NARRATOR: Tonight on The Curse of Oak Island...
SCOTT: There’s a big layer of rocks
right across this whole area.
Just like the paved area.
This looks clearly man-made.
We have got an hit.
I’m hoping it’s a big jewelry box down here.
Look at that.
It could be one of the stones
from a Masonic High Priest breastplate,
who had buried the Ark of the Covenant on Oak Island
centuries ago.
GARY: Holy schmoly! Heads up!
The vault-- we’re about 30 feet above it right now.
NARRATOR: There is an island in the North Atlantic
where people have been looking for
an incredible treasure for more than 200 years.
So far, they have found a stone slab
with strange symbols carved into it...
...man-made workings that date to medieval times,
and a lead cross whose origin may be connected
to the Knights Templar.
To date, six men have died
trying to solve the mystery.
And according to legend, one more will have to die
before the treasure can be found.
♪ ♪
-PETER: There’s some wood. -GARY: Yep.
-CHARLES: There’s no mistaking that one. -GARY: No.
NARRATOR: A morning of renewed excitement
has begun on Oak Island,
as brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with their team,
press forward in their quest
to solve a 227-year-old mystery.
How deep are we, Ian?
Somewhere between 72 and 74 with the excavation.
You know, we got some wood up higher,
but it was just chewed-up pieces.
But now this is 70 feet and onwards.
Much bigger.
RICK: Really? Wow.
NARRATOR: Working with representatives
from Irving Equipment Limited and ROC Equipment,
the team is currently excavating a ten-foot-diameter shaft
in the Money Pit area known as D.M.T.-2.
It is a shaft that may not only be on course
to intercept the original treasure shaft
but also a seven-foot-high, concrete-encased box
known as the Chappell Vault,
which was first reported by treasure hunters
at a depth of 153 feet back in 1897.
It was just adjacent to this location where prominent
Oak Island treasure hunter and Freemason Gilbert Hedden
dug his own 12-by-24-foot shaft in 1937,
hoping to reach the vault.
But unfortunately he had to abandon the effort at a depth of
just 124 feet when he ran out of funds to complete the project.
So, it feels as though we’re grazing the Hedden Shaft,
-and now we’re kind of coming back into it. -Yeah.
-Charles, is this-this consistent? -What’s up?
Yeah. Yeah.
I firmly believe that that shaft is collapsed on the east side.
But we will cut into the shield and the shoe
-once we get to depth, so... -Right.
And that’s quarter-inch steel
that it’s gonna have to go through, so...
I already made mention of that to Danny.
-And he said, "No problem." So... -Okay.
NARRATOR: When Gilbert Hedden constructed his massive
124-foot-deep wooden shaft,
he installed a heavy metal plate at the bottom,
along with a six-foot-high brace-- or shield--
in order to secure the structure into the ground.
If the Oak Island team does encounter
the Hedden Shaft’s shield, it will offer hope
that they are on course to recover the legendary vault
that Gilbert Hedden was unable to reach.
How much water’s in there?
A lot. It’s kind of interesting, ’cause Danny said
that he hasn’t seen it move that fast
in any of the other cans we’ve put in.
So, part of me wonders if we’re getting down to a...
a depth, or close to a depth,
where there’s a lot of hydraulic conductivity,
be it shafts or be it tunnels.
Those things are moving around.
Maybe that’s why the water came so quickly up.
And that can is near where we got the high trace gold.
Right.
NARRATOR: Two other factors that make Rick,
Marty and their partner Craig Tester
especially optimistic that Gilbert Hedden was on track
to making a major discovery
are that just two years ago
they themselves unearthed a concrete-like substance
potentially related to the Chappell Vault
in this very same area.
And just this year, they also obtained
elevated traces of both silver and gold
while conducting water tests in previously drilled boreholes.
RICK: It’s possible that at 150 feet,
it’s where the vault would reside.
But there is one other data point
that is certainly of interest, and that is that
there was high gold and silver levels
in the water sample within the confines of D.M.T.-2.
So, is it saying that this might be
the area where the Money Pit actually is?
The data points are supportive of something being done there.
GARY: We got more wood coming up.
-Morning, Rick. -Hey, Andrew.
How we doing this morning?
