Tonight on
the curse of oak island...
Hello, guys.
...A special two-hour premier.
You guys are gonna have to
carry the ball.
Covid has really altered
our plans, but
things are starting to happen.
We're going to try once
again to put a camera down c-.
- What's that thing right there?
- I can see gold.
We have to answer the question:
Is there really
a tunnel entrance here?
This is going higher now.
- It's like a wall.
- That's fantastic.
This is a structure.
He dated it from 1550 to 1620.
So I'm going below normal
metal detection range.
- Oh, no way!
- That's an old coin, mate.
- Oh, yeah.
- That is an old coin!
All right,
so we made it in.
Yeah, we did.
The elusive chase
for the shiny gold thing begins.
They're putting the dive cage
over the caisson now.
Keep coming down.
He's in.
He just took something
out of the wall.
I want that shiny gold thing
on the surface.
There is an
island in the north atlantic
where people have been lookig
for an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.
So far, they have found
a stone slab
with strange symbols
carved into it,
mysterious fragments
of human bone,
and a lead cross, whose orign
may stretch back
to the days of
the knights templar.
To date, six men have d*ed
trying to solve the mystery.
And, according to legend,
one more will have to die
before the treasure
can be found.
It is the start of
another year on oak island,
but, unlike any other,
in the centuries-old search
to find an incredible treasure,
this year's progress is
challenged by a deadly virus
known as covid-19,
which rapidly spread to
every corner of the world.
Almost overnight, international
borders were closed,
and once-thriving economies
began to crumble.
It is against this grim backdrop
that operations on oak island
have ground to a halt.
At least until the island's
principal owners,
brothers rick and marty lagina,
along with their coworkers
and partners,
can figure out how, if at all,
they can proceed.
Look, guys...
As you know, uh,
I don't know, I'll say it:
You know,
covid has just
kicked our exploration efforts,
uh, really hard.
- Yeah.
- I know access through the border,
from the u.S. To canada
just got kicked back
another 30 days.
So is there a chance
we're actually gonna be able
to join the rest of the team
and get out there to search
on the island this year?
I think that's the whole point
of today's meeting, jack,
is that, yes, I believe
there's a chance.
But we want the search agenda
to move forward
under both scenarios.
So we're gonna talk
about a scenario
we can get out there
and do something,
and the scenario, look,
you guys are gonna have to
carry the ball.
We're gonna talk about
both of those here today,
- I believe is the point.
- Absolutely.
For the first year ever,
this search agenda
is gonna be guided
by situational conditions.
Covid-19 is gonna have impact
in terms of
actually getting a physical
presence on the island,
understanding what
the protocols will be,
what we can and cannot do.
But most importantly,
keeping everyone safe.
What we'd like to do first is
you've got it set up where
the whole fellowship
is together separately.
Sure. I'll get them up
on the screen.
Thank god we have
a team on oak island.
They're great, uh,
they're dedicated, and they are
the boots on the ground
on oak island right now.
So-so things are starting
to happen.
- Hello, guys.
- Hey, guys.
- Good to see you all back.
- Yeah.
So how are you all weathering
the covid storm?
- We've been fortunate.
- Yeah.
I think this week we're
seven days without a new case.
- Which is great news for us.
- Yep.
Things are moving in
the right direction here.
- That's fabulous.
- Yeah.
When you say that, though,
what is the outlook
internally within the province?
What kind of decisions
are going to be made here
in the near term, do you know?
Well, what they're pushing for
is something they're going to
call an "atlantic bubble,"
right now,
which I guess is gonna put
nova scotia, new brunswick
and p.E.I. Under one bubble
so that the borders could open
between the atlantic provinces.
- Yeah.
- Well, that brings us to the issue
and point here today is that
we're trying to stay safe, too.
And we realize crossing the
border is gonna be fraught
with all kinds of issues.
I mean, bottom line, guys,
is the fellowship resides
out there right now.
We're here remotely, but
anything that's gonna be done
for at least the first little
bit is gonna be by you guys.
And, um, you know, we're just
gonna have to
- play it by ear, basically.
- Yes.
Dr. Spooner.
Can you give us a synopsis
of what you've been up to?
Yeah, so, um,
I'm really excited to, uh,
to kind of get out on the swamp.
Great.
We've got a new sonar rig
that we actually just got
the equipment a week ago,
and we're gonna run it over
the anomalies
on the east side of the swamp
and see if
we can resolve anything
using that new sonar rig.
That's great.
Here's the first core
right here.
Last year we found that
the southeastern edge of the swap
might have been
a very deep harbor
back in the day.
There's substantial evidence
of almost industrial-like
activity in the late 1600s.
This stick will tell me
when that stone was placed.
And perhaps significant activity
in the 13th century as well,
which is really a...
An eyebrow raiser.
What's coming
together for me is when you
take a look at the seismic.
And what we're trying to do is
put together some air photos,
and see if that matched up with
a shallow seismic anomaly
from the geophysics.
But what's interesting is
they all kind of matched up.
There's some kind of feature
in that cove,
right on the edge of the swamp,
but still in the swamp.
- Wow.
- Wow.
So I'm pretty excited
to take a look at that.
Well, that's interesting stuff.
And then, I'd like to hear
from gary.
What do you got plans for
this year, gary?
I've been checking out
some deep-scanning equipment.
It's similar in appearance
to a metal detector,
but it does a lot more.
It doesn't just find metal,
it finds cavities, tunnels.
A vault.
And it's quite deep.
I believe it's 60 feet.
And I would like to use that
in areas where we found
really cool coins and artifacts.
Yeah, but I can't help
but picture right now,
here's the fellowship,
all excited about
all this technology
we're gonna bring
to bear this year.
And I'm picturing the island
sitting right over there,
you know, and saying,
"go ahead, bring it on."
- "knock yourself out."
- "knock yourself out."
but no, I'm very hopeful.
This is all exciting stuff.
Excellent.
So let's move on.
I understand that
there's some enthusiasm
for yet again
trying to find
the shiny gold object in c-1?
I'd like to ask charles,
of all the work we've done
in the money pit over the years,
it would seem that we
continually come back to c-1.
Well, rick, you know, every time
c-1 comes off the table,
something happens,
or a technology comes along
that it comes back on the table.
And I think it's just
worth another look.
We just can't walk away
from c-1.
We have to take
another s*ab at it.
What's that? That right there.
That's your gold-colored...
Yeah, there's another piece
of it there, too. Look.
The shiny little
flecks of gold in c-1,
there's enough data
where it's still alive.
So there's reason to continue
to look at c-1,
and we'll figure out a way
to perhaps retrieve them
and put that to bed
once and for all.
We have to take another kick
at the can; no pun intended.
Yes, it's worth a look.
- What else we got?
- So, doug,
if you want to take over...
Doug has made a significant find
through...
- Dan blankenship's archives.
- Yes.
In the, uh, midst
of all this chaos
of the pandemic,
I was on the island in March
getting ready for
what we thought was gonna be our
April drill program.
And, of course,
the-the lockdown happened.
And I was fortunate to
get isolated on the island
for the last four months,
and I spent that time
going through dan's files.
And, uh, I found two
old surveys,
one of which was a map
drawn by fred nolan
while he and dan were
working together.
The other was a geophysical
study of the underground
called the barringer survey,
done in 1988.
What struck me about this is
both these surveys indicate
possible tunnels under lot 15.
It's a really interesting
construct because
just below the brow of the hill
on lot 15,
it does look like it leads
into the side of the hill.
It's just these two rock wals
that are in
the rise of the hill,
right at the brow.
The barringer survey suggests
that there's a tunnel
running from the money pit
past c-1 towards lot 15.
It doesn't look like this report
ever got followed up on.
There was supposed to be
a phase two conducted,
and that never happened.
What really caught my interest
in reading through the report
is that they found
four possible nonferrous
targets on the island.
