Original subtitles

Tonight, on The Curse of Oak Island, a special two-hour premiere.

This is going to be the biggest year ever.

There's no more guesswork. We have discovered new technology.

Here it comes.

Right near the circle, there's a possible shaft.

We know there's a tunnel here.

Let's get to work.

They're going to take a sample of the lead cross.

This has some story to tell us.

Look! It's another Bobby Dazzler!

He did it again!

there is an island in the north atlantic where people have been looking for an

incredible treasure for more than two hundred 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 origin may stretch back to the days of 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.

It is the beginning of another new year on Oak Island.

Okay, big brother, here we go. Let's hear the dream comes true.

Oh, yeah. And for brothers Rick and Marty Lagina, it is also shaping up to

be the most productive and successful season yet in their quest to solve a 223

-year-old mystery.

How are you feeling about this year? Boy, we certainly have a box full of

puzzle pieces.

Yeah. And it's about time we step up to the plate and start putting the puzzle

pieces together.

Yeah. Okay, so where's your belief that something happened on Oak Island, scale

of 1 to 10?

I'd say I am 70% convinced that something very, very out of the

ordinary occurred on Oak Island. That's a long way from where you were. Yes.

Long way. Well, here's where I'm at, Rick. I mean, this thing has been way

harder than I thought.

I know. But it's exciting, the things we laid out on that table last year. I

know. And that drives me and that motivates me. I agree.

We're looking at a display of the year's finds.

Last year saw the Laginas and their partners make some of their most

astonishing discoveries to date, including two 17th century coins.

Approach. containing a hand-carved semi-precious gemstone and a mysterious

lead cross, which appears eerily similar to one carved in the wall of a Templar

prison in Dome, France, and may date as far back as the 14th century.

I think the lead cross is the single most important item found on Oak Island

that we are absolutely sure of.

I think there's a lot more to be learned about that cross.

Rick, I tell you, every year is this is the year, this is the year. Well, you

know what? It's made me feisty. And I say we throw every damn resource we have

at it this year.

So I'm feeling like this year is it's go big or go home.

Here we go.

Once more into the breach.

I have come a long ways towards being convinced that something extraordinary

happened on this island.

We're finding some things that are really, really hard to explain. So I'd

like to see us do something 10 times as big as we did last year.

I'm just gratified to hear him say that.

So I'm good.

Here we are.

Oh, wow. That's very nice.

Because of the increasing number of visitors to the island during the summer

months, Rick, Marty, and their Oak Island partners have built a second,

even more private war room.

on another area of the island. Nice.

Like that? Yeah.

There they are.

The fellowship of the day. Yes.

Good to see you guys. Good to see you guys, Dan. But even though the building

is new, the inside remains comfortably familiar.

Charles.

David. How goes treasure hunting, buddy?

Good. Jack.

There's no question that this is a treasure hunt.

but it's not just looking for treasure.

There's the man. Hi, Marty.

Daniel, good to see you, bud.

Looking younger every year.

It's also for the shared experience that we have, the Oak Island family.

This is the year? Oh, stop it.

I know that we're all committed to pushing the envelope this year in a

variety of ways, and, you know, hopefully it'll bear fruit. Yes.

Well, look, the mission here today is to talk about what we're going to do and

try and get organized.

I think we all have our ideas of what we do this year, but I'd like to turn it

over to Rick here to talk about where we go. Rick, why don't you lay out what

that means? Well, I'll lay out my ideas, but I think I speak for all of us to

this extent.

It's still the big three, right?

Yeah. Yep.

And it's the money pit? Yep. Yep. Yeah.

The swamp? Yeah.

And then the third big thing, of course, Smith's Cove is still a target.

Absolutely. Right. Yeah. The cross was found in Smith's Cove. Yeah. You know,

what artifacts remain there? What is the U-shaped structure that Dan found long

ago? And you never got a chance to expose the whole structure, did you? I

exposed enough of it to say, to tell what it was and how it was constructed.

In 1970...

Oak Island resident and treasure hunter Dan Blankenship built a massive

cofferdam around Smith's Cove.

He was hoping to locate and possibly shut off a network of booby-trapped

flood tunnels that are believed to have been constructed centuries ago and which

were designed to undermine searcher efforts to dig in the infamous money

pit. But what Dan found instead was astonishing.