-Good. How are you? -Good, good.
-What’s the word? -We’re getting there.
We’re really pushing forward here. Um...
Danny’s pressures don’t seem to be spiking right now,
which is a good indication
for us that we’re into wood right now.
RICK: Right. Well,
we’re spot-on location-wise. Hopefully around 150 feet,
-give or take, there might be something. -Yep.
MARTY: I wish we had definitive data,
but we’re going to learn things as we dig deeper.
We c-certainly aren’t gonna stop till we get
to about 150 to search for this vault.
From here on, we need to be constantly vigilant
-about what’s coming up out of the can. -Yeah.
Talking about what’s come up, we got another load in the bins.
Okay, off you go.
GARY: See what we got in this one.
NARRATOR: While Rick Lagina continues
to supervise the excavation of D.M.T.-2...
...later that morning...
STEVE G.: All right, guys. It’s just right up here.
NARRATOR: ...metal detection expert Gary Drayton,
along with Jack Begley and surveyor Steve Guptill,
arrive on Lot 8.
Located on the western side of the island,
Lot 8 has continued to produce compelling clues
that may be critical in helping to solve
the Oak Island mystery.
All right. So, this is the anomaly.
-Okay. -As you can see, it’s an indentation.
There does seem to be some sort of a depression in the ground.
Yeah! So, I’m gonna say this is probably one
of the most interesting anomalies we’ve had this year.
And it’s just strictly based on the data.
There is a VLF hit right here, so that just means
there’s something going on under the surface.
NARRATOR: Three months ago,
in an effort to vet a reported 14th century map of Oak Island
that the late author and researcher Zena Halpern believed
to have been created by members of the Knights Templar,
the team conducted a magnetometry survey
that identified a large metallic anomaly
buried more than ten feet underground.
Since then, they have unearthed several near-surface artifacts,
including a ship-making tool
that could date back to as early as 1500 AD.
And just one week ago,
Rick Lagina, Oak Island historian Paul Troutman,
and members of the team identified more evidence
of several possible buried objects
using ground penetrating radar.
So, we have a first anomaly at five feet,
second anomaly at 19, 20.
STEVE G.: So, the mag hit starts in this corner.
NARRATOR: Now the team is looking for more clues
that predate the discovery of the Money Pit in 1795
in order to obtain a government permit that would allow them
to conduct a large-scale excavation
of the mysterious anomalies.
GARY: I’m sure we’ll find some stuff here.
I’m hoping it’s a big jewelry box down here.
STEVE G.: Well, it’s gonna be something.
-JACK: Yeah. -I mean, this whole area is a hot spot.
-Yeah. -All right, guys. I got to run, though. Let me know.
-I hear you, mate. Cheers. -Thanks.
All right, let’s start gridding it out.
MARTY: Lot 8 clearly is anomalous.
Because of all the finds and because
of several things, like LIDAR and Zena’s map,
and there’s a mag anomaly there, too.
There’s a lot of iron in this area, for sure.
MARTY: All kinds of things that don’t make sense
’cause nobody ever lived there.
It makes you wonder what happened on Lot 8.
(beeping)
-We have got an hit. -Oh.
Right in the area that Steve last marked.
Right there, mate.
RICK: We’re trying to understand the whole island.
We’re trying to understand
everything as it relates to the story,
the mystery that is Oak Island.
It’s gonna be tough digging.
JACK: Yeah.
RICK: We know the Money Pit is of interest.
And now we have some new research and some new theories
that leads us to these other X-marks-the-spots.
(grunts)
-(beeping) -It’s out.
GARY: Yeah, and it’s quite a strong signal,
by the sound of it.
You’re on it.
Ooh.
Wow!
GARY: Wow! Look at that.
Let me see what this is. Let me put this away.
Yeah.
It’s heavy, heavy, heavy.
NARRATOR: While investigating an area on Lot 8
where a number of large objects may be buried deep,
more than ten feet underground...
Big chunky piece of iron.
JACK: That’s fantastic.
...metal detection expert Gary Drayton
and Jack Begley have just unearthed
a potentially important clue near the surface.
You see how it’s mushroomed there?
JACK: Oh, but it’s been beat on a bunch.
GARY: Oh, without a doubt, mate. Look.
