12x15 - Channeling the Solution

[bunniefuu]

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

GARY: I got a signal!
Oh, look at that.

- CRAIG: Oh, yeah.
- Isn't that amazing?

This I would actually date
mid-1700s to late 1700s.

- That could be pre-searcher?
- This could be pre-searcher.

It demonstrates wealth,
nobility.

- MARTY: Wow.
- JACK: Some prominent person was

on Oak Island pre-Money Pit.

- Yeah.
- CRAIG: That's great.

- MARTY: Where's the gold?
- RICK: Whoa!

We could've just pierced
the tunnel or chamber.

It could be a treasure vault.

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 died

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,
one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪

NARRATOR: A bright new
morning has dawned on Oak Island.

It's settling down again.

That's not good.

NARRATOR: But in
the Money Pit area...

- That side again.
- MARTY: This is really bad.

NARRATOR: a chilling
crisis has developed

for brothers Rick

and Marty Lagina and their team.

JARED: It's just f-falling
in. I got this side coming up.

I think we need to redo this
pad and compact it around it.

MARTY: All right. Here's
what I think happened.

This casing was at


Simultaneously,

all kinds of collapse occurred
around the top of this casing.

- That's right.
- In a rather scary fashion.

NARRATOR: One day ago,

after representatives from
ROC Equipment and SB Canada

excavated a seven-foot
diameter steel shaft

known as True Believer
One down to a depth

of 160 feet...

[metallic clanking]

- RICK: That ain't good.
- Hey, stop. It's caving.

NARRATOR: the earth
surrounding the steel caissons

suddenly began to cave in.

VANESSA: We're caving.

NARRATOR: This
has caused the team

to halt the excavation

and backfill tons of soil
and gravel around the shaft

in the hopes of preventing
a catastrophic collapse.

Now I'm gonna stray
into what I think it means.

For something to fall,

it has to fall into a
void of some sort.

It can't fall into solid
rock. It can't fall into clay.

One more thing, though.

- Go ahead. Yes.
- Remember what Vanessa said.

Remember she said they
were keeping an eye on the can

and they didn't think
things were coming in?

Meaning, it wasn't
creating its own void.

MARTY: No. We probably removed

whatever is the sort of
natural seal there and I think

all that material collapsed
all the way down the hole.

- Yeah.
- ALEX: If there was still a tunnel or chamber down there,

we could've just
pierced the roof of it.

- Well, that's a good point.
- Possibly.

- Yeah.
- I guess it could be the treasure vault.

- Yeah.
- Uh, we could have collapsed into that, I suppose.

NARRATOR: When the cave-in began

as the TB-1 shaft
approached a depth of 160 feet,

the team was anxiously hoping

that it would encounter
the fabled Chappell Vault:

a seven-foot-tall,
concrete-encased wooden chest

that treasure hunters
Frederick Blair

and William Chappell
reportedly drilled into

at a depth of 153
feet back in 1897.

Curiously, this is the same area

where recent ground
water testing has revealed

high-trace evidence of
gold, silver and other metals.

However, this is also where
previous searchers have

constructed tunnels and shafts
during the past two centuries,

which have left various voids

and decayed structures
deep underground.

ALEX: I think it's gonna
be either original works

or some undocumented
searcher shaft or tunnel.

Or treasure.

NARRATOR: Now,
it is the team's hope

that ROC and SB Canada
can stabilize the area

and keep digging

to determine whether
the team has simply

penetrated an abandoned
searcher structure

or a vault that
contains the treasure

people have been trying
to unearth since 1795.

RICK: The collapse feature
in this area could represent

a variety of different things.

It might suggest a
chamber, a void or a tunnel.

Sure, that's exciting
and interesting.

But paramount importance,
again, priority number one is

to keep everyone safe
and address the situation

and hopefully continue
to advance the can.

- Here comes Vanessa.
- What happened?

- Where can I get water?
- MARTY: We can get you water.

Okay.

Yeah. We want
to introduce water,

get some more hydrostatic
can pressure in there,

um, 'cause it's
getting tight on us.

So...

How much water?
What do you need?

I would like to fill up
my can all the way,

so I need to fill 50 feet.

- Seven-foot diameter.
- We'll get you water.

Okay.

NARRATOR: In an attempt
to prevent further collapsing

around and beneath
the TB-1 shaft,

the team will fill it with
thousands of gallons of water.