They found nonferrous hits,
- but no one ever investigated them?
- Right.
It is the sleeping beauty survey
that hasn't been acted upon
these 32 years.
- Wow.
- Nonferrous.
What are some of our favorite
nonferrous metals?
Gold!
We could repeat that study.
- We could do the whole island.
- Exactly.
Okay, so we're all
in agreement on that,
and we're all, you know,
weathering a tough storm.
Yeah.
This meeting
has been appreciated.
- Rick?
- I-I'm just grateful
and humbled by the fact
that you guys...
That we're still a team,
and that we're still
all pulling together.
My hat's off to all of you,
and I'm thinking
I wish I was there.
Yeah.
It was wonderful
to see all those faces.
Every face on that screen,
you could see in their eyes,
they're supremely committed o
moving this agenda forward.
I am in awe of that
and humbled by it.
I think we've got a great team,
and hopefully that will resut
in some answers.
When I see that there is
incredible and genuine interest
from a bunch of
very smart people
to pursue this,
and a passion for it,
it's inspiring to me.
It brings me back to say yeah,
this is worth doing.
Now get busy.
- Yeah.
- Cheers, guys.
Thanks.
Cheers, you guys. See you later.
Come back. Good.
You're backing in right here.
Good.
We're good to go now.
After their meeting with ric,
marty, craig and the team...
- Mr. Huntley.
- Good morning.
How you doing, doug?
Charles, how are you?
Good, man.
Good to see you again.
...Oak island's
historians charles barkhouse
and doug crowell
arrive at the c-1 caisson
near the money pit site.
They have arranged to meet
with professional diver
mike huntley,
along with his team
in hopes of locating a
mysterious gold-colored objet
that is believed to be
somewhere in the c-1 shaft.
The object was first
caught on camera
five years ago, after charles
convinced rick lagina
to drill a six-inch-wide
borehole at the site
where he believed evidence
of the original money pit
might be found.
At a depth of 170 feet,
they encountered a large voi.
Here we go.
Later, using
a pipe-inspection camera,
they obtained astounding
video evidence
of a mysterious
gold-colored object
embedded in the bedrock wall
of the borehole shaft.
Right there. It looks metallic.
Look how yellow that is.
What the hell is that?
Okay, get after it.
Unfortunately, one year late,
when the laginas drilled
a much wider caisson
into the area, now called c-1,
they were unable to locate
the elusive object.
So, we're going to try once
again to put a camera down c1
because the water has been
given the chance to
settle out over the winter.
The elusive chase for the shiny
gold thing begins once again.
How will we do that? You know,
there's still
an open discussion about that,
but it's not off our radar.
We're really curious to
get back down c-1.
Yeah, I am, too,
in a different way.
A warmer way.
- You won't get wet this time.
- That's right, yeah.
What kind of camera system
are we putting down today, mike?
We have a deep-water-rated
hd camera and light,
so they're nice and robust,
- so they'll handle the pressure.
- Excellent.
For today's operation,
mike huntley and his team
will be using a high-definition
multi seacam,
which features a sealite sphere
led light, and is designed
to withstand depths
of as much as 20,000 feet
underwater.
You know, ever since
charles chose the spot for c-1,
we've been fascinated
by the allure
of this shiny gold thing
that was seen
in the original hole.
Great. I'll wait for
you guys to get set up,
and then we'll get this
in the water.
- Thank you, sir.
- Thank you.
It's still so interesting
that charles barkhouse
picked this spot for c-1.
And they found a cavity
173 feet below the ground.
Not only that, they see
a shiny gold thing
when they drill
the original hole.
C-1 has offered up
so many questions.
I hope today we can
find some answers.
Okay, down slow, sam.
Camera's just
touching the water now.
Ooh.
Completely submerged?
Wow.
Little slower.
While the team proceeds with
their exploration
of borehole c-1,
some 1,000 miles west
of oak island,
in traverse city, michigan...
- Hey, guys.
- Hey, guys.
- Good. How are you?
- We're doing well, we think.
...Rick and marty
lagina, along with their partner
craig tester,
have arranged a teleconferene
with david irving
and representatives
from irving equipment limited.
- Whoa, baby!
- Over the years,
working with
irving equipment and david,
I think the most significant
thing that we've found is
we believe we've relocated
the money pit.
Just really big,
impressive timbers.
We're back in the old stuff.
If, and there's
rising belief on our part
that we have found the collapse
feature of the money pit,
well, that-that's probably
the most significant find.
You know, we all are in the
shadow of this covid thing.
You've got a big operation,
lots of employees.
How's that working out?
Yeah.
Hmm. Interesting.
It's just interesting to see
how others are-are handling it.
Um, so let's talk about
oak island for a minute.
How-how would you like
to proceed?
- Okay.
- So I'll turn it over to matt here.
Great.
Let's see what you got there.
I'm sure we'll have questions.
Sounds cool.
Using augmented reality,
a technology that overlays
computer-generated images
onto real-world objects,
the team from irving equipmet
limited is presenting
a new dig method that will
allow the oak island team
to effectively excavate
the entire money pit area.
Yeah.
Inspired by the unique patten
bees use to make beehives,
the honeycomb method
would involve digging
a large number of
eight-foot-wide steel caissos
down into the bedrock.
By excavating each shaft
along a strategically
designed pattern,
the team would be able to
drill, backfill the hole,
and maneuver the equipment
to each new drill site.
This would allow the laginas
and their partners
the ability to cover
a large area,
but without the enormous expense
and inherent dangers
associated with drilling
a massive, 100-foot-wide hole.
Are you leaving the cans in
in each case?
What are you doing with that?
Okay.
Here's how I'd like to
sum it up, if it's okay.
Let us think about
the honeycomb thing here.
And also, you're gonna
work on logistically
how you would do that,
how much time it might take,
what you'd do with the spoils.
Maybe you could give us
the same kind of presentation,
if you would, on that.
Perfect, guys.
Look forward to seeing you.
- Stay safe.
- Yep.
- Cheers.
- Bye-bye.
Meanwhile, back on the islan,
doug crowell
and charles barkhouse,
along with professional diver
mike huntley and his team,
are continuing their
exploration of the c-1 shaft.
Okay, keep going slow.
Visibility's starting
to get better.
I'm quite
impressed with this camera.
- The resolution's really nice.
- Yeah.
We have teeth. We're
at the bottom of the caisson.
All stop.
Roger. At all stop.
Okay, gonna point down
a little bit, too.
Look how clear that is, though.
That's some of the best
views we've had
in a long time, really.
Oh.
- What's that right there?
- Oh, I see that, too.
Back up a bit.
What's that thing right there?
Right there.
It's kind of, like, on an angle.
What do we have there?
- This area right here.
- Yeah, yeah.
Look, it's almost triangular,
and it has color to it.
I can see gold.
Here. Right in there. Yes
That color just popped.
- That triangular-shaped area.
- Yeah.
There's some gold-colored
object there, that's for sure.
At borehole c-1,
near the site
of the original money pit,
oak island historians doug
crowell and charles barkhous,
along with mike huntley
and his team,
have made what they believe
could be an exciting discovey
in the cavity
at the bottom of borehole c-1,
some 170 feet below ground.
What's getting
me though is that,
when you find gold veins
in quartz and whatnot,
it's-it's just all irregular.
- Right.
- To find edges that look
- like a triangle are-are not natural.
- No, you're right.
A gold triangle?
Could the team
have finally pinpointed
the same gold-colored object
that was first spotted
in c-1 five years ago?
Do you want to continue...
Continue to look around,
see if we can find a bigger one?
We'll continue down then,
slowly, and we'll...
- We'll keep looking.
- 'kay.
- See if we can spot anything else.
- Sounds good.
Okay, sam.
- Down slow.
- Roger.
Coming down slow.