That looks like it’s the head of it.
And the best way of describing this, it’s an iron rod.
-It could be a chisel. Yeah, exactly. -Top of a chisel. Yeah.
When you hold it in your hand like this,
you-you get the feeling that, yeah,
it could have been a chisel, mate.
This has got a swages
hand point chisel feel about it.
I think this is a very, very old piece of history
we’re holding in our hands, mate.
-That’s incredible. -Yeah.
Carmen dated the hand point chisel
and the swages back to the Middle Ages.
-Oh, really? -It was way back
to the 1400s, mate.
Well, then what the heck is going on in this area?
GARY: I don’t know, mate.
NARRATOR: Over the past three years...
-That looks old to me. That looks hand-forged. -Sure.
Huh.
...the team has not only recovered
a similar metal artifact near Smith’s Cove
on the eastern end of the island
but also two iron tools known as swages
here on the western side of the island...
...which blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge believed
to be of great significance.
For tunneling?
Wow. (chuckles)
Feel how heavy that is, mate.
NARRATOR: Could this iron object
that Gary and Jack have just found also be that old?
And if so, could it possibly be connected to the large anomalies
that have been detected much deeper below ground?
-JACK: It’s a cool find. -Yeah.
JACK: We’re finding more things
like swages and rock chisels and other objects
that lead to work being done
on the western side of the island,
previous to the discovery of the Money Pit.
So how are these tools related?
And why were people doing work on the western side?
Marked.
I’ll put the flag in.
But you know what, mate,
I think we should get this back
to the archaeology trailer now
so the guys can start working on this.
-Right away, yeah. -We’ll come back.
What a fantastic day.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: The following morning...
CHARLES: Now, there’s some good chunks.
...as the excavation of the D.M.T.-2 Shaft continues
in the Money Pit area...
-RICK: Morning, gentlemen. -ALEX: Hey, everybody.
-Hi, guys. -Hey, guys.
NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina and Craig Tester
have gathered members of the team in the war room
for a videoconference with Scott Clarke,
a 32nd degree Freemason
and Oak Island researcher from Toronto, Canada.
So, gentlemen, we all know Scott Clarke.
Morning, guys.
NARRATOR: Earlier this year,
Scott presented the team with his theory
that the 17th century English nobleman Sir William Phips
may have conspired with an American Freemason
named Andrew Belcher to hide a massive cache of silver
in the Money Pit sometime around 1687.
We very much look forward to your presentation.
NARRATOR: However, in light of the team’s recent finds made on Lot 8,
Rick has invited Scott to present new research connected
to another discovery that was made there three years ago,
the red garnet brooch,
which gemologist Charles Lewton-Brain believes
could date back more than four centuries.
I’ll pull it out
so that everyone can take a look at it.
At the time, I think we all
declared it to be the first piece of treasure
that had been found on Oak Island.
Mm-hmm.
RICK: It still is quite stunning.
I believe that the information you’ve...
come up with probably will reveal a lot more about it.
Uh, yeah, hopefully. I mean,
I-I know you keep referring it-- to it as, uh... a brooch.
I have a different possible interpretation.
So, I’ve always believed that the key
to the Oak Island mystery lies within the equally enigmatic
and cryptic brotherhood of Freemasonry.
So, as I had thought more about this garnet,
it occurred to me that it was actually the perfect color,
size and general shape as one of the stones
from a Masonic Royal Arch High Priest breastplate.
In Freemasonry, the 13th degree of the Scottish Rite
is called the Royal Arch of Enoch
or Royal Arch of Solomon.
The High Priest is essentially the head
of the Masonic Royal Arch chapter
and wears these Royal Arch breastplates
in a specific Masonic ritual
meant to mimic the breastplate of judgment
worn by the biblical high priests.
So, the making of the original breastplate
is described in the Book of Exodus in the Bible.
On it were 12 precious and semiprecious stones
arranged in four rows of three,
representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
According to the King James translation of the Bible,
one of these 12 stones was stated
as being a carbuncle, or deep red gemstone.
Nowadays, a carbuncle is most often associated
with a red garnet like the one found on Oak Island.
So, I superimposed the Oak Island garnet and setting
over one of the breastplate stones.