A massive U-shaped wooden structure.

buried some six feet below the surface, and which featured a number of notched

posts on which were carved a series of Roman numerals.

Unfortunately, Dan was forced to abandon his investigation when a violent storm

destroyed the dam.

But I would like to get a... You want to see it. I want to see it. I want to

stand on it. I want to expose the entire structure, and once and for all...

Figure out, does it have any relevance to the original work?

You know, to really do a good job, I think we're going to have to go with a

major type cofferdam.

And so we've been talking with a couple different companies with different

ideas. Yeah, well, the cofferdam's a pretty exciting idea.

You're looking forward to that? Oh, yeah, it has a lot of potential.

How big are we talking?

Big. Big.

Even bigger than Dan's cofferdam? Yes, that's what we're potentially looking

at.

In an effort to fully excavate Smith's Cove, the Oak Island team is planning to

build what will be the largest cofferdam ever constructed on the island.

This massive water and weatherproof dam will allow the team to not only uncover

any historically important artifacts and the U-shaped structure, but also the

possible remains of the flood tunnels.

Flood tunnels that could lead them directly to the fabled Oak Island bunny

pit. A centuries-old treasure vault rumored to contain everything from vast

hoards of pirate gold to the lost folios of William Shakespeare and priceless

religious artifacts taken from the Holy Land by the Knights Templar hundreds of

years ago.

What else? What else are we talking about?

So many questions still remain to be answered in the money pit. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. because of the fines last year the parchment the book binding leather the

interest in h8 what happened to the earthen plug solid wood coming up last

year when the oak island team attempted to excavate the borehole known as h8

located in the money pit area we're on the corner of the chapel shaft they

found what they believed to be the legendary chapel vault a seven foot tall

wooden structure first discovered by William Chappell and Frederick Blair in

1897, and which was believed to contain ancient documents and objects made of

solid gold.

Something was in front of the can and we were pushing it for a while.

But when the team attempted to reach the vault with a 60-inch wide drilling case

on, instead of penetrating it, they believe it simply was pushed further

down to a depth of some 170 feet and into what seemed to be a mud-filled

void it's still in there then exactly but it was while examining the spoils

taken from this same hole that the team made another astonishing discovery what

is this human bones later identified as belonging to two separate individuals

one from europe and another from the middle east and both scientifically

dated to be approximately 400 years old

No, it just underscores we can't quit on H8, not yet. I don't think we're done

there. There's some information that can be gleaned, and one of the ways, I'm

hopeful at least, is that the application of the seismic is really

going to be a defining moment for that area.

Yes.

Commonly used in the energy industry, seismic scanning is a process by which a

number of strategically placed dynamite charges are detonated in order to

produce... powerful shock waves.

These shock waves, in turn, generate a highly accurate map of what voids or

obstacles may lie in an area as much as six miles below the surface.

And if this really does work, it will be the first time in the two and a quarter

centuries of search that we can actually look underground with definition.

If we can look underground in the Money Pit, it's a game changer.

The company's contacted me about that, so I'm researching it more. Okay, good.

That's really interesting.

Mm-hmm. There is one subject that kind of got lost in this discussion, and that

is the rotolite garnet that you found last year. Yeah.

Everyone believes it was significant.

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Look at this, Rick.

Last year, while metal detecting on Lot 8 on the western portion of the

island... We just found a jewel.

...Rick and Gary... discovered a brooch containing a rotolite garnet a semi

-precious stone that may date back earlier than the 16th century that is a

balby dazzler gary's discovery of the gemstone it was not in any particularly

important spot it was just on one of the lots so it's not a great leap of logic

for us to say we we would like him to effectively do the entire island who

knows what he might find and to that end I think we should clear lots 1 through 8

and lots 21 and 22, which you've never been able to access.

Yeah, it's just so thick in there, you can't swing a metal detector.

Yeah, we'll get some heavy equipment in there and we'll clear those lots so you

can swing that metal detector. Okay.

And then who knows how many brooches and or other things you'll find. I'm telling

you now, guys, we're going to need a bigger table.

You ain't seen nothing yet. You ain't seen nothing yet.