Oh. All stop!
Roger. At all stop.
What's that right there?
Yeah, I see that, too.
There's another one right there,
just off to the center
of the screen.
Yeah. This-this area,
right here.
We do have more
of that golden color there.
We're seeing
another shiny gold thing.
But this one is very small,
maybe even the size of a pea.
But that's only an estimation.
Uh, who knows?
Until we get down there
and fully investigate this,
we're not gonna know.
- Mike, are we ready to go lower?
- Yes, we are.
All right,
let's-let's go really slow.
- Down slow! -Yeah.
- All right.
Down slow.
There were
some nice patterns there
- for a second.
- Yeah.
I didn't see
any coloration in it.
All stop.
Roger. At all stop.
Axel, pull it straight into you.
- Nice and slow.
- Yeah.
- Uh, mike, just hold for a sec!
- Oh!
- Go back, mike.
- Roger.
Oh. Is this another one?
That-that's definitely
a gold object right there.
A gold-colored object.
I mean, it pops compared to
- the surrounding area.
- Yeah.
- You guys see that there?
- Yeah.
- Yeah. It's pretty bright, isn't it?
- Yeah.
Might obtaining video evidene
of not one
but three gold-colored objecs
embedded in the wall
of the c-1 cavity
mean the team has
finally located actual treasue
within a close vicinity
of the original money pit?
And, if so, could it mean
that the team may have made
a historic breakthrough,
one that could bring
definitive answers
to the oak island mystery?
Um,
I think the visibility is starting to go.
And it's getting
really hard to see.
We could be passing stuff
and we don't even know
- we're passing it.
- Well,
we've probably seen
all we can see now, right?
- Yeah.
- I think what we should do is go back,
to where we can implement
a video call with the guys
and fill them in.
For sure. Okay.
Great work, guys.
- Yeah.
- Thanks.
Later that afternoon...
- Hey, guys.
- Hey.
Gentlemen.
...Rick, marty and alex lagina,
along with craig tester
and jack begley, gather at marty
and craig's office
in traverse city
to hear charles, doug and mike's
highly anticipated report.
We're eager for some good news.
You got any?
We-we have news that is, uh...
We can report a successful
operation in-in c-1.
And the results were
both intriguing and perplexing.
All right. Let's hear about it.
Take it away. Talk to us.
I'll show ya. I'll bring
the first one up here now.
So, this is target number one.
If you look just center,
it's just in the, uh,
top left quadrant.
Just-just off of center.
What the hell's that?
Is that the gold shiny thing?
Looks like a fleck of gold.
- That's what it looks like.
- Yeah.
So, the next one.
It's, uh, right here.
And it's one foot directly below
the triangular object.
And then,
right around the 180-foot,
we had something that was
even clearer and larger,
about the size of, um,
a quarter or so.
This is target number three.
You can see the luster
changing now
as he's moving
the camera around.
Oh, yeah.
So there's multiple
gold shiny things down in c-1.
...I mean,
it's not just a one-off.
There's something down there.
- You know?
- But is that anything
of value or is it something
that's just natural
and it appears gold?
Been the shining object
and everything else
since the beginning.
Well, that-that's why I said
it was perplexing.
Because, uh, after mike
pulled the equipment up,
uh, out of c-1,
I put in a call
to terry matheson.
And I'm going
to quote terry here.
"there's no known
natural emplacement of minerals
that would look like gold
in anhydrite."
so that's why it's perplexing.
It had to be placed there
by something other
than natural processes.
I mean,
we don't know either way,
- so it needs to be pursued.
- Exactly.
You know what,
doug, I'll give you this.
You-you named it right.
It's, uh, interest...
Intriguing but perplexing.
Agreed.
- Right.
- Mike, tell-tell the guys,
uh, your thoughts
about your previous dive there,
when you had
your metal detecting equipment.
Uh, from where bottom is
in relation to that third target
is pretty much
where I'd had those hits.
At the bottom of that, uh...
That cavity.
Three years ago,
during one of the previous
attempts to retrieve
the gold-colored object
in the c-1 shaft,
diver mike huntley
initially received
a number of hits
with his metal detector.
Unfortunately,
when he returned down the shaft
to remove the object,
both the signal
and the elusive object
seemed to have
mysteriously disappeared.
I think if, uh, you know,
we put the camera down
and we only saw one thing,
I'm not sure
it would warrant a dive.
But if there's four targets,
you know, that might allow
the diver to be successful,
in terms of retrieval.
Now what we have to do is try
- to retrieve a sample.
- Yeah.
A diver could go down there and
try to get hands on the targets.
It's worth a try. I don't... I
mean, unless somebody disagrees.
No, I agree.
- So, let's try it. Set it up.
- Will do.
I want that shiny gold thing
on the surface!
We remain your boots
on the ground for now.
Thank you very much.
- Thanks guys. See ya.
- See ya.
Two days after
obtaining compelling video evidence
of three gold-colored objects
more than 170 feet deep
at the bottom of borehole c-1...
I think
these guys mean business.
This is quite an operation.
- Just a few trucks.
- Yeah.
...Oak island historians doug
crowell and charles barkhouse,
along with project manager
scott barlow,
are preparing to oversee
a dive operation
which is designed to take
a closer look at the objects
and hopefully retrieve them.
Just come ahead a bit
- and just square your back right up here, okay?
- Yeah.
Because diver
mike huntley was unavailable,
rick and marty lagina
have enlisted the services
of rob ritcy and his team
from rmi marine
to conduct today's investigation
of the c-1 shaft.
We'll pull him in like that.
I'll leave my truck right here.
With nearly 50
years of combined experience,
rmi marine specializes
in conducting
deep underwater surveying,
construction
and salvage operations.
Guys, it looks like rmi marine
is ready to go.
Okay.
We're gonna get rob
to give you an update.
Perfect.
Although they are
still unable to enter canada,
rick and marty lagina,
along with their partner
craig tester,
have arranged to monitor
every second
of today's potentially historic
operation via video conference.
Joining them will be
craig's son, jack begley,
and metal detection expert
gary drayton.
Hey, guys. So-so, we're all set.
- Great.
- We're ready to roll.
So, I just want to confirm
with everybody
what the itinerary was.
I-I believe
target 1-2 is probably first.
That was the shallowest target.
- That's correct. Yup.
- Okay, good.
So, after that,
we can hit target 3 and see
what we can do there to get... to
get those... to get those pieces.
Okeydoke.
So, we're probably looking at...
Looks like
in the neighborhood
of a 20-minute dive.
That all sounds...
Brilliant to me.
That sounds perfect.
I think it's time
for your guy to get wet.
Let's do this.
Okay, man. Let's do it.
Proceed.
Due to the serious risks
facing the divers
as they explore the dark,
confined depths of borehole c-1,
the oak island team has arranged
for emergency medical
technicians to be on site.
Rob ritcy has also set up
a hyperbaric chamber
for the unlikely
but potentially deadly risk
of either of the divers
developing
decompression sickness,
also known as "the bends."
you know, with anything we do
on oak island,
safety is paramount.
Before, you know...
It's-it's more important
than any treasure
we could possibly find.
It's not worth the risk
of somebody's life.
In order to
safely reach the bottom of c-,
diver tyler newton will be
lowered down in a steel cage.
Upon reaching
a water depth of 50 feet,
a trap door will open,
allowing tyler
to complete his descent
to a depth of some 170 feet
in search of the gold-colored
objects in the cavity wall.
Once located,
he will attempt
to delicately extract them
using a small hammer and chisel.
Comms check. One, two.
Roger that. I've got you
loud and clear, as well.
Okay, here.
They're putting the dive cage
over the caisson now.
Good. Let's do it.
Here we go.
There's not much room,
either side, I'll tell you.
It's a good thing
that wasn't any smaller.
You're right.
Just watch vise-grips.
