary. It...

There's an implied use.

If you want to make something
strong and stable,

there's a reason
for that, right?

-ROMKEY: Absolutely.
-What is the reason?

I-I don't know.
I don't know why.

Maybe it was people who were
more experienced with those

kinds of construction projects
that were here.

RICK:
The other thing
you might want to know, Peter,

is Mr. Blankenship thought
it was weird, over here on 24.

Right on the surface,

-there is a bunch of this.
-Mm.

RICK:
Right at surface.

And he thought maybe it was
a dumping ground

-from tunneling
processes, right?
-Right.

So, I struggle with
an explanation for this.

-I really do.
-LAIRD: Yeah.

ROMKEY: What if somebody
was trying to hide

the evidence
of underground digging?

Best place to put it would be
in the middle of a wall.

NARRATOR: On Lot 26,
forestry technician Peter Romkey

has just made
a startling suggestion

to Rick Lagina and members
of the Oak Island team.

It is his belief
that the stone wall on Lot 26

may have been built with rocks

that were excavated during
the construction of a tunnel.

You know, it's, uh,
it certainly is interesting.

RICK:
The thought on Peter's part

was it would've been
an easy way to hide

any sort of tunneling attempts.

You take the spoils
from the tunnels,

and you cast them about
on the land,

and it's possible

that that same rubble
was introduced into this wall.

-It's phenomenal.
-Absolutely.

I totally agree with you.
This was a purposeful build

by an experienced hand,
but to what end?

Sounds like Laird needs
to find an artifact.

I've been trying.

It sounds like you need

-to move more stone.
-[laughter]

PETER:
Oh, boy.

RICK:
Peter, thank you.

We'll know more
when you date the trees.

NARRATOR:
The following morning...

CHARLES:
Hey, Brandon.

Hey, Charles.

NARRATOR:
...Oak Island historian

Charles Barkhouse arrives

in the Money Pit area

for an update
on the exploratory probe

drilling operation
being conducted at a depth

of 55 feet
in the Garden Shaft

in an effort to reach
a mysterious void

that the team discovered
earlier this year

just west of the structure.

I'm kind of anxious
to see where we are.

NARRATOR:
Now that representatives

from Dumas have completed


or set, they are about to start

their 12th and final
probe-drilling effort

before they cease this operation

in order to begin reconstruction

on the next level of the shaft.

The boys are just
getting ready to fire it up.

-Okay.
-Ronnie, Mack,
how're you making out?

All right, let's fire it up
and get to work.

Should be good to go.

BRANDON V.: We're just drilling
on the west wall.

Okay.

This is our last hole there
and then we're pulling

the drill out. That's the plan.

CHARLES:
No surprises yet,
other than the rocks?

No-no voids?

-No water? Anything?
-No. Nothing.

Everything's been pretty good.

Good.

They're on their
third rod there now.

They hit an obstruction
in the hole there.

They hit something at 11 feet.

-Something solid. Yeah.
-Oh, did they?

On this last hole,

they hit
some kind of obstruction.

What it is, I'm not sure yet.

But they're gonna probably
advance another rod

-and try to keep going
through it.
-CHARLES: Okay.

You know, one of the
challenging things facing Dumas

in their probe drilling
is identifying

what-what they're,
what they're hitting.

I mean, it could be a rock.
It could be something else.

So, they don't have
any idea what it is yet?

No, no.

CHARLES:
So, we just have to wait to see

what may be below there.

-There he goes, he's going.
-Yeah.

RODNEY:
Yeah.

Right now,
they're bouncing on it.

RON:
That was no fun at all.

So, I'm gonna grab,
uh, the bucket.

I'm going to grab
a sample of that.

How far did you end up
getting in there, Mack?

-They-they stopped her dead.
-Yeah.

There's a big rock there.

-CHARLES: It's frustrating.
-Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Brandon Vanderhooft's report
that no signs

of human activity have been
found outside the Garden Shaft

at the 55-foot depth
is disappointing news

given the known void
that the team has encountered

in the nearby area.

Very good, Rodney.

NARRATOR:
However, since trace evidence

of gold has been detected

in the water within
the Garden Shaft itself...