So, gentlemen, coming into this room, seeing this assembly of brilliant minds,

I am nothing but rejuvenated. We can do this. Can we not?

You ready to get after it? Absolutely.

Yep. Okay.

Let's get out of here.

It is a day of great anticipation for Rick, Marty, and their partners.

Today, they will begin the process of mapping the Money Pit area by means of

seismic testing.

Well, Craig, are you excited about this? It's a long time coming, right? Yeah,

excited and nervous.

Are you?

Sure, mainly that the searchers did so much damage near surface that we just

can't get good data.

But it's exciting. I mean, if it does work, we get to see.

See what's in the ground. See what's in the ground. What your dad's been

dreaming about forever, huh, David? Yep.

Marty, Rick, their partner Craig Tester, and Dave Blankenship have arranged to

meet with representatives from Eagle Canada, a geophysical exploration

company. They will conduct a test in order to determine if the application of

seismic scanning technology will allow them to see what lies hidden beneath the

surface of Oak Island.

So that's where we're going to park.

So Alex, this is a novel application, right? Because it's so shallow. Have you

done some of this before?

Yeah, two weeks ago. And we did the exact same 2D line that we're going to

do here.

And we were having good image at about 10 feet down.

No kidding.

Because of sonic interference from environmental noises generated at ground

level, seismic testing was only considered reliable.

in the mapping of very deep formations, often miles below the Earth's surface.

But thanks to recent advancements, seismic testing of more shallow areas,

like the Money Pit, have yielded impressive and highly accurate results.

Well, what we want to do is start off with the test line, right up in through

here. That's the test line.

We know there's a tunnel you're going to cross here. The Halifax Tunnel. So

that's going to be the test, right? Absolutely.

Because a full-scale survey of the Money Pit area will be very expensive, the Oak

Island team has decided to conduct a sample test over an area where they know

an underground anomaly exists, the searcher shaft known as the Halifax

Tunnel.

Dog in 1867.

by a team of treasure hunters working under the name the Halifax Company.

The Halifax Tunnel was a 110-foot shaft located approximately 200 feet south

of the Money Pit.

The location was chosen in hopes it would allow the team to dig down to the

Money Pit level and then over to it in order to avoid the maze of booby-trapped

flood tunnels that protect the treasure site.

It didn't work.

As they neared the target depth, the shaft suddenly began filling up with

seawater, forcing the Halifax company to abandon their search efforts.

Because the location of the shaft has been well documented, having it show up

in the test will encourage the team to invest an estimated $1 million to map

the entire Money Pit area.

Dan Henske knows where the Halifax shaft was, and Dan Blankenship knows roughly

the orientation. So this is literally a test, and I hope they pass with flying

colors.

Based on our testing, I think we should be able to see that. Good.

That's fantastic.

Just remember, we do know where it is, so don't just pick a spot.

All right, I don't know if we have anything else left to do. Let's go find

some treasure. Good luck.

Yes, thanks.

Let's get to work.

In preparation for the seismic test, the team from Eagle Canada will now drill a

number of two-foot deep holes spaced three feet apart over the designated

search area.

Each hole will then be filled with a small blasting cap containing 20 grams

of dynamite that, when detonated, will set off a sound wave through the ground.

They will also strategically place devices known as geophones, which...

Similar to sonar technology, we'll measure the sound waves as they bounce

off layers of rock or underground structures.

The goal of the seismic, simply put, is to image whatever we can image

underground. In the case of the Money Pit area, it would be to find a vault or

some other structure that we've hitherto missed.

If we can do that, I think we're well on our way to defining a hard target, the

Money Pit. But whatever information they can provide us is.

Surely going to be helpful.

Heads up, guys.

Later that same day, as the team from Eagle Canada continues to prepare the

money pit area for the test line operation.

And while workers begin clearing away trees and brush on the unexplored

western areas of the island.

Okay, guys, here we go. Brand new year, huh?

I'm curious to see how the island survived.

Marty Lagina.

and members of the team head to Smith's Cove.

We had a series of storms over the winter, so I would imagine that that

beach had took a pretty bad hit, which means it's good for Gary and Laird

because it should turn up some things.

Yeah, beach erosion.