Uh, bring them a little quicker.
Can everybody see this?
Yeah.
Coming down. All stop at 40.
About five more feet,
just so you know. Coming down.
He's just about to the water.
Perfect.
- He's in.
- Yeah.
Four, three, two,
one. 40 feet. All stop.
Light doesn't penetrate
very far, does it?
No, it doesn't.
Okay, we're all stopped here
at 40 feet.
You're clear to come out
of the basket.
Leaving the basket?
Roger that.
Dang, this is exciting.
Now that tyler newton
has left the dive cage,
he will descend to a depth
of some 170 feet
to the area below the metal
caisson's cutting teeth,
where he can begin
to search the walls of the shaft
for the gold-colored anomalies.
Ah, it's getting clearer now.
The water gushing by it
as it's displacing it.
Yeah.
Well, so far,
he's coming right down on it.
Yep.
Getting clearer.
The diver's
currently at about 90 feet,
and visibility is good.
- I'm gonna go over and listen to the divemaster.
- Okay. Yep.
How you feeling?
What do you think
you got for depth there?
130, 135.
There's the teeth.
All stop.
They've reached the bottom
of the caisson.
They've reached the bottom
of the casing.
- We can see the teeth.
- Okay.
Got you at 144 here now.
Is there anything shiny ther?
So,
you're getting lots of reflections
but no shiny objects?
Roger that.
That's not it there, is it?
What's that?
Kind of, yep.
Going after something.
Look at that shine.
Yeah.
Is that a coin?
Oh, is it?
Oh, yeah.
A coin?
Found some 170 feet deep
within the walls
of the c-1 shaft?
Could this be a vital clue
marking the location
of the legendary treasure?
He just took something
out of the wall.
Is that a coin?
Oh.
There it went.
That looked like a coin falling.
Yeah.
At borehole c-1,
some 170 feet underground,
professional diver tyler newton
has been attempting to locate
and carefully extract
three gold-colored objects
that were spotted on camera
just two days ago.
Unfortunately, his first sample,
an object
which the oak island team
believed might have been a coin,
has slipped out of his grasp
and plunged more than 20 feet
down the pitch-black shaft,
deeper than these divers
are currently permitted to g.
Got about two minutes
before we start traveling up.
Anything that's shiny
down there,
take some samples of that.
Well, you would think that you
would be able to see it.
I mean, we all saw
that shiny gold thing
- on the camera.
- Yep.
Can you do a slow scan up the...
- Up the twine?
- Yep.
Can you go back
to the twine there?
And then just head down that.
Just real nice and slow.
Find the gold shiny thing.
Yeah.
What's that?
What was that back there?
Down to his right a little bit.
- That looks triangular to me right there.
- Yeah.
- He might be on it now, guys.
- Yeah!
We'll get us one more sample,
and then we'll get you
prepared to come up.
That sure looks like
the shape, though.
Really hard material?
- Could be that slate material.
- Yeah.
Roger that.
Roger.
So, he's coming up.
So, he took some samples.
We'll see what he's got.
All right, fingers crossed.
Okay.
Got the helmet.
The diver is out, guys.
He's heading into the chamber.
Okay.
As a safety precaution,
diver tyler newton
spends the next 22 minutes
inside the hyperbaric chamber.
- Here you go, guys.
- Oh. That's for charles's hands.
- Let's see what we got.
- Okay.
While waiting for tyler
to emerge,
charles barkhouse and the team
inspect the samples that were
brought to the surface.
What is it, charles?
Well, obviously,
we got some anhydrite here,
but this is very curious.
- It's different, isn't it?
- Yeah, it is different.
What is it, charles?
It's interesting.
Th-this piece right here,
guys,
it seems to be slate anhydrite.
Don't know if you can see it,
but right-right here,
there's a really clear
crystallization.
- That is odd.
- Yeah.
Unfortunately,
none of the samples retrieved
from the c-1 borehole
appear to match
the gold-colored objects
spotted two days before.
Is it possible
that tyler newton missed them
due to poor visibility?
C-1
hasn't really revealed
its secrets, has it?
Guys,
rob ritcy's gonna debrief us.
Perfect.
Okay, guys. So,
we just finished up.
- Okay.
- So,
the diver scanned through
one foot on each side.
So, six square feet.
Six square feet.
There was one target
just outside.
It-it sort of showed up
as something yellow,
and, um,
he tried to chip that out.
He couldn't get it chipped out.
We had just run out of time.
- The island wins again.
- Yeah.
That is crazy.
You know,
it's a confined space dive.
It's possible,
if these shiny gold things
fell to the bottom,
our first thought is
all is not lost.
It's gonna have to demand
possibly an airlift.
By forcing
air into the c-1 borehole
at a rate of as many
as 100 pounds per square inc,
the airlift process
creates a powerful vacuum
that would force
any silt, sediment
and, needless to say,
any valuable artifacts
up to the surface.
- Hey, guys. Have a seat there.
- You guys...
- Divers have a seat here.
- First of all,
I just want to say thank you.
I'm sure we all do.
- Yeah, no problem. Yeah.
- Yeah, thanks for having us.
Thank you very much.
I think you did a great job,
and we appreciate your effors
in that regard.
We would prefer you find
where things is.
But that can happen next.
We still might want to airlift
that cavity, just so you know.
And then if we do,
when we get a lot of stuff up,
- we might want another dive.
- Yep.
If the bosses are happy with it
and the dive supervisor says go,
then I'm down to do that
for sure.
Okay.
All right. On to the next job.
Let's call it a day, gents.
All righty. Thanks again, guys.
- Okay.
- Thanks, guys.
- Appreciate it.
- Cheers.
Three days
after the dive in c-1,
marty and rick
receive the exciting news
that the travel ban between
the united states and canada
has been modified.
Effective immediately,
certain approved visitors
may enter the country
on condition
they quarantine themselves
for a 14-day period.
This means
no human contact of any kind
for two full weeks.
Having already secured
the necessary approvals,
marty,
along with his son alex lagina,
and rick, along with
nephew peter fornetti,
are finally able
to enter nova scotia.
All right, so we made it in.
Yeah, we did.
It was strange to be so close
to oak island for two full weeks
and not be able to go there.
Being in quarantine is different,
because usually
when we come, the very next
morning we're hard at it.
There's all kinds of work
to be done,
so I'm-I'm anxious to get at it.
Covid has really, markedly
altered our plans.
But it's just
kind of refocused us.
Here's home for two weeks.
We're gonna do new things.
We're gonna employ
new technology, new methods.
What I hope is to find
a giant treasure,
or the answer to this
giant riddle... this year!
I think it's possible.
Hey, guys.
- Hey, doug!
- Doug!
I understand, uh,
welcomes are in order...
You're in nova scotia now.
- Yes. The eagles have landed.
- We are.
Quarantined, but here.
One day after their
arrival in nova scotia,
but while still prevented
from venturing out
due to strict
quarantine measures,
brothers rick and marty lagina,
along with alex lagina
and peter fornetti
call into
the oak island w*r room
for a meeting with other
members of their team.
They are eager to discuss
several of the search
and discovery operations
planned for the week ahead.
Well, we, uh, we've been
kind of regrouping here
after the c-1 dive, but, uh,
laird has some updates
on the work intended for lot 15.
That'd be great.
Keen to know about that.
Yeah, actually,
the-the lead archeologist
is gonna be david macinnes.
A very experienced archeologist.
Name might sound familiar,
related to, uh...
- Yeah, mcginnis?
- ...Daniel mcginnis.
Wow.
Direct descendant.
A direct descendant, yeah.
- Wow.
- Yeah. He's agreed to, uh...
Do the investigations in lot 15
and he'll be,
uh, aided by aaron taylor.
And we're really looking forward
to what david's
gonna come up with,
with this, uh,
mysterious feature
that we have up there.