NARRATOR:
...could it be that the team
simply must dig deeper

in order to make
the breakthrough discovery

they are hoping for?

There's a story at the bottom
of this-this shaft for sure.

-Very good. Excuse me.
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
Although the team
from Dumas will collect

more wood and soil samples
so that they can be tested

for signs of possible
precious metals...

...they will now cease
probe drilling,

and continue with reconstructing

the next eight-foot level,
or set, in the Garden Shaft.

RICK:
You know, certainly
it's disappointing that we've

not found any cavities or voids
behind the original structure.

RICK:
We're hoping to find something
worthy of investigating,

so you keep going.

Hey, Brandon.

-Hey, buddy. Got the samples
back from hole number 12.
-Oh.

Okay. Excellent.

That's your soil sample

-right there.
-CHARLES: You know what?

I'm gonna take these samples
and get them back to the lab.

They can start working
on them right away.

Attaboy. Okay, buddy.

CHARLES:
Okay. Thank you.

NARRATOR: As the team from
Dumas Contracting Limited

continues their work
on the Garden Shaft...

...later that afternoon...

-STEVE: Hey, guys.
-MARTY: Hey, guys.

It looks like they've let up
now. We're just back at it.

NARRATOR:
Marty and Alex Lagina arrive

at the Money Pit area.

The next hole is DN-10.5.

-I have high hopes for this
being meaningful somehow.
-Yes.

NARRATOR:
Because the probe
drilling operation

did not yield any new clues
at the 55-foot level

in the Garden Shaft...

TEDFORD:
Okay, let's go.

NARRATOR:
...the team is drilling
a new borehole known as

DN-10.5.

A borehole located
just 30 feet west

of the Garden Shaft,

in a 20-by-20-foot area
known as "The Baby Blob."

It is within this zone
that recent water testing

has suggested
a large source of gold

may lie buried between
a depth of 80 and 120 feet.

And what we're looking for
here is a continuation

of the tunnel that appears to be

under the Garden Shaft.

NARRATOR:
In recent weeks,
the team has encountered

a believed tunnel
at a depth of some 90 feet

in three separate boreholes
that has not only yielded

high-trace evidence of gold
during water testing,

but also appears to be running

directly below the Garden Shaft.

-Cross your fingers.
-Here's hoping.

MARTY:
I have extremely high hopes

for this whole little area,
this treasure area,

the Baby Blob.

Last year, we found

gold and silver in the water.

We tasked two good scientists

with saying,
"Narrow it down for us, please."

We did a lot of testing.

The scientists say--
Dr. Spooner,

Dr. Michael-- "It's in
this very small area."

ALEX:
The core is coming.

TERRY:
Here we go.

-What do we got?
-All right.

-So, that's 89 feet.
-89.

After we cased, the rods dropped

down to 89 and a half,
which is a good sign.

It means it's softening up
down there.

-That is a good sign.
-Thank you.

-MARTY: Right at
the right depth, too.
-The right depth.

TERRY:
Absolutely. Perfect.

NARRATOR:
An opening, or void?

At a depth of nearly 90 feet?

Is it possible that

the Oak Island team has found

more evidence of a tunnel
in the believed treasure zone...

Here we go.

NARRATOR:
...which also may run

directly underneath
the Garden Shaft?

CRAIG:
Here we go.

It's a little bit soft.

Yeah, you get that when
you're close to a structure.

DN-10.5 looks like it could
yield up a few mysteries here.

ALEX:
Hey.

STEVE:
Hey, Rick.

-What is this?
-We're at 90 feet

basically and the last foot,
it dropped a little bit.

TERRY: The rods fell a foot,
so that bodes

very well for us being
in the structure.

NARRATOR:
It is an exciting moment
in the Money Pit area,

as the team has encountered
a mysterious void at a depth

of 90 feet in borehole DN-10.5.

A borehole just 30 feet west
of the Garden Shaft,

located in the Baby Blob,
or believed treasure zone.

MARTY: All right, well,
let's hope something

anomalous happens here.

-Yeah.
-TERRY: We've got to be
close to a structure,

due to softness.
We're only five feet away

from a hit of a fairly
substantial tunnel.