I think you can see here it’s very similar
to the ones on the other plate.
ALEX: That matches pretty well.
Pretty well.
But what would a Masonic Royal Arch
High Priest breastplate be doing on Oak Island?
NARRATOR: Ever since the Money Pit was discovered in 1795,
the secretive fraternity known as the Freemasons,
which many researchers claim descended
from the medieval order of the Knights Templar,
have been closely tied to the Oak Island mystery.
Several of their members,
such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
have not only led various treasure hunting companies,
but various Masonic and Templar symbols
have also been found across the island,
symbols that include crosses, triangles
and carvings of the letter "G," representing the divine creator.
RICK: I think well and truly it has been proved
that the Masons had an interest in Oak Island.
But what does that mean?
Does that mean they were here watching over it?
Does that mean they were here searching for something?
Does it mean they were here protecting something?
So, connections to Royal Arch Freemasonry in Nova Scotia
go back at least 250 years.
The breastplates they would have had
may also have been quite old,
having been passed down within lodges.
One High Priest
was intimately connected to Oak Island
in the early 20th century
and would also have worn one of these very rare breastplates
during certain Masonic Royal Arch rituals.
As it turns out, Melbourne R. Chappell
was Grand High Priest from 1954 to 1956.
Chappell was also a longtime Oak Island landowner
and treasure trove license holder
and even owned Lot 8,
where the garnet and setting were found.
Mel first became involved with Oak Island,
of course, when he worked with his father
William Chappell in 1931.
NARRATOR: Born and raised in Sydney, Nova Scotia,
M.R. Chappell was the primary owner of Oak Island
from 1950 to 1977.
However, his connection
to the treasure mystery began in 1897,
when he was just a child.
That year, his father William
drilled into the massive box deep in the Money Pit
that would come to be known as the Chappell Vault.
Although he was never able to recover the treasure
that his father believed he’d encountered,
is it possible that M.R. Chappell
came to have secret knowledge
through his position as a Freemason
about what may be buried on Oak Island?
There’s always the possibility that any earlier Masons
prior to 1795 made use of certain Masonic rituals
to hide an actual sacred treasure on the island.
So, Mel Chappell may have actually had
a Masonic Royal Arch breastplate on Oak Island
for the purpose of acting out a Masonic ritual.
The breastplate was used in a specific Masonic ritual
meant to mimic the retrieval of the Ark of the Covenant
from a secret vault underground.
CLARKE: These breastplates, they were used in a specific
Masonic ritual meant to mimic
the retrieval of the Ark of the Covenant
from a secret vault underground.
Wow.
NARRATOR: In the war room,
32nd degree Freemason Scott Clarke
has presented the team with his theory
that the semiprecious garnet found four years ago on Lot 8
may have been connected to a Masonic ritual
and also to one of the most sought-after
missing religious artifacts in history.
CLARKE: But would there have been any reason for Chappell
to have potentially conducted Masonic rituals on Oak Island?
The answer is yes.
In the earliest days of Freemasonry,
these rituals were meant to be as realistic as possible.
It is held once each year on the Day of Atonement
in a very secret place, underground,
with neither door nor window, with a trapdoor at top.
In fact, the description of this vault,
with its nine arches, sounds almost identical
to the early accounts of the Oak Island Money Pit,
with its alleged layers every ten feet, down to 90 feet.
It’s possible these guys were...
doing the ritual to hide something.
Or perhaps Chappell or any earlier Masons
were ritually paying homage to their predecessors,
the Knights Templar, who they knew had buried
the Ark of the Covenant on Oak Island centuries ago.
NARRATOR: From the 11th to the 12th century AD,
the military order of monks known
as the Knights Templar operated in the Holy Land
to protect Christian pilgrims during the Crusades.
Their base of operation was established on Temple Mount,
the site of the original Temple of King Solomon
and the last known location of the Ark of the Covenant.
In 1307, the order
was disbanded by Pope Clement V
and persecuted by King Philip IV of France.
Some researchers have speculated
that this was done in order to confiscate their treasures,
including the lost ark.
However, 18 Templar ships
are believed to have escaped from La Rochelle, France,
loaded with the order’s priceless valuables.