This will help stabilize the
shaft and voids beneath it,

allowing the 18-and-a-half-ton
hammer grab to remove

more spoils and hopefully
valuables from deep below.

MARTY: We're in a void
underground that we're unfamiliar with.

It could be a vault,
meaning potentially treasure.

That could be the mystery.
That could be where it is.

Some pretty good
reasons to keep trying.

So we're gonna
pull out the decks.

It's gonna take
us a little time,

level everything, add
some water to the can

- and then re-go at it.
- Okay. - Okay.

- Okay?
- ALEX: Cool.

Well, what did we know at
the beginning of the year?

- We'd have surprises.
- GARY: Yeah.

- Well, we just got one.
- ALEX: Yeah.

- And a hell of a lot of work.
- RICK: Yes. There's all kinds

of potential difficulties
to work through.

Everyone that came
before us had problems.

ALEX: I don't know.
I'm-I'm not super optimistic

that we won't have any further
issues, but maybe I'm wrong.

STEVE: I actually think
we will finish this hole.

- GARY: Yeah.
- I mean, it's a best guess at this point, but...

- GARY: We definitely don't want to give up.
- No.

We've got a lot
to look forward to.

- To look down to.
- GARY [chuckles]: Yeah.

- RICK: We can figure it out.
- TERRY: Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR: As
the efforts to locate

a fabled treasure vault
continue in the Money Pit area...

- MARTY: Morning.
- TOM: Hey, guys. How are you?

Hanging in there. Ready
for some big revelations.

Well, this could be
the spot to find some.

NARRATOR: the
Laginas and Gary join

Craig Tester,

fellow Oak Island
landowner Tom Nolan

and other members of the team

in the northern
region of the swamp.

Rick's been wanting to dig
this, I don't know, forever.



NARRATOR: It is here

where they are searching
for caches of valuables

that may lie hidden outside
of the Money Pit area.

The thing about this place is,
it's all about your dad, to me.

- Yep.
- RICK: You know, he believed

that there was
something here to find.

So let's get out in the
machine, let's position it,

- and let's get to it.
- Yep. Let's dig.

♪

- I want to get dirty.
- [chuckles]

NARRATOR: In 1969,

legendary treasure
hunter Fred Nolan

drained the swamp and
was shocked to discover

pieces of large sailing vessels.

He also found 16th-century
wooden survey stakes.

Tools that Fred believed

had been used to
create the brackish bog

in order to hide numerous
caches of valuables.

CRAIG: Seems to be
quite a few more rocks

at least right in through here.

NARRATOR: Incredibly,
several weeks ago

after uncovering a
cobblestone pathway,

and a number of
additional survey stakes

in the northern
region of the swamp,

the team discovered

an empty vault-like structure
made of brick and slate.

RICK: This is gonna
have some real answers.

I really believe that.

NARRATOR: Now,
along with Fred's son Tom,

Rick, Marty and
Craig are searching

several yards to the north.

It is their hope that
they will uncover

similar hidden structures

that will prove Fred's
theory to be true.

RICK: If we find
another of these vaults,

we can only assume
something was hidden here.

And hopefully,

whatever was once
here is still here.

[beeping]

- I got a signal!
- Want to shut them down, Tom?

Let me see if it's
close to the surface.

I'll try to pinpoint
it first, Marty.

All right. Okay. Fine.

See if I can save
you some digging.

Yeah.

[beeping]

- [beeping]
- It's there.

It went right into dry
stuff. That's not it, is it?

GARY: That was brick.

You see that bit of
brick in the hole there?

MARTY: Right there?

NARRATOR: A piece of brick?

Buried in the northern
region of the swamp?

Could the team have
discovered evidence

that an important structure
or vault is hidden nearby?

GARY: Yeah. I'll
put it in my pocket.

It just goes to show we're
not missing anything there.

I'd say exactly that.

GARY: Yep.

MARTY: The swamp has
always been a mystery.

That's the nature of the
swamp on Oak Island.

But by digging in this new
area, we're hoping to find clues

to what happened here.

We have to follow the clues.

Hey!

What's that?

I'm coming in, Alan.

Ooh! Look at that.

This is impressive.

GARY: Oh, look at that!

A really nice-looking
sharpened stake.

TOM: Isn't that amazing?

It just looks like the
day it went in the ground.

Yeah. That's
hand-hewn, wasn't it?

TOM: Yeah.

GARY: This is impressive.

