Tonight on the curse of Oak Island
Let's find it should be this area recording
recording that thing might be man-made
almost looks like gonna anchor we're
gonna find out scientifically how all
these bits of paper are red diamond
doesn't seem to have something on this
is from maybe even pop the grounds gone
its Kevin this is a very dangerous place
the whole money pit could collapse
Oh baby be careful Oh
there is an island in the North Atlantic
where people have been looking for an
incredible treasure for more than
years so far they have found a stone
slab with strange symbols carved into it
mysterious fragments of human bone and a
LED cross whose origin may stretch back
to the days of the Knights Templar
to date six men have d*ed trying to
solve the mystery
and according to legend one more will
have to die before the treasure can be
found
[Music]
as a new day begins on Oak Island and as
the excavation of borehole h continues
at the money pit site
Brothers Marty and Rick lagina check in on their extensive
search operations at Smith's Cove have
you figured this out yet
it's a lot to figure we're closing in on
a few points Warren and Laird
how are you buddy good Barney how are
you good Jerry
well you guys have made a hell of a mess
here oh yeah you just got down to where
you can see things that's all a lot of
people thought that this was a very
significant place to do something put a
lot of effort in to put a lot of effort
it's very strange
shortly after the excavation of Smith's
Cove began six weeks ago
the Oak Island team quickly made a
series of incredible and often baffling
discoveries among them a number of
massive wooden structures one featuring
large notched beams marked with Roman
numerals and another in the shape of an
L the team also uncovered the remains of
what appears to be an ancient slipway
used for hauling ships into and out of
the water and a mysterious concrete wall
we don't understand some of these
structures we've found all kinds of
crazy things walls and slipways and
concrete walls that we didn't even know
existed and all of it massive and all of
it looking like it took an enormous
effort to do all of it underwater very
very puzzling right there see the
opening yeah two flat rocks laid
together like a triangle but perhaps the
most significant discovery so far is
what Rick and Marty believe could be the
remains of one of what were reported to
be five stone box drains designed as a
means of booby trapping the money pit
with seawater the odd thing from the
spillway we found really nice ceramics
from down at the East End it slaughter
or searcher yeah searcher early searcher
so could they possibly have done all
this without really concrete proof of
the box drains it seems hard to believe
doesn't I mean yeah could they have done
this on conjecture where's the so-called
convergence point we don't know where it
comes in I thought we would find
something here was some sort of
alignment coming in although Rick and
Marty are excited by all their other
discoveries at Smith's Cove unearthing
one of the stone box drains has given
them hope of finding what they refer to
as the convergence point the place where
each of the five box drains joined
together
if it is located it could lead the team
directly to the original money pit
treasure vault if it were the Box trains
if we can actually prove that it was a
way to get water from Smith's Cove to
the money pit since it's a huge
discovery well one thing is extremely
consistent nothing makes sense as the
excavation continues at Smith's Cove
just across the bay from Oak Island in
the town of western shore Nova Scotia
good morning morning how are you today
Craig tester and Jack Begley arrived at
the Oak Island marina they have arranged
to meet with an oceanic survey team from
the center of Geographic Sciences also
known as cogs I'm looking forward to
being able to scan from the south end of
the island if some of the theories are
that that that was kind of an old flood
system that went out there although it
has long been believed that the origin
of the booby-trapped flood tunnels
system could be found at Smith's Cove
Craig tester is equally intrigued by a
theory held by journalist and author
Randall Sullivan which suggests that a
second set of flood tunnels might be
found on the islands southern shore just
east of the triangle-shaped swamp I'm
certain that the real core stones in the
flood tunnel is you knowing way offshore
you know on the south side
so what are we running today well so
what we have up here is a lidar scanner
okay
so that is going to actually take a scan
of the shoreline of Oak Island okay and
then we'll be running a side-scan fish
right from the court here on the stern
so anything that looks man-made it'll
pick it up okay sounds great
using state-of-the-art marine imaging
equipment the team from cogs will employ
both sound and laser based technologies
to scan the waters surrounding Oak
Island if successful they might be able
to find evidence of manmade formations
up to feet beneath the seabed
turning turning are we getting ready to