Is it possible that researchers such as Scott Clarke
and the late Zena Halpern
have been correct in their belief
that the Templars hid their treasures,
including the Ark of the Covenant, on Oak Island?
And if so, could the proof lie buried on Lot 8?
It’s very interesting, Scott.
You’ve thought outside the box, and there are ways to follow up.
If the garnet found specifically on a lot once owned
by Freemasons can be proven to be from a Masonic breastplate,
there could actually be other items on Lot 8
which could turn out to have Masonic significance.
RICK: Is that possible,
as Scott suspects, that that indicates
a depositional chamber for religious artifacts?
It’s certainly possible.
But you have to take the theory
and put it in the field.
Could this be related to the Lot 8 anomaly?
Perhaps.
I think a dig is warranted.
I think the suggestion, from what you found, Scott,
is that there may be a stronger Masonic connection
than we realized.
Chappell was actively engaged in the treasure hunt,
spending money looking for treasure here.
So it makes sense that he knows
there’s something here somewhere.
Yeah.
To me, it goes together.
CRAIG: I think it’s very interesting.
Just realizing how many people of significant importance
in the Freemasons
were involved with Oak Island is-is amazing itself.
And then this specific brooch might be part
of that breastplate is very interesting.
RICK: Scott, we will do some follow-up,
and we will certainly stay in touch
and let you know if we find out anything at all.
Sounds good.
RICK: All right.
Well, thank you very much.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: The following morning...
RICK: Just gonna get
-that piece of wood there. -Yeah.
...while Rick Lagina oversees the excavation
at the Money Pit...
...Marty Lagina joins Jack Begley,
Gary Drayton and members of the team on Lot 8.
Well, it’s time to dig, huh, guys?
-Yep. -Yep.
NARRATOR: After following up
with the authorities,
they have been granted permission
to conduct a five-foot-deep excavation
at the site of the mysterious anomalies.
The OKM says there is an anomaly here at five feet and one at 20.
But if I can get you down five,
-that thing might say something. -GARY: Oh, yeah.
This’ll get us another five.
The GPX 5000.
It’s pulse induction, mate.
-This is Big Bertha. -Yeah.
NARRATOR: If they succeed
in finding evidence of human activity,
they can apply for a permit
that would allow for a much deeper
-investigation. -MARTY: All right!
-What do you say we dig? -GARY: Yeah. -SCOTT: Let’s do it.
GARY: Okay, mate. I’ll get settled.
MARTY: What I would really like to see as I’m digging
is something that is buried there
of significance. So...
obviously, a chamber of some sort would be fabulous.
So, you know, to hit metal,
to hit concrete,
to hit wood, even.
To find wood here,
say five feet down, would be gigantically significant.
It would be hiding something.
And of course, every bucket,
you’re always looking for signs of treasure.
That’s a heck of a lot of rocks.
We’re in nothing but rock.
Yeah, I noticed all those rocks coming up.
Looked like someone had filled this area.
All of this here?
It all looks like it’s fill.
It’s disturbed.
SCOTT: It’s just like
the paved area. There’s just a big layer of rocks
right across this whole area.
NARRATOR: A possible paved area?
In 2019, while conducting
an excavation in the middle of the swamp...
Looked like deeper paved area.
Like multiple rocks?
Yeah. A stacking of rocks.
...Billy Gerhardt uncovered a massive stone-paved area
stretching across the middle of the brackish bog...
Holy crow.
I think something’s really important here.
...which geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner carbon-dated
to as early as 1200 AD.
Although the team has yet to determine
that feature’s purpose,
could this feature here on Lot 8
have been created to conceal the large anomalies
that have been detected deeper below?
And if so, could it be evidence
that Scott Clarke’s incredible theory
about a priceless treasure connected to the Knights Templar
is true?
-Is it disturbed more this way? -LAIRD: Yeah.
-So I should go that way? -Yeah.
(whirring)
(creaking)
That’s a pretty big rock.
(creaking)
Come out of there.
(groans)
(shuts off engine)
That boulder is a bit like an iceberg, isn’t it?
-(chuckling) -Yeah.
There’s a lot going on down there.
Wouldn’t you say, almost for sure, that’s been dug before?
-It looks like it’s been disturbed there. -JACK: Oh.