NARRATOR: In the northern region

of the Oak Island swamp...

Here's another one right here.

NARRATOR: Rick
and Marty Lagina

and members of the
team have just discovered

two more hand-cut
wooden survey stakes.

What is that?

Two stakes.

NARRATOR: Now the question is,

could they be clues to
validate Fred Nolan's theory

that hidden valuables might
also be found in this area?

Are these the first ones that
have been found on this side?

TOM: No.

Years ago, we found two or
three closer to the, to the road.

But this is the first ones

I know of that were
found this deep

into the swamp on this side.

I think, uh, Steve should
come out and GPS this

because then he can see

if there's continuity here
or something different.

- TOM: Yeah.
- CRAIG: Okay.

I'm pretty sure he's
coming out right now.

RICK: The plan for
the swamp of course,

is to follow the line
of survey stakes.

But the hope is that as
we follow these clues,

they will lead to some
greater understanding

of what might be
here in the bog.

- Hey, Steve.
- STEVE: Hey, guys.

What I'm gonna do
is I'm gonna hop down

and I'll grab the areas
of the two exact locations

- of those stakes.
- Okay.

Steve, you want to
hop down and pin this?

Sure do.

Here you go, mate.
Check out this wood.

Let's see that top one.

I don't know why two
are together. That's odd.

That's not the
pattern we've seen.

So this line of survey
stakes projects to an area

where we have found all
of those wooden stakes.

- Nice.
- STEVE: Yep.

I mean, that's
perfectly on line, almost,

- so I would keep following them.
- Yep.

RICK: I'm not surprised
at all when Steve asserts

that the stakes line
up with previous stakes

that have been found in the bog.

This took some time and
some effort to lay out this line.

Maybe this line
has another purpose

and relates to
another, as of yet,

unknown discovery.

So, what I'll do is to continue

to confirm the line
as far as I can walk.

RICK: Okay. Thanks, Steve.

TOM: Thanks, Steve.

- Good. Let's dig.
- RICK: Look at that.

There's a bunch of cobble here.

I don't know if you
can see it or not.

It's just right here
and it's going that way.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: More cobblestones?

Found near the
hand-hewn survey stakes?

Is it possible that
the team has, indeed,

uncovered another section
of the cobblestone pathway?

If so, could it lead the team
to a vault that still contains

something of incredible value?

RICK: It's almost like
they're stacked. Right?

- That's a Spooner question.
- RICK: Yep.

That's a Spooner question.

There certainly appears to be

a structure in the north
end of the bog, so I want

Dr. Spooner to come and
render an opinion about

whether or not it is a
man-made structure.

TOM: It looks stacked,
but I don't know.

RICK: We have to follow this.
There's no question about it.

Yeah.

I want to keep digging.

Okay.

- RICK: Let's keep digging.
- TOM: Yep.

NARRATOR: The following morning,

as the team from
ROC Equipment works

to stabilize the ground

around the TB-1 caisson...

MARTY: We have in front
of us several things that,

hopefully, will make
us true believers,

because they came out
of TB-1, True Believer One.

NARRATOR: Marty Lagina,

Craig Tester and other
members of the team

join archaeologist Laird Niven

and archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan

in the Oak Island Lab.

And we have four
of them right here.

NARRATOR: They are eager
to hear Laird and Emma's

scientific analysis

of several nails that
were recently unearthed

from more than 100 feet
deep in the TB-1 shaft.

I'll turn it over to Emma.

Based on the composition
and the X-ray characteristics,

the first three nails

I would put comfortably
within early to mid-1800s.

And there is a potential
that it could be late 1700s.

Okay.

The last nail I would
actually date older,

and based on its X-ray behavior,

possibly within
mid-1700s to late 1700s.

If you had to opine,
these three are searcher

and that one might
be pre-searcher?

So I'd say this has
the most possibility

of being pre-searcher.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: Because more
than a dozen searcher companies

have constructed shafts
over the past two centuries

in the area where the team
is currently excavating TB-1,

it is not surprising that
some artifacts will date

to after the discovery
of the Money Pit.

However, could the team
have also found a nail

that was used by whomever
buried the fabled Chappell Vault?

Compositionally,
they're all fairly similar.

NARRATOR: Could that mean
that they are closer than ever

to potentially recovering it?

CRAIG: Thanks, Emma.

You know, we're getting
a lot of information.