We'll see.

TERRY:
Okay, guys.
It looks like they're peeling

another one off for us.

What do you got, Colten?

-That's 99 feet.
-TERRY: Thank you.

I mean, I don't see any
little chips or chunks of wood.

MARTY:
So, we sort of
just missed, probably.

Yeah, I would say based on this,
Marty, we just missed.

So, a near miss
is-is very likely.

And that soft area there

speaks to us of being close
to a structure.

Well, how deep
will this core be?


the next stroke.

Well, we took that other one
deeper, didn't we?

The last one?

Uh, we took it to 120.

-Yeah.
-RICK: How many times

in the Money Pit have we
said to ourselves,

"If only we had gone deeper"?

NARRATOR:
Although the team
has not found evidence

of the tunnel that they
have recently encountered

in this area,

since they may be close
to a structure,

and because
the believed treasure zone

extends down
to the 120-foot level,

could they still be on course
for a major discovery?

RICK:
We might as well
go two more runs.

-We call it at 120. Okay.
-Yep.

NARRATOR:
As the core drilling operation

in borehole DN-10.5 continues
in the Money Pit area...

ALEX:
Hey, guys. What do you think?

I'm looking at walls
differently now.

-Right.
-And I think we've learned
a lot from it.

-Yeah, there's been
some strange things about it.
-Yeah.

And I'm surprised
at how many questions

we haven't been able
to answer yet.

Yes. Yeah, that is a surprise.

NARRATOR:
...Alex Lagina
arrives on Lot 26,

where he joins archaeologists
Laird Niven and Miriam Amirault

to help them investigate
the stone wall.

I'm glad we listened to Rick
because he tagged this

-as not being
like any other wall.
-MIRIAM: Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm.
-MIRIAM: And maybe this area

has more importance than others.

LAIRD:
That's what Rick thinks.

-Okay.
-I mean, look at those.

He may be right.

NARRATOR:
While they are still

awaiting the tree-coring results

conducted two days ago,

which may help date
when the wall was constructed,

Laird has decided
to continue methodically

excavating a section of the wall

in order to search for important

and potentially valuable clues.

So, I think the plan for today

is probably start

-where that large rock is...
-Mm-hmm.

...and take that end off.

-Okay.
-ALEX: All righty.

MIRIAM:
We are doing

a cross section of the wall.

So, basically,
we're taking it apart

to determine how it was built,

as well as to see
if we can find some artifacts

that can help us date it.

ALEX:
You want to do the edge, yeah?

-Yeah, I think so.
-Okay, we'll work our way
towards you, maybe.

-Yeah.
-Okay.

Leaves can go wherever.

MIRIAM:
Leaves, go away.

LAIRD:
And one thing Rick noticed,

this is the rubble fill,

they're putting
these smaller rocks to support

-these other rocks...
-Yeah.

-...which is a deliberate act
in his mind.
-Mm-hmm.

LAIRD:
I would just keep your eye out
for any unusual rock, too.

This isn't a field stone.
This is

-coming from probably the shore.
-Mm-hmm.

And it shatters.
It's broken off, so

that's what's perplexing to us.
What...

What were they doing?
Why is this here?

Yeah.

ALEX:
The unusual thing

about this wall is that there's

part of it that looks
like the stones

were actually shaped

and cut. This is really
the only place

on the island that we see this.

As we take this wall apart,

we'll kind of go back
through time,

and as we get
to the base of the wall,

that's where we have the best
chance of finding artifacts

from when it was constructed.

I mean, you can kind of see
how much more work it is

to make this,
based on how many more

scoops we have to take,
to take it apart.

-Yeah. Mm.
-Each handful is only
like two rocks.

See that?

Yeah.

LAIRD:
That's worked.

That's been knocked off.

If that stone is worked, why?

-Yeah.
-ALEX: There's no other
worked stone around here.

LAIRD:
Yeah.

-That's red granite.
-ALEX: Yeah.

Do you think that
that cut piece,

the worked piece was
deliberately cut to go there?

LAIRD:
It was done
for some other purpose

and made its way in here.