LAIRD: But you see all the organics
below the boulder.
MARTY: Mm-hmm. It suggests
that somebody dug, then pulled the rock and put it there.
GARY: I just know there’s got to be something deeper.
Could be an hatch.
LAIRD: This might lead to something much greater.
JACK: The boulder’s out of place, and there seems to be
a disturbance underneath it.
It suggests
that somebody dug, then pulled the rock
-and put it there. -Yeah.
NARRATOR: On Lot 8,
located on the western side of Oak Island,
Marty Lagina and members of the team
have just uncovered evidence
of human activity where previous GPR and magnetometry scans
have indicated large metallic objects
or structures may be buried up to 20 feet below.
Don’t look like we’re the first ones out here,
-for sure. -LAIRD: Yeah.
The biggest issue is, where did that boulder come from?
MARTY: If the boulder was placed by human intervention,
we’re talking about tunnels or vaults or whatever
could be below that.
I think we should dig more
around that rock and just
-go down and see what we got here. -LAIRD: Sure.
-So, that’s the plan. -Yeah.
(beep)
We have a couple clues
that what happened here appears to be so extensive.
It could certainly have been people hiding treasure.
So I think we have to dig deeper
to find what we’re looking for.
It’s unique enough to pursue it.
Am I below five feet?
Yeah, I’d say you’re at five feet.
(engine shuts off)
Going in.
No. Not hearing anything.
Try on the side of this boulder.
No.
Quiet as a church mouse.
Dang.
-Was worth a try. -MARTY: Yeah.
All right. So what does that mean to us
and our little treasure hunt here?
I’d like to find something. (chuckles softly)
The surface metal detecting finds
tell us someone’s been here a long time ago.
Some of those finds were old, in this area.
And although we haven’t found anything today, I mean,
we can’t put an "X" through this spot.
Yeah. Exactly.
MARTY: We have an anomaly to report
in the sense that we have black
-organic stuff under the boulder. -Yeah.
The deeper one, though, I think we’re at the limit,
-so... -Yep.
NARRATOR: Although the team has now dug
to the five-foot limit that is possible today,
the fact that they unearthed what appears to be
a purposely-placed paved feature
and a massive artificially-placed boulder
means that they will need
to apply for a more extensive permit
in order to conduct a much deeper excavation
of the Lot 8 anomalies.
We’ll head back.
We need to report to my brother and then decide
what else to do here.
JACK: All right, cool.
-Scott, will you fill it in? -Yeah.
-So let’s go. -(beep)
I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of this place.
JACK: Yeah, me, too.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...
MARTY: Yeah, this is exciting. I mean, I-I-I got high hopes for this.
NARRATOR: ...Rick, Marty Lagina and their partner Craig Tester
arrive at the Money Pit area
as the excavation of the D.M.T.-2 Shaft continues.
What’s the latest?
We’re looking at around 89 feet with the excavation.
And the can currently sits at 104 as well.
We’re cutting very light, very low pressures with this one.
Just going down real easy?
Really, really easy.
What’s that mean, Craig?
Well, I think we’re getting close to the bottom
of the Hedden Shaft, where
it’s probably going to be the softest.
You know, 120-foot level to 125,
that’s going to be the bottom of the shaft.
Yeah.
RICK: Once we get down to a depth
right around 123, 124,
we will be below Hedden Shaft.
At that point,
we reach that horizon
where we hope to find something.
Thanks, Andrew.
I’m gonna go down to the wash plant ’cause
there’s not a whole lot of people down there.
MARTY: All right, we’ll see you in a little bit.
Another one coming.
That is a lot of wood.
CHARLES: That is a lot of wood.
GARY: That’s nice.
Ho, ho, ho! Come to papa!
Look at that!
Fantastic!
A double-cut wood chip.
Both sides.
-That’s great news. -What is that?
-Wood chip. -Axe-cut wood?
-Yep. -Yep.
NARRATOR: An axe-cut wood chip?
Found at a depth of some 90 feet in the D.M.T.-2 Shaft?
Those big wood chips are similar to what we saw
on the stone road.
-There’s chips from axes everywhere. -RICK: Wow.