And we brought this stuff up,
so what's sitting down below

in the loose clay area
that could sink on down?

- Yeah.
- Well, let's get back at it

and try to find
something even better.

- CHARLES: Thank you.
- MARTY: Thank you.

- Thank you all.
- LAIRD: Good luck!

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

- TERRY: Hi, Marty.
- MARTY: How deep are we?

They're making
progress, slow but steady.

NARRATOR: Marty Lagina
returns to the Money Pit area

after being informed
that the process

to stabilize the TB-1 caisson

appears to have been successful
and the dig has now resumed.

We got, I'd say,


stone down in that hole.

TERRY: Vanessa is coming in.

- MARTY: Where's the gold?
- Hey, gentlemen.

MARTY: So, how are we doing?

Well, we're doing
better. We're doing better.

So the water is
definitely helping.

MARTY: The water did its trick.

Yeah. The water
is doing its thing.

We're dropping the tape
down past my casing now.

So, um, right now my dig,

depth of hole is at


- No plug.
- No plug.

NARRATOR: The so-called "plug"

refers to the earth or spoils

contained inside of
the steel caissons.

However, since
Vanessa is reporting

that there is no
plug within TB-1,

that means it and any
potential man-made objects

have fallen to somewhere below.

He is dropping it down

and he's hitting something
very hard all the way around.

We think it's rock.

You sure there's not
a cave or a cavity?

MARTY: Pretty sure there is.

TERRY: This must
be the solution channel.

Yeah. If we're on a
ledge, then we got a hole.

The solution cavity
or solution channel,

we believe it's natural,

and it underlies
a good bit of this.

So you're on the edge.

That's why your
plug is going down.

So we could have
collapsed into that I suppose.

NARRATOR: During
previous core-drilling operations

in the Money Pit area,

the team has
repeatedly encountered

a large, natural
cavity that was created

by flowing groundwater
in the bedrock,

known as the "solution channel"

between 160 and


If Marty and Terry are
correct that TB-1 has

now entered the
solution channel,

could that explain
what caused the earth

to collapse around the shaft?

And if so,

could that also mean

that the fabled Chappell
Vault has fallen into it?

MARTY: This hole, TB-1, goes

to the bottom of
that solution channel.

That could be the answer.
That could be where

this treasure
resides at this point.

So we need to get down
in that solution channel.

TERRY: As we break through
this shelf in the bedrock,

we hope to get into the area

where the treasure
might have fallen to

in the relatively soft material.

VANESSA: Yes. And we're
about ready to stack another can

and we're gonna add some more
water and, uh, keep going down.

ALEX: Okay.

MARTY: All right.
Thank you, Vanessa.

ALEX: I'll keep
my fingers crossed.

VANESSA: There she
goes! Let's oscillate.

NARRATOR: While
excavation of the TB-1 shaft

continues in the
Money Pit area...

JARED: It's going
down pretty good.

VANESSA: There you go!

TOM: I think, Al, we'll take
it down a little more here,

where there's topsoil there.

Okay.

NARRATOR: Oak
Island landowner

Tom Nolan,

and other members of
the team are continuing

to investigate an area

where just one
day ago they found

large survey stakes...

STEVE: Yeah, that's great.

NARRATOR: as well
as what appears to be

a layer of possibly
stacked cobblestones.

GARY: Come on, artifacts.

I know you're here.

- TOM: Oh! Whoa!
- SCOTT: Whoa, whoa!

Whoa!

Now I'm seeing this
cobble's all through here.

Is it me or does this
look like the stone path?

SCOTT: Yeah. It certainly does.

There's a very clear line.

You can see the edge
of the rocks and before

- you're into that sea horizon right here.
- TOM: Yeah.

TOM: I noticed there
was all these small stones.

Some looked like beach stone,

which are out of
place in the swamp.

All put tightly together,

very similar to the stone path
on the south side of the bog.

And it seemed to have
some sort of shape.

We've got a defined path.

Yeah, it's-it's very linear.

TOM: So it shows that there
was more work, more effort

put into this area
for some reason.

It begins to make you wonder,

is it searcher or
is it depositor?

I'm gonna call
Dr. Spooner and Laird

and get them to come
and have a look at this.

Yeah, I think we should

because, I mean, they've
looked at the other ones,

so we'll see what
they think of it.

Yeah.

They really should have a look.

- TOM: Yeah.
- GARY: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Later that day...