Boy, laird the believer!
I'll tell you.
It is curious, though.
It-it's two rock walls
that just lead
into the side of the hill.
Mm-hmm.
Last spring, doug crowell did
a-a very thorough search
of the documents
in dan blankenship's basement.
And he found two old maps.
One by fred nolan,
who was a surveyor.
And one called the
barringer survey from 1988.
Both indicated the possibility
of a tunnel near
the feature on lot 15,
both of them coming from the
money pit, north of the swam.
The barringer survey also
indicated a possible tunnel
near c-1 in the money pit.
If these tunnels exist,
could they be connected?
Could it be a possible back door
to the money pit... who knows?
Sounds like you got a downright
brain trust there, laird.
I mean, uh,
let us know what it is.
I will. Yeah, no, I'm excited.
I've got
my fingers crossed that it's
some kind of,
uh, cavity or passage
leading towards
the money pit area.
That's-that's my hope.
Is it worth investigating?
Absolutely.
Let's see what the answers are.
Another thing that's,
uh, taking shape, guys,
is furthering
the exploration of the swamp.
And dr. Spooner's ready to
follow up on that with some
scans of the swamp.
So, yeah, just to
fill you in on what, uh,
I have planned in the swamp.
What we're doing is we're
running a new kind of survey.
It allows us
to pound down a ways
into that swamp sediment
and to see if we can resolve
that feature in the swamp.
So that's what I'm up to
in the next week, week or two.
Great.
Oh! Holy crow.
This stick will tell me
when that stone was placed.
You date the stick,
you know when that happened.
Because of
the incredible finds made
in the oak island swamp
last year...
I'm very confident
we're looking at 1680 to 1700
that that disturbance
took place.
...Including evidence
that significant human activity
took place in the area
dubbed eye of the swamp
during the late 17th century,
along with proof that
the massive paved-stone area
the team unearthed was
most likely constructed
more than 800 years ago,
the oak island team is eagr
to continue their investigatin
of the area, but now
on a much larger scale.
One of the team's first
targets is an anomaly
that dr. Ian spooner
first spotted
in a series
of aerial photographs
taken nearly 100 years ago
and located
on the southeastern edge
of the mysterious
triangle-shaped swamp.
Great,
I-I'm glad I'm in quarantine.
I'm looking forward to it,
personally.
It's intriguing,
because it's only ten feet down.
And this is the one
location where if there
are going to be artifacts,
this is the place
where they will be.
- Yes.
- And it's in front
of the paved area,
so that's really I think as much
my focus in terms of,
of trying to understand
what's going on there.
- Good!
- And then doug filled me in on
the story of a shaft
in that location.
- Is that correct?
- Y-yeah.
When, uh,
fred drained the swamp,
he spotted the remains
of an old shaft.
He didn't say exactly where,
but this spot that ian
has recognized,
identified, may be it.
- Yep.
- Fred obviously saw
something and recorded it.
And now this
work will confirm or deny it.
Yeah, it sounds
well worth doing, sounds grea.
All right, guys, that's all
we have from here for now.
We'll, uh,
we'll see you in two weeks.
We all knew it was going to e
an abbreviated year,
but everybody stepped up.
Without them laying
the groundwork for the year,
given the fact that we were late
in-in being able
to come into the country,
I-I think we would be
behind the eight ball.
The guys did an incredible job
of setting the stage
for the year's effort.
If you need anything
while you're in isolation,
just, uh, call.
Okay. We might do that.
Figure it out while we're gone.
That'd be great.
That'd be fine, yeah.
We'll be there
with a brinks truck in 14 days.
- Take care, guys.
- Thanks, guys.
- See you.
- Buh-bye.
Later that same day...
- Hey, guys.
- Hey, laird.
- Laird, how you doing?
- Good.
...Archaeologist laird niven
arrives at lot 15,
where fellow archaeologists
aaron taylor
and david macinnes
are investigating
a mysterious rock formation.
It is located
near the exact same spot
where one of the late
fred nolan's survey maps
had indicated
a potential tunnel entrance.
What interested me
about this one
is the disturbance on top.
Mm-hmm.
And it's disturbed soil.
So, uh,
it can be several things.
It could be people searching
for the treasure
may have come across
this stone feature
and found it interesting
- and dug it up.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.
- And thrown the spoil up here.
And aaron
has just gone through that,
and he's found nails in it.
- Wow.
- Which is interesting, as well.
The
great-great-great-great grandson
of daniel mcginnis,
the young man
who first discovered evidence
of the money pit in 1795,
david macinnes is an expert
in the prehistory
of maritime canada.
During his distinguished career,
he has investigated
multiple archaeological sites
that date as far back
as 3200 bc.
So, I took that down.
In that,
we found three cut nails.
- That's cool.
- So, I went through that,
and I've come down
- on a charcoal feature here.
- Wow.
- Definitely a burn event.
- Yeah.
Well, there are several
burning events
that happened here.
On a personal level,
I was very happy to find it
because it gave me charcoal.
I can send charcoal to the lb
and get a date.
If that charcoal dates anything
to do with this structure,
it dates its end.
It b*rned down.
I'm opening up this second unit
to try to uncover more
of this charcoal feature.
- Yeah.
- We were talking about possibly
- there being some sort of cover.
- Right.
Wooden cover over top of that,
which might explain the nails.
- Can I take a look at the nails?
- Sure.
I found this
just a few minutes ago.
Oh, yeah, 'cause...
Excellent.
I've seen a lot of nails
on oak island.
- They are corroded, aren't they?
- Mm.
But that head's machine-made,
yeah.
- Yeah, cut.
- What's important to me
about the nails is that it dates
the disturbance.
The nails
are in the disturbed layer.
And, so, searchers
who were digging around,
uh, trying to find something,
and somehow,
the nails ended up here.
Mm-hmm.
- Uh, so, we still have mysteries,
but, uh,
we've got some evidence.
I'm kind of getting
more and more confident
that we're gonna find
something really dateable.
- Yep.
- All right. I guess I'll get back to work.
- You guys can get back to work.
- Sounds good.
Could the stone formation
be connected in some way
to the construction
of the mysterious tunnel
which was indicated
on fred nolan's map?
- David?
- Yeah?
What do you got?
What is it, nail?
- I'm not telling you.
- Oh.
You're not telling me?
- That's slag.
- It is.
Produced when
a desired metal is separated
from raw ore
by means of intense heat,
slag is commonly found
near foundries
or any place
where smelting has occurred.
Could this iron slag
found within the rock feature
be additional evidence
of some sort
of large-scale blacksmithing
effort on oak island,
perhaps one
that could be associated
with the possible construction
of the money pit treasure shaft?
Lot 15 has exceeded
my expectations by tenfold.
With the evidence coming up,
it's really intriguing.
I'm pretty excited about what
it potentially could be.
So, maybe an iron foundry.
The question would be,
in my mind,
is why would there be
a blacksmith shop here?
This would be a big forge
if that's what this is.
Yeah. This was a big operation.
This was a big... Yeah.
I mean, yeah. I never thought
about the possibility
of a blacksmith shop.
- Did you?
- No.
Hi, gentlemen.
- Hey, guys.
- Hi, doug. -Hey, guys.
Well, we have a lot
of different,
interesting things happening
from lot 15.
I'm gonna cede this,
un, position to laird,
who's probably gonna show you
some visuals
- somewhere along the way.
- One day
after investigating a mysterious
rock formation on lot 15,
one that could rest on top
of an underground tunnel system,
oak island historians doug
crowell and charles barkhous,
along with archaeologists
laird niven and david macinne,
gather in the w*r room to share
their findings with rick lagina,
his nephew peter fornetti,
marty and alex lagina.
Also joining them,
via video conference,
is rick and marty's friend
and partner, craig tester.
Are you related to...
The mcginnises?
On the island?