do some lines yeah
we're lining up okay are you going
east-west lines or north-south right now
we're doing north-south lines but we
actually have east-west in there as well
plus you're gonna do both yeah great
start reporting start reporting we're
recording the team will scan along a
total of some lines arranged five
meters apart in a systematic grid
pattern which will allow them to totally
encompass the islands coastal area
and ER what deaf do you have . you
guys getting rocks
I can't see anything what's your depth
right now two and a half got some rocks
quite a bit of raw
there's like a line of rocks but that's
not necessarily
that's interesting yeah I'm finally
seeing something yeah cuz almost looks
like there's a hole down through stuff
will come up there's definitely a
distinctive line there
yeah okay turn it
I almost look big it could be a caved-in
area or something that's still there now
that right there looks like some sort of
shaped like it could be van me
okay
while scanning the waters off the south
shore of Oak Island Craig tester and
Jack Begley along with the team from the
center of geographic Sciences have just
made what could be an exciting discovery
an offshore hole located in the same
area where author and researcher Randall
Sullivan believes there could be a
second booby-trapped flood tunnels
system that feeds ocean water to the
money pit
now that right there looks like some
very light material and the depression
love that very anything oh yeah so you
don't know of anything that's in here do
you some of the ice holes could be here
in this area okay during the winter of
veteran treasure hunter dan
Blankenship was conducting an operation
in the money pit area which involved
pumping water out of recently drilled
bore holes into the ocean just off the
islands southern shore but shortly after
the operation began dan was astonished
to notice four of what he described as
ice holes circular depressions in the
ice that he thought might have been
caused by underground caves or man-made
tunnels could the anomaly Craig and Jack
are seen on the ocean floor be further
evidence that his second flood tunnel
system really exists
on one line we saw what I could have
been like an edge of an ice hole really
but that's what I mean there was suppose
a for isil's yeah they should be right
here right should be in this area yeah
you have to look at that after
processing to see if it jumps out
morning we're getting real-time images
coming back but there's a lot of noise
associated with it it's just like you're
turned into a radio station and he kind
of can hear the music but there's a lot
of noise well she can take it back and
process it and get rid of that noise you
get a nice clear image what's the next
line NS + c recording recording
and see anything what's out on the
right-hand side there well right there
you can see there's clearly something
there that doesn't look like it could be
natural it's very angular almost like an
anchor an anchor from a ship although
finding an anchor in the waters of
Mahone Bay is not a surprising discovery
if it can be successfully identified and
proves to be from an era prior to the
discovery of the money pit in it
could offer important clues that might
help the team solve the Oak Island
mystery so we're thinking that that
thing was probably wada it's about yay
long or something I think that's the
approximate size of one that's supposed
to be yeah and then once you guys go
through the post-processing you should
have the exact location of that object
good you know on the scans today we
definitely saw some anomalies out there
so I'm eager to see what they come up
with once they start processing this
data I mean if we come up with a
shipwreck or we come up with one of
these ice holes the next step is to get
a diver out there and keep on searching
this keep on tying the ocean to the
island itself post-processing
bring something out
at the start of another day on Oak
Island good morning Rick lagina has
invited other members of the Oak Island
team to join him in the w*r room so
gentlemen as you see before you we have
a you know a number of items here and
they're all from age th certainly has
rendered the most significant objects
and in the entire money pit exploration
[Music]
of all the exploratory bore holes
drilled at the money pit site the one
that is the most intriguing is the one
simply known as a chain
last year while drilling at this site
Rick and his brother Marty along with
other members of the Oak Island team
found evidence of parchment leather
bookbinding and two fragments of th
century human bone one which was
determined to be of European origin and
another whose DNA could be traced to the
Middle East Paul if you want to see if
dr. Russo hello dr. Bruce all dr. Bruce
oh we're back dr. Krista Bruce oh he's
an analytical chemist in residence at
st. Mary's University in Halifax she has
been invited by Rick and the team to
evaluate several of the recent finds
made in h to see if any of them
contained precious metal human remains
or other materials that can be proven to