VANESSA: We're trying
to cut through this stuff.

So, hopefully, we're
through the rock soon.

All right. Well, I'll go
back to the station.

Looks like you've
got it handled here.

NARRATOR: In the Money Pit area,

the seven-foot-diameter
steel shaft known as TB-1

is approaching a
depth of nearly 170 feet

and has reached the
so-called solution channel:

a massive natural
void in the bedrock

where the team
hopes to encounter

the fabled Chappell Vault.

He's gonna drag it around.

Yeah, but not
before I grab this.

Oh, right.

ALEX: I got to
see if this floats.

Yeah. That's the
first piece of wood

I've seen in the
last few scoops.

- Yeah, this could be old.
- Yep, could be.

All right. Good eye.

RICK: Our mentor, Dan
Blankenship always believed that,

if you retrieve wood from depth
and it sank, it was older wood.

If it floats, it's modern.

♪

That sinks.

NARRATOR: If the
team has, indeed,

recovered a piece of wood

nearly 170 feet deep
that might predate

the discovery of the Money Pit,

could it be a clue

that the treasure vault is
now also within their reach?

A piece of wood came
out of that last scoop.

- Just tested it... - Just
what we were hoping for.

Just tested it and
it doesn't float.

It does not?

It does not float.

That's what we're looking for.

Yeah. It could be
what we're looking for.

Look at the growth rings.

- That's also real good.
- ALEX: That-that would be

near the center of
the tree, I would think.

ALEX: We get down to depth

of about 170 feet and
we find a piece of wood.

And I feel that this
piece of wood is

deep enough it could
only be depositor.

If this was depositor,
we could've found

what the Chappell-era
searchers believed to be

the treasure vault.

Hey, Terry, I've got some
new numbers for you.

TERRY: Great. Thank you.

Depth of hole is


And our casing just
broke through 171.



ALEX: So this came
out of the last scoop.

That came from 168.

What does this wood mean to you?

If we found a bunch
of it, remember,

nobody was down to 168.

- Nobody.
- Okay.

So if we start finding
a bunch of this,

we'd start to get
pretty excited.

Awesome.

All right. We'll keep digging.

ALEX: Sounds good.

NARRATOR: As the excavation

of TB-1 continues in
the Money Pit area...

later that afternoon...

- MARTY: Gentlemen.
- LAIRD: Hi, guys.

NARRATOR: in the w*r room,

Marty Lagina,

Craig Tester and other members

of the Oak Island team meet

via video conference
with renowned

gemologist Jeffrey Bilgore

and John W. Ford Sr.,

the CEO of the American
Gem Trade Association.

Welcome to the w*r room.

Well, thank you.

- Oh!
- Oh... no way.

FIONA: Wow!

NARRATOR: John and
Jeffrey have analyzed

a glass gemstone

that the team found
two weeks ago

near the mysterious
rounded foundation on Lot 5.

A foundation where the team has

not only uncovered

man-made mortar
that matches soils

from more than 100 feet
deep in the Money Pit area

but where they have found

a number of believed
mid-18th century artifacts

including this rare
glass gemstone.

Have you seen
other stones like this?

Yeah, I've seen
other stones like this.

But what is
significant is the fact

that it was found on
an island in Nova Scotia.

So it's very interesting

because the origin
of the crystal is

European in nature.

It could be from
England, France,

Spain, Portugal or Italy.

The research shows it
could have been made

somewhere between 1730 and 1775.

Okay.

That's what Laird and
Emma also thought.

What would be more traditional
to use for something like this?

It could've been from
an object of adornment,

sewn onto a heavy fabric.

An ornamental type of a coat.

JEFFREY: Certainly, the size

and the purity of the
material is unusual.

This is the size of, you know,

an eight to ten-karat
sapphire, eight-karat diamond.

But it's definitely a simulant
to look like a diamond.

To look like you have
something of great value.

Okay.

So somebody really
important was on Lot 5.

MARTY: Somebody
who mattered, yeah.

We've always thought

that even if the Money
Pit is simpler than we think,

without any complex engineering,

it still would take a
team of men to do that.

We always wondered
where was the encampment?

Where were these people
while they were doing this work?

Well, maybe Lot 5 is it.

This little gem does indicate

that somebody of
means, wealth, influence,

was almost certainly on
Lot 5 and on the island.

JOHN F.: The fact that it
had tin around the edges,

which is resistant
to tarnishing,

is quite significant
because tin would be

for more of a noble person.