Yeah. He was
my four times great-grandfather.
So I'm not just here
as an archaeologist.
I'm here
because I have an interest
in my family history.
- Great.
- And, uh, so, yeah.
Yeah, uh, we've got
an interesting structure.
We've got some visuals for you.
Um, this is an overhead,
of course.
And what's really important here
is that there are mounds
on either side
of this structure.
This is on the hillside.
You don't have mounds
on a hillside
next to a depression.
That's a positive relief,
uh, and that rarely happens.
So, for artifacts,
we've got nails,
we've got possible slag.
Slag can mean
a whole bunch of things.
Slag can be smelters.
Slag can be forges.
This is...
Not a natural feature.
People have done something here
to make a structure
of some kind,
which we're
still undecided upon.
This is not a house.
It's not a barn.
It's something else.
Now, we've had
some expert advice.
We've had carmen legge come in.
His conclusion is,
this is a tar kiln.
It's used to break wood down
into tar-related products
for preserving wooden ships
and for preserving rigging
and sails on ships.
Wow.
And he even dated it.
He dated it from 1550 to 1620.
He says it's
an english tar kiln.
That guy.
And it's got
a particular date range,
a very specific date range.
Well, that has to be
government or m*llitary.
Exactly.
A pine tar kiln...
Possibly constructed
by the british m*llitary
and dating as far back
as the 16th century,
nearly two centuries before
the discovery of the money pi?
Laird niven
and his team of archaeologists
have come to lot 15
to try to answer the question...
Is there really
a tunnel entrance here?
What they found was evidence
that the stone structure
on lot 15
was possibly a fire pit
or a pine tar kiln.
Certainly, the tar produced
in a pine tar kiln
may have been used
as ships' waterproofing.
Okay, so, I know
scientists hate conjecture,
so I'm gonna make you do it
if I can.
- Sure.
- Uh, if you were on a treasure hunt on this islan,
which is what we are,
does this add to the intrigue
of that it could have something
to do with that?
Or is this just interesting
'cause it's an out-of-place
archeological feature?
I think it seems to tie together
the paved structure in the swamp
- yes.
- And what we were finding in smith's cove.
One year ago,
while conducting a massive
excavation of smith's cove,
rick, marty, craig and the team
uncovered a wooden ship's wharf,
which was scientifically proven
through dendrochronology testing
to have been constructed
in 1741.
Could the suspected
pine tar kiln on lot 15
have been used
to manufacture tar
to seal and repair
the many boats
that were believed
to have docked at smith's cove?
Or might it have served
another strategic purpose,
perhaps one involving the
construction of the money pi?
Perhaps the tar
could have been used
to waterproof the tunnels
in the money pit.
Certainly lot 15, which
has never been on our radar,
is now proving to be
very significant.
And I very much look forward
to what it has to tell us.
It raises all kinds
of possibilities.
So there's a lot of work
left to do
to try to understand
what this feature is
and what it may mean
to the island.
The feature on lot 15
was denoted
on fred's map as the entrance
to a tunnel, "tunnel entrance."
so, of course,
that's what we're hoping for.
But recall, now,
it can be two different things.
Lots of people have speculated
this might be
an underground chamber
of some kind, or a tunnel.
Whether there's
a tunnel there or not,
we should be able
to determine that.
Surely it's purposeful.
Surely it has a reason
as to why it was built.
But again,
it rounds back to the theory.
A theory's but a theory
until you hold it in your hand,
and a tunnel's not a tunnel
till there's an opening
in the ground.
Look, excellent. Excellent
data, excellent presentation.
Thank you very much.
We need to digest all this, and
you guys keep giving us data.
- Appreciate it. Thank you.
- You're welcome.
Thanks a lot.
We're gonna sign off.
See you later.
Take care.
Wow, I never knew
all this existed.
The outside world.
Two weeks' quarantine.
- It feels good to be out.
- Yeah.
Having traveled to nova scota
prior to the arrival
of rick and marty lagina,
jack begley and metal detection
expert gary drayton
have finished their time
in quarantine and are now fre
to join their fellow
treasure hunters on oak island.
I've been...
Immersing myself
on the new equipment
I'm gonna be using, the okm.
Is it really gonna be able
to detect tunnels?
Yeah, it does. It does
several things really good.
It's a ground-scanning
piece of equipment,
it's a mineral scan,
a kind of metal detector,
and it find tunnels
and voids and vaults.
- So, what we're looking for. Yeah.
- Yeah.
Here we go, mate.
This is what
we've been waiting for.
You can't b*at this feeling,
- driving across the causeway.
- It's such a ride.
Maybe this is the year
we find the money pit.
This is the year.
This is the year
that we're gonna find treasure.
Oh, yeah.
All right, here we go!
Lot 15, mate.
Couple of hurdles to cross here.
Hey, guys.
- How you doing, laird?
- That's a sight for sore eyes.
- Bringing in the big g*ns.
- Yep.
Ah. This...
Is the okm exp 6000.
It does a lot
- of different things.
- Yeah.
Tunnel scanning.
Mineral scan.
- It's a magnetometer.
- That's cool.
And a metal detector.
- Wow.
- And it goes deep.
So if it's ten feet
down, what are we gonna do?
I brought an excavator.
The jack 6000.
All right, mate.
- Time to get stuck in.
- Have fun.
While preparing for his retun
to oak island this year...
We'll start in the very corner.
...Gary drayton was eager
to employ an arsenal
of metal detection equipment
that is, in some ways,
more sophisticated than anything
he has used in the past.
One of these is
the okm exp 6000.
Featuring a display unit
that creates 3d visualizatios
of underground anomalies,
the okm exp 6000
is able to detect metal objects
up to ten feet
below the surface,
as well as any voids or tunnels
that might exist
as deep as 60 feet underground.
Turn it on.
There we go.
I like how it has
the treasure chest.
- How appropriate.
- Kind of ironic, isn't it, eh?
Mm-hmm. - Let's hope that works.
So, what we'll do is,
you try and keep me straight.
I'll go in a straight line.
When we get to the flag
on the tree,
we're gonna turn around.
I'll head over there now,
- and then we'll get going.
- Okay.
Because gary will have to wat
until laird niven
and his archaeological team
complete
their painstaking investigation
of the mysterious
stone-and-wood structure
they unearthed on lot 15,
gary and jack will begin
a grid-like sweep
of the surrounding area.
All right, mate. First scan.
So, I'm going deeper this year,
below normal
metal detection range.
I'm hoping
to find anything that'll help
tell the story of this area.
It does make a sound.
Almost sounds like a chicken,
doesn't it, jack?
Let's hope we find a golden egg.
I like that.
All right, mate, on to the next.
- You ready?
- Yup. I'm ready.
While gary and jack
continue their search
for metal artifacts on lot 15...
...Doug crowell and surveyor
steve guptill arrive
at the money pit search site.
Let's do this.
Using the data obtained
from the barringer survey,
doug and steve carefully mark
and retrace areas of interest
in order to determine
if any of them are connected
to the original money pit shaft.
If the barringer survey proves
to be accurate...
And that can only be done
by ground-truthing,
I.E. Drilling into the anomaly...
We'd be ecstatic, over the moon.
Right there, doug.
There's the first one.
See if we can actually get this
down through the pad.
- Okay.
- Ready?
We got... 30 meters that way.
It's really interesting,
'cause the barringer survey,
they found
an interpreted tunnel.
We're scaling that old survey
to our current 3d model.
We need to get stakes
out on the ground
so you can see
where it actually sits
in relation to the surroundings.
We're getting pretty close,
doug.
Right here.
That's perfect, steve. I mean...
When you look
straight down that line...
- Yup.
- Yeah, c-1's right in the middle of it.
- C-1's right in the middle.
- This is the outskirts
- of the barringer survey, so...
- Mm-hmm.