be older than the discovery of the money
pit you know we're all very excited for
you to render an opinion about these
objects so if you'd be kind enough to
let us know what you found out
sure I can walk you through these
objects so when you send me these
objects they came with a number and also
what you thought they might be question
mark mm-hmm so I guess we'll start with
sample
that was a sample that you were
wondering if it was a bone and then had
some fibers on it mm-hmm so that came
back as iron rich in sulfur it has about
seven percent sulfur and so I would
think of that as being a slag sort of
cast off from a poor refining process so
it's sort of metal slag metal slag
created when metal is extracted from raw
or slag is most often found near
foundries or other places where smelting
is conducted because it is made part
officially it is rarely as in the case
of Oak Island found deep underground
yeah I mean a slag is not that strange
but I guess being founded depth might be
so the next sample sample you
indicated that you thought it might be
leather mm-hmm
that is definitely plant material I can
clearly see the plant vasculature in the
electron micrograph so that could be
just tree bark okay okay
sample you had indicated you thought
it might be leather it's not leather
it's again a plant based material this
is likely to be a piece of tree per
I expected a whole lot more leather this
year and these were the best pieces that
we were able to find okay moving on
sample so I did infrared spectroscopy
on it and it is cellulose based it came
back as all organic
it is very fibrous so under the
microscope looks like paper and so our
indication at that point was that it
that wasn't parchment but a cotton right
beaker which would be an older form of
paper rag paper as early as the th
century AD the first paper produced
throughout medieval Europe was made
entirely from linen and cotton scraps
known more commonly as rags by the mid
th century rag paper was much more
commonly used in the production of books
and manuscripts often bound together
with more durable parchment
when treasure hunters William Chappell
and Frederick Blair drilled into what
they believed to be a wooden vault in
they discovered a tiny piece of
parchment that had the letters V I
written on it could this piece of rag
paper found more than feet deep be
evidence that books or even original
manuscripts might have been buried in
the money pit centuries ago
okay sample this is also paper it's
more contaminated this particular sample
is certainly three Wow
what would we do what further testing
methodologies would we apply to to date
it well probably what I would do is have
I looked at by someone who works with
papers historical papers well dr. BIR so
thank you for your time we really
appreciate it
we hope to send you some gold soon for
testing already speaking of that let's
get back to you
following their informative meeting in
the oak island w*r room jack begley and
gary drayton joined Marty lagina Craig
tester and dan henskee at the h drill
site they are eager to examine the
spoils recently excavated from the shaft
in search of any additional artifacts
and hopefully pieces of treasure
plastic plastic maybe
Oh what thick that is that's a pottery
big chunk of pottery it's a blue yeah
damn sure is
Wow that's interesting yeah
it's game time because every bucket that
comes up might lead us to some
conclusions and help us with the hunt it
might lead us to where we want to go and
where we want to go is to find the
original money limestone lots of it yeah
this looks like pretty recent lumber
like within the last hundred years or so
it's all cleaned and cut perfectly
square that tends to be searchers
proving or something mm-hmm I'm not
seeing anything Jackie there we go
this looks like organic material and it
doesn't look like bark I think this is
leather that's a really good piece of it
because you can see all the fibrous
material definitely bag that one okay I
will beg it anyway I have to look at
everything yep
what is it boy yes Wow
that is an old beautiful square man yeah
that's nice good fun how does this
compare to the other spikes we found in
the money a different usage these were
mainly used for planking if I was a
maritime nail that would be a deck in
nail a decking nail from a ship but how
would a deck email come to be found at a
depth of some feet
in the years after Daniel McGinnis and
two friends discovered the original
money pit in many began to
speculate that the wood used to
construct the treasure shaft may have
come from a large ship possibly a pirate
ship or Spanish galleon according to
this theory it was done both to build
the ship and to hide all evidence of the
craft that transported the treasure to
the island
could the discovery of a ship's nail
found in the h spoils b*at evidence
that this incredible theory is true we
haven't actually found this tide before
this is the first one it is we could be
in the original money pit that yep
that might be a really good sign yeah
I'm gonna tag him back this squid now