So this is definitely not

something worn by
the average person

in the 1700s.

JACK: This is more
evidence that some

very prominent person was
on Oak Island pre-Money Pit.

- Yeah.
- JACK: Is there something else

that we haven't found yet

that this person of
importance was watching over?

Who was it?

JOHN F.: The fact that
its singular large size

and the way it's,
uh, fastened and cut,

it demonstrates
wealth, nobility,

part of a military
medal, possibly.

[chuckles]

That's great.

NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island w*r room,

gemology experts

John W. Ford Sr.

And Jeffrey Bilgore have

just given their assessment

that the glass jewel recovered

near the round feature on Lot 5

not only dates back
to several decades

before the discovery
of the Money Pit

but likely belonged to someone

of European nobility.

JOHN F.: Because
it was made of tin,

which is resistant
to tarnishing,

it might be something
that would be

on a naval officer, um, because
of, uh, being at sea and such.

JACK: Thinking about the
dates and some of the theories,

Duc d'Anville was
supposedly in the area in 1746,

so that fits in with
the date of the jewel.

It is quite possible. Yeah.

There you go.

NARRATOR: In 2017,

Oak Island historian
Doug Crowell discovered

part of an


detailing a vast treasure burial

in the vicinity of Oak Island.

The log was reportedly connected

to the crew of
the Duc d'Anville...

a French nobleman and admiral

who led an unsuccessful
attempt to reclaim

Nova Scotia from England
in September of 1746.

It's always exciting
to have little artifacts

that could potentially
mean so much.

Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR: Is it possible

that the team has
discovered a critical clue

of just who may have created
the round feature on Lot 5?

And perhaps who left
a mid-18th century nail

deep in the Money Pit area?

And lastly, might it
answer the burning question

of just who buried the
fabled Chappell Vault?

Those are intriguing thoughts.

CRAIG: I mean, it adds

just one more
artifact that's saying

someone or a group of
people of importance were

on Lot 5 and we
got to figure out why.

And it also means that there
could be a lot more out there

and it's not gonna find itself,

so we're gonna
get back in the field.

- Thank you very much.
- It's a pleasure.

We're happy to be involved.

- JACK: Thanks, guys.
- LAIRD: See you later.

- EMMA: Thank you.
- CHARLES: Thanks, guys.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

as the excavation
of TB-1 proceeds

in the Money Pit area...

JARED: There's
more rock coming out.

We're mowing through.

ALEX: Hey, guys.

- KATYA: Hey, guys.
- TOM: Hey, guys. How are you?

- IAN: How's it going?
- KATYA: Good.

Welcome to another
big question mark.

NARRATOR: geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner joins

other members of the
team in the northern region

of the swamp.

What do you think?

There's a pretty clear,
defined side over there

and the same over here.

NARRATOR: It is the team's hope

that Dr. Spooner
will be able to verify

that the cobblestone feature
they uncovered one day ago is

part of a man-made pathway.

GARY: There was a couple
of, uh, sharpened stakes

found down there,
right at the side of it.

- ALEX: How big?
- About this big.

The thing that always gets
me interested in these features,

having looked at them
for the last three years,

is that these big stones are

all of a size that could
be handled by people.

This was their path.

SCOTT: It's kind of
almost to the edge.

Again, we only have a
small section of it uncovered.

On the south side,
with the cobble path,

it was cleared archaeologically

so you could see
the structure clearly.

ALEX: Well, let's
cut a section then.

Why not?

I'm fine with that.

ALEX: I'm thinking
of this as a really

targeted way to apply our
archaeological resources

to the challenge of the swamp.

And we can, hopefully,

apply the results that we get

to any of these other
features in the swamp.

STEVE: All right. With that,

I'm actually gonna take
the information I have

back to the research center

and see where it points to.

- ALEX: Let us know what you come up with.
- We will.

All right. Thanks, guys.

LAIRD: See you later.

NARRATOR: The
following morning...

RICK: I applaud
everyone for having

real belief in the
work in the swamp

that we have done to date.

NARRATOR: before
heading back out

to the Money Pit area, Rick,

Marty, Craig

and other members
of the team are meeting

with surveyor Steve
Guptill in the w*r room.

I think the swamp is
integral to understanding

this incredibly complex mystery

and it becomes more
complex by the day.