ALEX:
What I find interesting
about that is

it was split off
of something deliberately.

-We don't see that stone.
-LAIRD: No.

ALEX: The Kingdom Stone.
That was red granite.

-Right.
-ALEX: If that stone
was placed there,

what better place
to hide the rest of it

-than in a stone wall here?
-Hmm.

NARRATOR:
On Lot 26,

Alex Lagina has just noticed

a potentially important clue

while investigating
the stone wall

with archaeologists
Laird Niven and Miriam Amirault.

We investigated
the Nolan's Cross theory

that that represents
the Kabbalistic tree of life.

-LAIRD: Right.
-It's got all these points,
and we investigated

-with Petter Amundsen,
the Kingdom Stone.
-LAIRD: Mm-hmm.

-PETTER: This is Nolan's Cross.
-MARTY: Good.

NARRATOR:
In 2013,

Norwegian researcher
and filmmaker,

Petter Amundsen presented
the team his incredible theory

that the megalithic formation
of six boulders,

known as Nolan's Cross,

included four additional
smaller stones

called sephirot,

that were used to form

an ancient Kabbalistic symbol -
known as the tree of life,

which has often been
connected to the ancient

religious and m*llitary order
known as the Knights Templar.

The geometry indicates

that we are talking
about a tree of life.

NARRATOR:
According to Petter's theory,
the man-made feature

represented evidence that
priceless, religious treasures

of the Templar order
were buried on Oak Island.

Is this it here?

Yeah. This is it. Good.

NARRATOR:
And in an effort to prove

his research
to the Oak Island team,

he took Marty
and Alex Lagina out

to Lot 30, where they uncovered

one of the sephirot,
known as the Kingdom Stone.

Yeah. Here it comes. Oh.

ALEX:
Well, the stone itself
is interesting

because you'd think there'd be
the other half of it somewhere.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that Alex,

Laird, and Miriam have found

a missing piece
of the so-called Kingdom Stone

hidden in the wall on Lot 26?

If so, could that mean that
whoever built this feature

also created Nolan's Cross

and the Tree of Life formation
on the island as well?

Out here on the island, in order
to figure this thing out,

we have to go down these avenues
of thought and remember them

for later because it wouldn't
be the first time that something

we did years ago turns out to be
relevant as we're digging today.

LAIRD:
It's very strange.

At the time, I thought
it was naturally split,

but it was split,
and the other half of it

-was nowhere to be found.
-LAIRD: Right.

ALEX:
But I think that's interesting

that we're finding
these offcuts,

-but not the stone
that they came from.
-LAIRD: Yeah.

ALEX:
We're getting
a lot of really small,

broken up fragments of rock.

Maybe this is
a piece of the Kingdom Stone.

If the stone wall predates
the discovery of the Money Pit,

there could be
a connection there.

LAIRD:
It is interesting because

granite is not easy to work.

-ALEX: Mm-hmm.
-It takes some ex-expertise.

I think so.
It's-it's also worth recording.

-LAIRD: Yeah.
-ALEX: But if we're seeing signs

of shaped stone here that
correspond to the boulders

we found at those points,
then maybe

that adds a little bit
more weight to that theory.

LAIRD:
Cool. This is exactly

what Rick wants us to find.

ALEX:
So, finally, we got one.

LAIRD:
We do it.

-Cool.
-[Miriam chuckles]

ALEX:
Well done.

MIRIAM: No, it's a great find.
That's awesome.

NARRATOR:
Later that afternoon...

IAN:
Hello.

Hello, Doc.

-Hey, Ian, how're you doing?
-Good to see you.

It's everybody.

-We got enough guys here now?
-[laughter]

NARRATOR:
...Rick and Marty Lagina

arrive in the Money Pit area

as the core drilling
operation in borehole DN-10.5

has proceeded deeper
into the target depths

of the believed treasure zone.

What've we got
coming next, Terry?

TERRY:
It looks like they're
pulling it up right now.

It's gonna be interesting.

We're getting very close
to target horizon.

Yeah.

-120 feet.
-Thank you.

Yeah, it's pretty stiff
the whole way down.

CRAIG:
Okay.