really good fine as the operation at age
continues we're here Alex lagina and
historian Doug crawl travel some
miles to the nearby city of Halifax
where they have arranged a meeting at
the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design
Hey Joe Joe Joe Landry is considered an
expert in the study and restoration of
ancient manuscripts he has been invited
to follow up on information recently
received from dr. Christopher O soul at
Saint Mary's University which indicated
that the small fragments of paper
recently found in the h spoils had been
made of cotton rags
well thanks for taking the time to sit
down with us again know we have a few
things that we'd love your expertise on
we were a step ahead and we already
checked to see if it was parchment we
got a negative tell me what you think
this is
certainiy feels like paper but we think
this came from feet below or a
little deeper this was underground for
you know maybe a couple hundred years is
it plausible that it would be in that
state if it was deep underground and wet
there's probably very little oxygen
getting getting at it and perhaps lots
of many microbes and insects to eat eat
it away so yeah it could be it could be
very old and could be original is what
that sounds like yes yes that's great
yeah
it's very different from the other piece
so I think to me it seems to be a
different material so I'll just actually
hand it to you because it might fall out
some color here right the interest you
don't see whether it's an ink or a page
or something I'm hoping that there's
maybe some traces of writing on there
yeah it should be impossible to say
unless unless we open it up right
I think that's there's no reason not to
do that in my opinion yeah I would wet
it again in order to unfold it you don't
want to do that dry because you're
damaged the paper right we'd love to
have you taking a closer look
certainly it's difficult to think of a
reason for paper to be feet down in
the money pit area if Joe is able to
unfold this paper and if it's got
writing on it it's gonna be a really
really important clue working with his
apprentice Katherine Taylor Joe Landry
soaks both of the paper fragments in
water we've started the process of
soaking it to make it pliable so we can
open it up right
the sample is then carefully manipulated
using surgical forceps in an effort to
determine if any possible writing or
important clues could still be visible
it looks like this is folded but it's
almost like there's something adhering
inside definitely seems like there's a
crease there and binding it could it be
that this tiny fragment of paper is not
a piece from a single document but part
of a page from an ancient book any
thoughts on the the coloration of that
sometimes they deliberately colored
paper in book bindings or end papers or
something of that nature what can you
infer from what you've seen so far is it
an older type of paper it appears so if
you look through the lens looks very
very even do you mind if I have a look
here what does that even s indicate to
you well could indicate either a wou
paper or a piece of thin cloth if it's a
wolf paper then we know that it's post
or maybe you've been earlier you
can see the fibers but we can't see
anything else all the dates seem to be
centered around the mid to late s
and it fits really nicely with the
origin story of Oak Island really you
know the discovery of freshmen in
the ground fits really well with a bunch
of activity to years before
we have this other piece as well which
in a way it's even more interesting
because there's color involved and it
does I think there it could be there's
certainly a red spot here we don't know
what that is whether it's a matter that
it picked up in the ground almost looks
like a speck of red ink right let that
line there cuz like a line to me oh yes
right here yes
if you look through the loop here he
definitely looks like a mark online
doesn't it no for sure I'd like to
investigate the ink yeah I don't know
that we're seeing anything here that's
going to be a lot of help
no the ideal situation would be to get
it hooked up to a microscope well it's a
camera do you have a microscope here no
oh we don't okay so maybe that's our
next step hopefully you'd be able to
tell us maybe how old it might be or yes
or what it purpose yeah
well for now I think we packed this up
although Alexander Gard is appointed
that Joe Landry was not able to make a
more conclusive evaluation they are now
more convinced than ever that the red
markings on the paper are inked and that
both fragments could be hundreds of
years old I can't thank you guys enough
oh you're welcome really appreciate it
thank you very much
as a new day dawns on Oak Island
all kinds of what dissin bet it is Rick
lagina and Craig tester continue to
carefully examine the spoils being
retrieved from borehole h
you know he'll know
can is long
[Music]
and fell
keep seeing her go what's going on
we should be ground there and there's
not
the other grounds gone
oh that light over here you see see
right back there