NARRATOR: After inputting

the new data regarding
the wooden stakes

and various sections of
the cobblestone pathway

that have been recently
found in the swamp,

Steve has created
a digital survey

that also includes
other man-made features

the team has uncovered
in the brackish bog

during the past several years.

Steve, I think it's
up to you to explain

what we found and
what it might mean.

Let's start with
the survey lines.

I believe it was you who
found on Fred's plans

a line of survey stakes.

This is probably 2018.

We dug this line here
and we found three stakes.

- MARTY: Yeah. That's right, yeah.
- RICK: I remember.

- MARTY: That's right.
- IAN: Sure.

Then we go to yesterday.

I tagged three of
these survey stakes.

As you can see, almost
perfectly on that calculated line,

a straight line north and south.

TOM: These things were
put down for a reason.

It is consistent with
a surveying use.

STEVE: 100%.

Well, if they are reference
points for something,

it's definitely some
construction site.

So that segues well
into the cobble path.

Here's the cobble
we found yesterday.

There's the three stakes
that we've surveyed

with that land on
the survey line.

SCOTT: Right.

STEVE: So project that back,

it looks like it relates
to the cobble path.

That comes off the stone
road and heads west.

The pathway seems
to be connected

to everything that we find.

If we continue westward
and northwestward,

we come into the Eye,

we come into this wooden
platform we found this year.

Okay.

So another area
that this projects to is

the cobble found
next to the vault.

The cut slate with the bricks.

Oh, really?

IAN: So at this stage,

it seems that all these features

are loosely connected in time

and that time period is, uh,

from the late 1600s
to the mid-1700s,

and that's well
before the searchers

and in my opinion,

it wasn't farmers,
it wasn't fishermen.

JACK: Based upon those dates,

it's similar to some of
the dates we're getting

- from the Lot 5 feature.
- Yeah. Yeah.

I'm thinking that
there's a connection

to the Money Pit, to
the swamp and Lot 5.

And that they were doing
work around the whole island.

MARTY: That's pretty cool.

NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island w*r room,

surveyor Steve Guptill
has just presented the team

with data leading
them to believe

that the cobblestone pathway,

which the team has unearthed

throughout the swamp
could be connected,

not only to the various
man-made features

they've discovered such as
the empty vault-like structure

but might also have been created

to serve as a direct link
between Lot 5 and the Money Pit.

ALEX: I think this is good
because when we first found

this cobble in our northern dig,

I suspected, okay, maybe
this is the connection

between the, the
cobble path and Lot 5.

- Yeah.
- ALEX: So we have

a pretty targeted area here
where we can keep digging

and try to establish
that connection.

If you were to project the
line further to the northwest

it could go up to Lot 5.

MARTY: Cool.

NARRATOR: Could
Steve's findings help

prove the team's
previous suspicion

that the stone
foundation on Lot 5 served

as a staging ground
for an operation to hide

one or more treasure
vaults in the Money Pit?

And perhaps also in the swamp?

I mean, at-at this
point, I think we have

so many 1700 dates that...

if, whatever was going on

on Lot 5 was going
on in the swamp

was whatever was
going on in the Money Pit.

I mean, we just find
the dates everywhere.


be the most consistent date

we find island-wide.

And so whatever was
going on on the island,

I think we can start
to piece it together

that a major part
of the construction

on Oak Island was 1680 to 1750.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

It is an enormous undertaking

if these cobble features
are connected in time.

Obviously, there was an
intent, there was a purpose,

and possibly an association

with the Duc
d'Anville expedition,

but there's still a lot of
puzzle to put together here.

So the work needs to continue.

There's now this belief,

and I hope it is
a well and truly

an established
belief at this point,

that it is literally an
island-wide mystery.

And that's how we need

to look at this
and we have to do

activities that are
insular from each other,

meaning, the activities
in the Money Pit,

the activities on Lot 5,

the activities on
the eastern drumlin,

the activities in the bog,

at some point they will
meld, they will come together.

Nice report, Steve. Well done.

STEVE: Thanks, guys.

MARTY: Now let's keep going.

NARRATOR: Shortly after
concluding their meeting...

JARED: I just don't
know where it's going,

but it's going somewhere.

VANESSA: So I don't like now
that it's going back under the crane.

Right?

This collapse is
just not stopping.

NARRATOR: Rick,
Marty and Alex Lagina have

rushed back to
the Money Pit area

after being alerted that
the earth surrounding

the TB-1 shaft has once again

started to cave in.