NARRATOR: One year ago, while investigating
the stone road in the swamp,
which may date back five centuries or more,
the team found a massive amount of axe-cut wood chips,
which Dr. Spooner believed had been utilized
for the feature’s construction.
IAN: All the wood chips that we see
are from them throwing them down on the swamp
so they could put the rocks on something
when they built the road.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the team has just
found evidence of human activity that could date back
to the same period as the stone road in the swamp?
Or perhaps even the features just unearthed on Lot 8?
-We can bag that. -Yeah.
(machinery grinding)
DANNY: Got to say, that’s a new noise.
(clanking)
Man, that’s-that’s turning way too free.
-MARTY: Whoa! -DANNY: That’s troubling.
That’s troubling right there.
We got to be cutting something.
NARRATOR: It is a potentially critical moment
in the Money Pit area
as the D.M.T.-2 caisson appears to have encountered something
out of the ordinary at a depth of approximately 105 feet.
DANNY: That woke everybody up.
ANDREW: Yeah.
Well, we got it now.
Yeah, you’re cooking now.
MARTY: What we’re trying to do here is come down on
some of the things that people who came before us did.
They-they talked about grinding on metal
that they couldn’t get through,
or potentially concrete.
And each time that was associated with something
special like, of course, the treasure vault.
So I want to know more about this.
CRAIG: Well, he got through the zone.
It was about two feet.
What does he think that obstacle was?
We’re not sure. It should be coming out here any time.
Piece of a big boulder, maybe?
Could be just a big boulder, yeah.
That’s kind of what we were speculating about.
Just strange characteristics the way that it was acting.
We’ll find out very soon.
MARTY: All right, here we go.
GARY: Look at that!
-Big bucket. -Wow.
This is fantastic.
-Ready? -Yep.
Come look at this.
GARY: Wow, it looks old.
Yeah.
Could be a sign of old construction.
-Maybe we’re into the older stuff. -Okay.
Can you take a quick look at this?
That looks like a peg.
They wouldn’t have used a peg in
Hedden’s stuff, would they?
-I doubt it. -You know,
why don’t we do the float test? Dan Blankenship’s float test.
If it sinks, he always said it was old.
-Sinks like a rock. -Sinks like a rock? It’s old.
If it was a much older shaft,
they would have used pegs
-to secure the timbers. -Yep, yep.
-Instead of nails, right? -Yep.
NARRATOR: A wooden peg or dowel,
recovered from the D.M.T.-2 Shaft?
Because both Gilbert Hedden and Professor Irwin Hamilton,
who constructed shafts in this area more than 60 years ago,
used machine-cut lumber,
could this wooden dowel
mean that D.M.T.-2 has now cut into ancient man-made workings?
If so, might it also be an indication that the team
is finally zeroing in on the legendary Chappell Vault?
Big brother. We’re at about 108 feet.
Um, lots of wood. Looks like Hedden.
All of it looks like Hedden
except for a few odd pieces like
that pin. And it sinks.
All right, do any of the timbers have dowels in them?
No. I’ve not seen, not observed any of that.
We’ll probably try to send it in for C14.
RICK: The wooden peg was just simply the type of fastener
associated with an older structure.
So indications are that this area could be of interest.
One has to entertain it is indeed associated with
the original work and, thus, perhaps
in close proximity to a treasure.
And we have possibly different pieces of wood coming up.
Yeah. I think we’ve got
some older pieces of wood coming up now, mate.
-Oh, wow! Thicker timbers as well by the look of it. -Right.
RICK: We have to be very vigilant and, as the wood comes up,
separate what we deem to be Hedden Shaft
from what we deem to be
original depositional work.
So, all eyes on deck and we have to make some snap judgments.
That looks older.
Yeah, that does. That’s cut.
Axe-cut.
Yeah, definitely axe-cut.
RICK: Is that a dowel or is that a drill hole?
There, you can feel it.
-It’s spongy, kind of. -MARTY: Wow.
That’s about the oldest looking thing that’s come out of there.
CRAIG: Yep.
-RICK: So, where are we? -113.
113? Okay, and the can?
-124. -Okay.
That should be the end of the shaft, shouldn’t it?
Yeah, with the can.
Well, it’s an interesting area right here.
It is. Just so many questions.
-Yeah. -We’ll figure it out.