TERRY:
Interesting.

Firm. Very dense,

maroon till.

-Yeah.
-Same old, same old.

TERRY:
It is still
the same old, same old.

And, at this point,
we're the closest

we are gonna be with this run
to what we hope to hit.

And I don't see
any wood right there.

We didn't, we didn't hit it.

RICK:
You know, every search agenda
that we try to follow,

it's disappointing
when you can't prove it.

But you have to let
the process continue.

-Hello.
-Oh, look who's here.

-g*ng's all here.
-The g*ng's all here.

-Come on in.
-Come on in.

Oh, my God, it's a crowd.

Hello. How're you doing? Please.

Emma's got some news.

-So, you guys gave me these.
-Right.

This piece right here,
'cause it's small,

I could do a map scan of it.

What-what-what is that?

EMMA:
That's the Garden Shaft
inner lining that--

the wood pieces.

-The original shaft.
-Yeah.

And from this one,

I detected gold.

Wow.

IAN:
This is huge.

From this one, I detected gold.

-MARTY: Wow.
-To confirm your theories.

Gold?

-Gold, yeah.
-Yeah.

-Gold in the wood?
-Yeah.

-Wow. That's wild.
-TERRY: Wow.

NARRATOR:
In the Money Pit area,

archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan

has just shared
some astonishing news.

Yeah, I confirmed it.

I had to make sure,
but there's definite gold, yeah.

NARRATOR:
The wood samples
extracted two days ago,

from a depth of 55 feet
inside the Garden Shaft,

contain high-trace
evidence of gold.

What degree of accuracy
do you believe that to be?

This one's accurate.

-MARTY: 100%?
-Yeah.

Well, there you go, guys.

And it's adhered
to the organic material?

-The wood?
-EMMA: Yeah.



but still, that is enough.

-This is huge.
-Isn't that like a big number?

That's a big number for my--
in my book,

-that's a big number.
-It is 'cause it's

a lot of parts per billion.

So, I mean, all we can do
is continue, like,

with the water to cross-check,
like, check other samples,

see if we can duplicate.

This girl can find gold.

That's a superpower around here.

[laughter]

The results are incredible,

fantastic, gob-smacking,
to use one of Gary's terms.

ALEX: That's huge, isn't it?
That's a lot.

-Pretty big, like, significant.
-Yeah.

MARTY:
We could be close
to the actual treasure.

We've got a little bit
of time to pull it all

together, and we're

gonna work together to do that.

That's where we are right now.
I'm hopeful.

RICK:
We've always said that,

you know, science
had to be a real component

of this search, and now,

this analysis
is incredibly invigorating.

Look at the smiles
around the table.

I mean, everybody's smiling, so

it's-it's a great component,

and we always said that

this shaft would provide
a unique opportunity

if we were humble enough

and smart enough to learn

from lost opportunities, right?

-Yeah.
-RICK: But, anyway,

I think we all owe Emma

-a round of applause actually.
-Oh, God.

[applause]

TERRY: You find gold
around here, you get applause.

[laughter]

Well, thank you
for bringing the news.

We appreciate it.

It's all good news and
the search for the truth.

MARTY:
Absolutely. Find us some more.

-[laughter]
-TOM: Yeah, more gold.

NARRATOR:
After more than a decade
of searching for the answers

to the 228-year-old
Oak Island mystery,

Rick and Marty Lagina
may be closing in

on a discovery that
they have dreamed about

since they were just boys
growing up in Northern Michigan.

Although there is still
much work to be done,

and many more clues

that must be uncovered,

thanks to the efforts
of the Fellowship of the Dig,

the days that
Oak Island's secrets

remain hidden may finally

be numbered.

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

RICK:
We're following
the trail of the gold.

MARTY:
A highly unusual source
of gold here.

Hey, look at this.

LAIRD:
Nice.

If you can get
a date off of that,

you could date this wall.

We're talking
about 1650 to about 1690.

RICK:
Come on in, Bill.

We're digging up a hidden well.

-[beeping]
-Oh, look at that.

That's fantastic!

There's definitely
higher counts of gold here.

That's exciting.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.