Grab another scoop of dirt.

We need to try to get
more in that back hole,

it's, like, three feet
low on the back side.

MARTY: The solution channel,

which underlies a
good portion of this,

which is a natural
cave-like structure,

- is more liquid than we thought.
- How deep are we?

The dig actually went to 179.

Uh, the teeth are
just above that,

so we're even digging
below the teeth.

NARRATOR: After first
encountering evidence that TB-1 was

descending into a massive
natural void or solution channel

at a depth of nearly 165 feet,
the team has now discovered

that the cavity in the bedrock,
which may also now contain

the fabled Chappell
Vault, reaches depths

of more than 200
feet underground.

MARTY: We're
caving in constantly,

so they're getting concerned
from a safety standpoint.

NARRATOR: And
even more concerning is

that it is causing the soils
beneath the TB-1 shaft

and hundreds of tons of
heavy equipment to give way.

Every, what, 30-40 minutes

we're stopping to try to
mitigate the collapsing.

But now it's starting to
creep back under the crane.

ADAM: It's leading
towards sudden collapse.

Yeah, we're gonna
obliterate this place.

RICK: That's not good.

VANESSA: There will become
a safety component if it gets

too far under the crane
that we just call a stop.

NARRATOR: In the Money Pit area,

the minor collapse of
earth around the TB-1 shaft

that began earlier this week

has become increasingly
more dangerous

as the caissons sink lower

into a massive natural cavity

more than 200 feet underground.

If we can't get this down and
we're exacerbating a problem

that we really truly
don't understand,

we need to be done here.

- Yep.
- MARTY: I say we call it.

Let's not try and
advance the can anymore.

Okay. I hear the boys
firing up the oscillator,

- so let me go tell them the plan.
- ADAM: Yeah.

- MARTY: Yeah.
- Okay.

- ALEX: Thanks.
- TERRY: Thank you.

NARRATOR: Although
the team now suspects

that the fabled
Chappell Vault may lie

somewhere down in the
so-called solution channel...

- Hey, Gary!
- Gary!

NARRATOR: they
are certain that it is now

too dangerous to pursue it

in the TB-1 shaft.

No treasure in the world
is worth compromising

somebody's safety,

and like I said,

from every negative situation,

you'll learn something from it,

and we did learn
some things from it.

Yeah.

I think we are all on
board with one simple truth,

that the Chappell Vault...
and I still believe it's here...

could have fallen
to those depths

in the solution channel,
and some of us didn't

necessarily believe that
prior to putting this can down.

Right.

MARTY: Our inability

to finish TB-1 leads
me to the conclusion

that we may be

overlooking what happened
to this treasure completely.

If the solution channel can
accept a hundred yards of rock

and sand and gravel
just like that in one day,

why couldn't it completely
have taken in the treasure?

I never thought that
was possible before.

JARED: That looks pretty good.

RICK: There is a
void at great depth.

Is that where the
treasure hides?

It's possible, but we still
have room to maneuver here.

The location of the next
cans will be important,

but I want to make sure

that we get down and
we get back up safely.

So my hope is that Vanessa

and her team from ROC
can stabilize the area,

and to continue the dig.

We're still true believers.

I'm hoping the next
can we put down,

it'll be "you
better believe it."

- BILLY: Yeah. Exactly.
- ALEX: So maybe we should

get together in the w*r room
and talk about a new plan.

That's a real good idea.

RICK: Sempre avanti.

NARRATOR: In spite
of a devastating setback,

Rick, Marty and their
team remain determined

that they can and will solve
this 230-year-old mystery.

Because even though
the fabled riches

escaped their grasp,

the team has unearthed

more critical clues
as to where they lie...

and perhaps who deposited them.

Can they devise a solution

that will lead them to the
vault and the ultimate answers?

Only time, a bold new strategy

and digging will tell.

Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...

I think our next target is
what we call Aladdin's cave.

All right, here we go.

RICK: It's a genie in a lamp

and all your wishes
will be granted.

JACK: It looks like
there's something here.

KATYA:
Oh, wow.

Look at the head on that thing.

That could have easily
come out of a treasure chest.

These teeth are ready
to bite on some gold.

- [laughs]
- I love it.

I think we're breaking
through the cave.

Agree.

VANESSA:
We're hitting something, right?

GARY:
This could be the most important

hammer grab in history.