...There could very well be
a tunnel that just continues on.
Yup. You know where this goes.
I bet
if I project a straight line,
it goes up to the potential
rock tunnel on lot 15.
- This is all good information.
- Yup.
A tunnel?
One that possibly connects
the c-1 shaft
to the mysterious
rock formation on lot 15?
The same formation that is noted
as being a tunnel entrance
on the survey map
of the late fred nolan?
If so, could it mean
that the oak island team
has discovered
not only a direct link to
the 170-foot-deep cavity in c-1,
but also the precise location
of the long-lost
oak island treasure vault?
You know,
this barringer survey is turning out
to be quite the find, doug.
- This is really interesting.
- Yup.
As a new day begins
on oak island...
I want to get the guys
up on video conferencing.
...Brothers rick
and marty lagina...
- Charles!
- ...Along with
alex lagina and peter fornetti,
are now ten days into their
mandatory two-week quarantin.
Together again, technologically.
Sitting here in quarantine,
growing a beard.
In addition
to receiving daily updates
from members of their team,
they use their time
to consider and plan various
projects for the coming year.
So, the barringer
geo-surfaces survey
that we found in dan's files
gave us an interpretive tunnel
- on lot 15.
- Okay.
Maybe if steve could bring up
the overlay
- of the barringer survey?
- Sure.
Do you have
the color-coded one, steve?
Yup. And we can turn them on
and off as requested.
Looking over what we calculated,
I just turn the data on
on top of the overlay.
The data is starting to line up.
Lot 15 leads into c-1.
Lot 15 is exactly 500 feet
between the paved area
and the money pit.
That sort of confirms the survey
from 1988.
That potentially could be
a tunnel.
- Fantastic.
- We've got to expand the search.
We've got
to go over these areas with this
deep-scanning equipment.
You'll get
a more accurate reading.
If gary can get in there with,
you know, all...
With your equipment, we should
be able to find stuff.
Yeah, get busy, gary.
I'm ready. I'm ready.
If you guys are excited,
I'm excited.
And, uh,
I can't help but observe
that the sort of resurrection
of this barringer survey
after 32 years is sort of like
finding the treasure map
finally in grandma's purse.
You know what I mean?
Or in the attic.
We're all energized, so,
get after it, gentlemen.
- Aye-aye, sir.
- Bye, guys.
- See you, guys.
- Okay, bye, guys.
Later that day,
area geoscientist
dr. Ian spooner arrives
at the man-made,
triangle-shaped swamp
with local diver tony sampson.
What's made you pick this part
of the swamp,
and what are you hoping we're
going to find out here today?
Right over here we have, um,
some very interesting features
that shows up in the air photos.
We also have a geophysical,
seismic, low-density anomaly.
- Uh-huh.
- And so,
two things are lining up.
Plus, we have a story
of some kind
- of structure in there.
- Excellent.
After carefully analyzing
a collection
of aerial photographs taken
from the archives
of oak island treasure huntes
fred nolan and dan blankenship,
dr. Ian spooner believes
he has found strong evidence
of an unusual feature...
Possibly a wall
or some type
of wooden structure...
Located near
the eastern edge of the swam.
Today, with the help
of professional diver
tony sampson,
dr. Spooner hopes
to verify whether or not
this strange wooden anomaly
actually exists.
So, what I want
to do is take the sonar in.
- Okay.
- And see if we can duplicate
or replicate some
of those results.
Fantastic, and this is
a specific sonar
that you've put together, right?
Yeah, it's a unit
that is especially suited
- to shallow water and to sub-bottom.
- Uh-huh.
So, penetrating
into the sediment a ways
and so we can see structures
with it.
- Okay.
- I've got some confidence
- we'll get some good returns.
- Good stuff.
I'm looking forward
to seeing it.
Okay. I'm gonna get the stuff
and start putting it together.
I know you've got
to get stuff together here.
- Excellent.
- Okay. See you.
What is the swamp anomaly
that dr. Spooner has
rendered an opinion about?
It's a singular goal.
We know what we're after,
unlike the previous dig
in the swamp.
We didn't know
there was a paved area there.
To some degree,
we just stumbled upon it.
So, we'll try
to put it in right here.
- Another. That's good there.
- You good?
- Yup.
- Yup.
Okay, I'm gonna hop in.
We're good.
I'm going to start
pinging it right now.
Okay. Do you want me
to take you away
- from shore a bit, buddy?
- Yeah.
Do you want to do,
like, lawnmowing,
in a grid pattern-pattern or...?
I think just slowly
back and forth,
- and we'll see what we get.
- Okay.
How's the penetration look, ian?
It's... Oh, it's incredible.
It looks really good right now.
It looks like we're getting down
to around three,
four meters, which is good.
Three, four meters?
That's fantastic!
Yeah, this is good.
The syqwest hydrobox
echo sounder sonar device
that dr. Spooner is using
works by emitting sound pulses
that penetrate
through the muck and mud
on the bottom of the swamp
which reflect back
to the surface,
identifying any objects
or structures buried below.
- So, towards south shore beach, buddy?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Just gonna watch really carefully in here.
Okay.
Beauty.
Are you seeing any new features
down there then?
Yeah. Yeah, we're seeing
some hard stuff.
Excellent.
This is going higher now.
Higher. Higher.
Ah, beauty.
You can see at one-meter depth
all these logs.
Yup, that's funny
you should say that, ian.
- I can feel them under my feet.
- Yeah.
And right here...
A big drop-off.
A big drop-off, right here.
- It's like a wall.
- That's fantastic!
- Yeah.
- A wall?
Could this be evidence
of further human activity
in the oak island swamp?
If so, who built it, and why?
The sonar seemed to show
that we were in probably
two meters of mud, and then,
uh, boom, we dropped down
to three or four meters.
And that's not normal
in a swamp.
Now, you just don't get these,
uh, radical changes in height.
Yeah, so, what I'm convinced of,
and I think it's backed up by
the seismic and the air photos,
is a real feature exists
right here.
There's something here
that's-that's different.
That's great news.
I've-I've always felt
there's something weird
about the swamp.
Right, and this is where
that cribbing is, right here.
Fantastic.
A possible wooden structure
buried in the swamp?
Could it be
the same wooden shaft
that was first discovered
by fred nolan in 1969?
And could it also be connected
to the 16th century
pine tar kiln,
which the oak island team
believes may have been used
in the construction
of the original money pit?
We see
some very interesting features
right on top
of the seismic anomaly
and just a little bit to the
south of the 1943 air photos.
Any one of these pieces
of evidence
on their own is interesting.
But all three, together,
are really provocative.
Do you think we're getting
some data here that, um,
corroborates
that this is man-made, ian?
What it tells us is
that if man was here,
they might have made use
of this site.
- Yeah.
- So, let's call it quits.
- Okay.
- Yeah, we got
some great data,
so my job now is, I think,
to take it to the research
center and sort of compile it.
- And then I can build
a 3d model.
- Excellent.
So we'll get
the boat out, head back.
Fantastic.
On lot 15, just northeast
of the money pit on oak island,
archaeologists laird niven,
aaron taylor and david macinns
continue their investigation of
the 16th century pine tar kiln
that, according to their
research, may have been used
in the construction
of the money pit treasure vault.
- Where's the next line, jack?
- Right through me.
Metal detection expert
gary drayton,
along with jack begley,
return to the area
with the okm exp 6000
in search of any buried objects,
voids or tunnels.
Come on. There's got
to be something in this area.
Right through here.
There's something interesting
about these.
Like, these circular groups
of rock.
Aw. Come on, man.
You're not telling me
this is natural,
what I'm standing on now.
- This is something.
- Yeah?
Look at this.
Yeah, I think this is something.
I mean, if you look around here,
jack,
there's definitely a circular
pattern around here. Look.
Yeah, you're right.