looks crazy in there they're worried we
should be worried
it's Cavin kV is it possible that the h
shaft has started to collapse in on
itself
we do have some caving in around the
shaft we're starting to get voids under
the oscillator
doll news it looks like it's about
inches ish down all the way around and
then it's kind of falling out so we got
a slowdown nothing comforting the more
what you're seeing comforting for Rick
and Craig a cave-in of the h shaft is a
potentially devastating development if
the Earth's surrounding the drill site
is severely compromised it could be a
warning sign that a much larger and much
more catastrophic collapse could happen
at any moment
huge collapse but it is you can see that
it's it's moved away from the deck
yeah but this has been Swiss cheese
right so many people have drilled in
here yeah that's not good for the past
two centuries more than bore holes
shafts and tunnels have been dug
throughout the money pit area by
searchers hoping to avoid the booby
traps protecting the bottom of the money
pit as each excavation inevitably failed
due to flooding the holes were filled
back in leaving the ground compromised
and unstable if the cave-in surrounding
a chain continues to expand it could
cause a collapse through the entire
money pit area
the team's search operation
definitely subsiding sir there's no
question about that yeah there there
were all this work all the research and
it may come down to we can't continue
as the team from Erving equipment
limited continues to inspect the cabin
around borehole h
some fifty miles northeast of Oak Island
in the city of Halifax hello again Joe
nice to see you sir good to see you
Marty lagina and researcher Doug crawl
have arranged to meet once again with
medieval book expert Joe Landry at st.
Mary's University they are hoping that
the high-powered microscopes and other
sophisticated equipment available at the
University will give them valuable
information concerning the small piece
of rag paper recently recovered from the
h h aft well gentlemen furgus Joe let's
do it working with lab technician Fergus
Tweeddale the team will analyze the
paper sample using a polarized light
microscope capable of magnifying objects
up to times their actual size so
we'll start with a times
magnification view of it so there's the
top surface can you go to the edge
Fergus one may be able to see something
more there yeah that's a good idea
who's that that make no red dye right
there you can see yes that's what made
this piece so interesting because it
doesn't seem to have something printed
on it that's the closest thing to fibers
that we've seen so far that's for sure
but I mean this is a ribbed edge so the
orientation probably isn't telling you
anything that's really you know what it
looked like when it was made that's true
I think that if you could go to low
magnification before we leave that one
yeah
[Music]
that's times magnification
almost looks crystalline yeah it does
this crystalline substance that we're
seeing here that you think might be
pigment are their pigments made of
material that would give this appearance
well we certainly know it's early ink
probably a medieval or Renaissance ink
red for instance would be cinnabar
cinnabar as early as the th century AD
the red colored mineral known as
Cinnabon was a key component in the
manufacture of a type of ink that was
used throughout medieval Europe most
notably in the production of important
documents and religious manuscripts
could this simple fragment of paper
found in h be evidence that it along
with the other pieces of leather
bookbinding recovered from the shaft is
of medieval origin so you're seeing
Stu
, on the outside when somebody like
Joe Landry who basically has been
involved in paper their whole lives says
that it could be medieval an expert's
opinion like that has wait I find that
highly significant all right well thank
you guys really appreciate it welcome
let's appreciate your time
Fergus a pleasure nice meeting you
John if you were to guess how deep would
you say that is around KB more
inches definitely over there because
there's about a foot and that looks way
deeper on this side deep enough scare me
worried because they think it's gonna
collapse yeah they're they're worried
it is a tense and critical moment at the
Oak Island money pit as Rick lagina and
Craig tester a way to report from
representatives of Irving equipment
limited about the consequences of the
cave-in that is developed around
borehole h any benefit in flying the
oscillator off right now and he can just
keep crabbing
we're not gonna oscillate on that can
anymore it's probably a good plan
so what's your concern so we're gonna
need it stop oscillating on this we can
definitely continue today with the
camera graph oh really yes we can hold
but we want to go forward with caution
yes the worst case scenario would be to
continue here compromise the integrity
here in this general area it's
concerning enough that I think we're
doing the right thing but it's not
concerning enough that we're evacuating