-Sounds good, thank you. -You’re welcome.
GARY: Let’s find some good stuff.
Come on, metal, where are you?
I’d like to see some coins come up here.
-Check that out. -Wow.
What the heck would that be for?
RICK: What the heck would that be for?
Rick seems to have a knack for finding
-stuff nobody else finds. -I know.
I tell you, big brother, you have a knack for
finding stuff nobody else finds.
Lift that.
Geez!
That is heavy.
What on earth would the purpose of that be?
-I don’t know. That’s weird. -Yeah.
NARRATOR: In the Money Pit area, Rick Lagina
has recovered a potentially ancient piece of wood
from the spoils that were just unearthed
from a depth of some 120 feet
in the D.M.T.-2 Shaft.
MARTY: Sinks like a rock.
What kind of cuts on it? Can you tell?
MARTY: It’s center-cut.
-CRAIG: Yeah. -Let’s bri...
-God, that thing is heavy. Lift that sucker. -Oh, wow.
Might be oak, too.
That’s pretty cool.
MARTY: The square piece of wood found in D.M.T.-2
is really interesting.
It’s not from the Hedden Shaft.
It seemed to be much older,
there’s no doubt about that.
It’s different, uh, and that alone is substantive.
I think there is definitely hope for this caisson.
I’ll go down this side.
(beeping)
Got to go for that.
Yeah. It’s somewhere in there.
Come on, Pete. Dig us something good up.
Here, let me see if I can pinpoint it.
Here.
-Yeah. It’s a big piece of metal. -Yeah.
I’ve no idea what it is.
PETER: We got another one coming out with way more of it.
That’s what it is.
Holy schmoly! Heads up.
-Charles. -Yep.
There’s the plate.
Look at all the nails sticking out of it.
That’s a huge plate.
Yep.
Are we that deep that that could be the shield?
-Yeah, I would say so. -Has to be.
Well, how about that?
-That’s very interesting. -(laughs)
NARRATOR: Now that the team appears to have reached and removed
the heavy metallic shield that Gilbert Hedden installed
at the base of his shaft in 1937...
That’s a piece of history there.
Oh, definitely a piece of history.
...it only offers hope that in the coming days they may be able
to reach what Mr. Hedden could not:
the fabled Chappell Vault.
RICK: There is only one Hedden Shaft on Oak Island.
So, it’s part of the history and the lore.
This means we’re at the deepest part of the shaft.
And then the hope is that anything underneath
that will be something that would be highly relevant
to the quest for answers regarding the mystery.
Hey, Andrew.
We think we’re probably
through the Hedden Shaft.
-Are we? -Yeah.
RICK: Well, it’s getting dark.
I think we’re done for the night.
-Call it a day? -Yeah, I would.
-You agree? -Yeah.
It’s not going anywhere.
Sure. Sounds good. Thanks, guys.
MARTY: We, and a lot of other searchers,
have looked for this thing since 1897
when it was first described.
So, each time we get down to
that depth we are eagerly hoping we find that vault.
And we’re hoping this time it’s it.
It’s got to be out there somewhere. Right, Charles?
It’s out there. You just haven’t found it yet.
Yeah, well, we’re about 30 feet above it right now.
I hope so.
-(Marty laughs) -RICK: We’ll find it.
-CRAIG: Yep. -RICK: Let’s go.
NARRATOR: What began as a search for buried riches
227 years ago
has evolved over time into a mystery
involving much, much more.
And for Rick, Marty, Craig and their team,
as they continue to unearth the hidden history of Oak Island,
just what might they discover about the history of the world?
Will it involve a vast treasure
of plundered gold, silver and jewels?
Priceless artifacts created at the direction
of an all-powerful God?
Or will they find that some secrets about the past
were never meant to be revealed?
Next time on The Curse of Oak Island...
Wow! Look at that.
This might be the missing link to treasure in this area.
Never in a million years had I expected to find a link
to Portugal and to the Knights Templar.
-That’s astounding. -Whoa!
-MARTY: That can’s going down fast. -RICK: Wow.
We’re right at the vault.
We should be finding something here
pretty quick. This is it.
Wow, this is a big find.
We’ve caught a piece of this vault.
-It’s amazing. -Oh, baby. -(laughter)
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