I mean, you look at some of
the rocks and how flat they are.
It looks like these rocks
- have been split and broken apart.
- Yeah.
They're all very similar.
This could be some kind
of stone structure.
A stone structure?
And located just 100 feet
from the pine tar kiln?
Could the team have finally
found evidence
of a long-lost tunnel entrance?
This is undisturbed.
I don't think we should touch
the moss, anything.
Let those guys take a look
at it... david and laird.
I don't even want
to walk over it.
All right. I think
we've done enough scans, mate.
Because the stone
feature may be a significant clue,
gary and jack know
they must wait
until archaeologist
laird niven and his team
have the opportunity
to evaluate the site.
So, let's check it out.
Having performed
deep scans across the area,
gary and jack now review
their results to see if they may
have also found anything
of interest below ground.
The green color is just
the background.
- Mm-hmm.
- What I'm interested in is those reds and oranges.
Red and orange
is always ferrous.
A lot of iron in this area.
And if it's nonferrous,
it's gonna be bright red.
As we're going along,
we're finding
a good mix of targets.
One thing for sure,
there's a hell of a lot of metal
in this area.
A lot of iron
but, even more important,
there's some nonferrous targets.
Well, I'm a treasure hunter.
That's probably gold
and silver coins.
There's reds and oranges
everywhere.
Do you see anything
that stands out to you
that we need to go after
on this?
There's a couple of areas
over there.
Let's continue with the ctx,
see if we can find
surface finds.
I'd like to find that one coin,
that one ring,
oh, man, that one bobby-dazzler
that tells us a story.
Let me grab my shovel.
In order to narrow down
the possibility
that there could be important
metal objects near the surfac,
gary will now use
the ctx 3030 metal detector,
the same device
he has used over the years
to find numerous objects,
like the mysterious lead cros
at smith's cove,
which is believed to be
some 700 years old.
There's got to be another coin
or something around here, gary.
I know there is, mate.
There's something there, mate.
Gonna have to dig it out.
Damn. You went all medieval
on that one, mate.
Oh, yeah. I'm not wasting time.
Hopefully you've moved it.
Ooh!
I see it.
What do you see?
That's a a*.
It's a broken a*.
Oh, it is!
Look at that.
The way it comes down.
That's a really old a* then.
Definitely.
And just the weight of it
tells me
that this is really old.
I don't think it's a w*apon.
In the maritimes, you'd call it
a ship's rigging a*.
You'd use it on the ship
for cutting ropes.
What would it
be doing right here?
Well, let's say
you came onto the beach here
and you wanted to come inland.
What are you gonna use?
You're gonna use one of these
to hack your way into this area.
- Like a machete.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Because, if you think about it,
you got those operations
up there.
You got the beach here.
Could gary's theory
about this so-called
ship's rigging a* be correct?
Could it be further evidence
of human activity
connecting the 800-year-old
man-made stone-paved area
in the swamp
to the nearby pine tar kiln,
as archaeologist laird niven and
his associates have suggested?
What's the most
recent it could've been used?
I don't know, but it's out here
and it's been here
a heck of a long time.
So, probably before
the discovery
- of the money pit.
- Yeah.
Okay. Let's keep going then.
Ooh.
It just sounds so good.
Just there.
Come to papa.
Where you hiding?
- I see it.
- Ooh!
- Oh, no way!
- What the heck?
That's an old coin.
That's a little
beauty. Look at that.
- That's an old coin, mate.
- Oh, yeah.
- That is an old coin!
- Oh, yeah.
That is. I'm sure it is.
I mean, you can see
some kind of... Decoration.
Any time there's writing
around the outside, mate,
- that's a dead... no, I don't think we should.
- No?
- Okay! Oh!
- No, always...
- This is a top pocket find.
- Yeah.
It's got the original patina.
It's got the shape,
that old shape.
It's not perfectly round.
And it's got that square hole
in it, mate.
And you can tell it's old-old
because it's square.
I mean, this could be
an integral clue
in figuring out
exactly who used this tar kiln.
But we found a lot of coins
over the years on oak island,
and this looks to be
probably one of the oldest,
based upon the shape
and the patina.
What's fascinating
about this coin is the shape
and the fact that it's got
a square hole in the middle.
This coin is very, very old.
And I don't believe
it's european.
This coin is from somewhere
much more exotic.
You're the coin expert, gary.
Can you date this coin
off of just the features?
This is old, mate.
My guess is 1600, 1700s.
This is great, gary.
This is bloody brilliant.
I think so.
Elbow bump?
That's what I love
about metal detecting...
The chance to pick up
a piece of history.
Here we are, gary.
Following
their exploration of lot 15,
gary drayton and jack begley
head to the research center
to share their discoveries
with oak island historian
charles barkhouse.
- Hello? Hey, charles.
- Hey, guys.
- Hey, charles.
- How you doing?
- Good, mate.
- Good. We've had a really good
day back on the island.
- Really?
- We have got some...
Really great finds, mate.
We found some good stuff.
Uh, would you say
this is a top pocket find?
It's in the top pocket, mate.
Some are in the pouch,
- but definitely got a top pocket find.
- Really?
So, I guess
the obvious question is,
what did you find?
What did we find?
Actually,
I think these are so important
that we should call the guys
that are in quarantine...
Rick, marty, alex and peter...
- And let them all know. Yeah.
- Really?
Yeah. They are...
It's that special.
- Okay.
- I'm gonna get the guys up
on the video call.
- I know they want to know.
- And they're in quarantine, mate.
This is just what
the doctor ordered.
Give 'em a little boost.
Exactly.
Hey, rick! Hey, peter!
Hey, marty and alex!
How you doing, chaps?
Hi, guys.
So, gary and I were over
- at lot 15.
- Yes.
The archaeologists...
They gave us permission
to metal detect,
and we took full advantage of it
and... I got a top pocket find.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
Let's see it!
You know, uh...
This is worth waiting for, guys.
When you get out of quarantine,
this will lift your spirits,
mate.
Wait a minute! Wait a minute.
Stop.
You're really not gonna
show this to us?
- Um, no. I believe...
- What?
...You will get
a better perspective
when you see these finds
in person.
Are you really that excited
about it, gary?
- Or are you just pulling our leg?
- Yeah.
Do you think that it sheds
any light
on the structure on lot 15?
These artifacts that we found
are definitely gonna shed light
on who probably made that
structure up on the hillside.
- Yeah.
- Oh, rick,
what do you think about
these guys dorking us like this?
I don't like it. But...
can you seriously
put a date to it?
It should shed light
on a country
and hopefully a date
- and maybe a surprising date.
- Wow.
I'm gonna play along.
I'm gonna go along with this.
You know, it'll make coming to
the island even more exciting.
- Mm.
- Yeah.
Well, look, if you're
not gonna show us anything,
then get back out there.
- Yeah.
- Okeydoke.
- Okay, thanks, guys.
- All right, mate.
Let's go get some more.
Despite a number
of devastating setbacks,
brothers rick and marty lagia
remain as committed as ever
to solving the 225-year-old
mystery of oak island.
But now
perhaps equally important
to unearthing a vast treasure
is finding out
what happened on oak island
centuries ago.
Perhaps it can explain
why the island has been guarded
by a mysterious curse,
one that has claimed six lives
and threatens to take one more
before the truth
about oak island
can be revealed.
Next time on
the curse of oak island...
We're out of quarantine.
We're heading to the island.
There's a lot of new things
to explore.
It truly feels
like the fellowship's
getting back together
now that you're here.
I like the look of this, jack.
What the...?!
- I think it's lead or something.
- Oh, wow.
See, this is
what we're looking for.
That might be the find
of the year.
Not only is it man-made,
this goes all the way back
to 1500.
It could have been used for
construction of the money pit.
08x01 - Remote Control
Watch/Buy Amazon Merchandise
Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.
Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.