and run everyone's moving out of here
right this minute
but as long as we're getting full
buckets and we're still bringing up wood
and things like we want to keep going ok
hard to walk away right now
yeah because continuing to oscillate the
a chain shaft would risk a larger and
potentially more dangerous collapse
underground Rick and Craig are hoping
that by carefully excavating a chain
with a three-ton hammer grab tool they
may still be able to recover important
clues or treasure without causing
further damage the good news is the hole
is not increasing neither in depth nor
width so I'm thinking this is a very
localized subsidence and we can deal
with it so I'm quite happy about that
let's start hammer grabbing again
later that night after receiving an
urgent call from Charles Barkhouse Rick
lagina hurries to the money pit drill
site yeah looking at here piece of stone
cave in there the cabin that occurred
around the h shaft earlier today has
suddenly become a much larger sinkhole a
sinkhole that is now growing at an
alarming rate you can hear rumblings
underground and I have no idea what's
about to happen let's go take a look
let's do this
Eisen boots I agree we know the
integrity of the earth if you will is
you know it's compromised Oh baby
be careful
Valis you
[Music]
hang on one second
I'm worried I'll be honest with you I my
thoughts run - we may be done
[Music]
after a harrowing and near sleepless
night on Oak Island brothers Rick and
Marty lagina along with their partner
Craig tester and Dave Blankenship make
their way back to the money pit area
they have come to see if the sinkhole
that opened up at the AJ drill site has
gotten any worse how bad last night when
I got there it was about six feet across
I called Mike dirty he arranged to have
two of his crew come they moved the
crane I moved the excavator in the
backhoe because there was some thought
that it was gonna continue to subside
you know when Danny came this morning he
had ideas that the case was gonna be
like this then yeah sure sure the
powerpack could be hanging by the hoses
off of the oscillator well let's go have
a look
[Music]
you do to our whole gentleman everything
is your fault you realize hey guys hey
alright let's have a look alright
how bad
eight feet deep but loving feet across
this fell in last night peace just fell
right in its undermined already careful
it is a little dicey on the lip yeah and
I'm glad nobody got hurt boy definitely
found its way to the top yeah good thing
nobody was standing over that when I
went in this is no good the further
collapse of the ground surrounding the
h shaft is deeply concerning for Rick
Marty and their partners it could mean
that the entire area is now too unstable
for the ton crane and oscillator to
continue working and that a catastrophic
collapse could be imminent I'll be
honest it was of some concern that we
were in jeopardy I'm worried if we can't
get to that work and get it done
completed we're gonna be in trouble
there are voids underneath here there
are yeah you put a bunch of shafts in
the same area and be pulling them and
moving them and all that stuff one gets
into Sun water you're gonna get settling
we just were eroding it away underneath
there yes there still is a danger at any
time and we will see this yes that's
right
well I hate to say it but one of these
days we're all gonna be standing here
and just disappear it's a decent
possibility at any point that the whole
money pit area could collapse it's not
just lip service when we say safety is
paramount out here I mean this is a very
dangerous place it's a very dangerous
undertaking and we have to minimize it
we're all about safety Ricky said it a
million times we're not gonna do
anything foolish
okay well then the key is to wait for
the engineer to come render an opinion
and hopefully proceed so that's the plan
guys for Rick Marty and the Oak Island
team a week that began with great
promise now ends with the most
devastating setback they've ever
experienced but is the money pit area
collapsing as the result of more than
two centuries of searchers digging here
or is something more mysterious and
perilous happening like the flood
tunnels could Rick and Marty have
encountered yet another ingeniously
designed booby trap one that was set to
be triggered if anyone got too close if
so perhaps it is a sign that the
brothers are closer than they think to
solving this year old mystery a
mystery whose origins might be linked to
a simple piece of paper placed there for
safekeeping
centuries ago next time on the curse of
Oak Island
it's time to redo the dye test we're
gonna get everybody lined out here real
quick see if that red dye comes out and
we're we're ready to begin let's do this
there's no treasure in the world worth
anyone getting perfect there's some
weird anomaly in the water one is if we
get red dye is this cold I might be
gonna believer
oh I think I see it that's the red guy
06x14 - Voyage to the Bottom of the Cenote
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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.