Yeah. There's got to be some more good stuff there.

They are eager to know if months of harsh winter storms Let's go.

might have brought to the surface any more important clues.

or valuable objects, like the mysterious lead cross, which was discovered here

last year.

We'll go straight to where we recovered the cross.

Right, you ready to make history, guys?

Yes.

Yeah, so what we'll do, we'll start here, and we'll go towards the water's

edge and just keep going out there.

Rolling up my sleeves and everything, Gary.

That's good. That means you're going to be doing some digging.

Okay. What's that, Gary?

Yeah, it's too low. I think that's iron.

But because it's a deep target, I think we should dig it up just to make sure.

So this is the center where the target is.

Give it a try.

Let me see if it's closer.

All right, let's see.

It's an iron spike.

Oh, yes.

We have a few of these.

Yeah. Yeah.

Do you think it's modern?

Yeah, that's definitely modern.

What do you say, Laird?

Yeah, it looks, it's got a square shank, cut-head nail, so it's 19th century. But

later, the latter part. Well, yeah.

Yeah.

Although this is only just a little insignificant find, it isn't, because we

pounded this area last year.

And we're finding already, which is a good sign. Yeah, keep going.

We're digging this.

Okay. Okay.

And this is a...

A clear two-way repeatable signal.

So I think the best thing to do with the spoils is put them up high.

Oh, that looks like it, Charles. What's that right there? Looks like Charles got

it out. Look, right there. Here, guys.

Wow. This is good.

Is that a piece of lead?

Yeah, a piece of cut lead.

They used to put lead on the side of ships. They used to waterproof with

lead. Lead was kind of a ubiquitous thing. It was almost like duct tape.

That's it, just basically a lead patch, isn't it? Yeah.

From a Spanish treasure hunter's perspective, this is interesting because

this type of stuff was used below the wart line on Spanish galleons.

Lead from a Spanish galleon found on the shore of Smith's Cove?

Could it have come from one of the many Spanish galleons, or even pirate ships,

that are known to have visited Oak Island in the 17th and 18th centuries?

That's a thin little cut, isn't it?

Yeah. It's a delicate little... I think it was done with shears, by the look of

it. It has.

So this could be quite old.

You know, we're all talking marine origin, which of course is likely we're

standing on the edge of the ocean, but we know we have a mysterious...

structure under here, the notorious U-shaped structure, maybe it had some

role in that.

It's possible. You mean like waterproofing on the other side kind of

a thing? Because we don't know what that thing was yet. We don't know what it

did, what it was for, who did it.

I am keenly interested in the very significant U-shaped structure that has

never been analyzed properly or even revealed properly.

The hope is that we can expose enough of that or all of that where we can

actually get a proper sample.

and uh hopefully at the end of the day we'll have some answers first day first

significant fine i believe right or two it's a clue and it also shows that you

know what you're doing again another question mark marty yeah great charles

that wasn't supposed to happen unfortunately we're filling in yeah so

we're gonna have to keep to the eye of ground i think uh guys we should keep

going yeah

After a successful day spent metal detecting at Smith's Cove, Marty and

Rick, along with other team members, gather at the Mug and Anchor Pub in the

nearby town of Mahone Bay to review their latest finds and plan critical

next steps.

What do you make of it, Dan?

Well, first thing is to estimate the diameter, so this looks

like it was part of something pretty large.

Where was this found exactly?

Kind of right around where the cross was found. Very near that.

Maybe the same people that lost the cross lost this, too.

I mean, anything's possible.

But anyway, it's a nice way to start out the season with something. Exactly.

I think we all acknowledge that Gary's finding the cross. I like to call it

Drayton's cross.

He likes that, too. It was probably the most exciting find.

You know, I mean, we need answers from that. So at the University of New

Brunswick, they run this test. It's called laser ablation. It's non

-destructive. Then we get what's called lead isotope values off of that test.

And from that, the hope is that they can determine, give us at least geographic

origin. Wow.

Much like a human fingerprint, metals such as lead have unique chemical

variants known as isotopes that are specific.

to geographic regions on Earth.

By using a process known as laser ablation testing, a high-powered laser

will cut microscopic samples from the surface of the lead cross.

This will then be analyzed to determine the lead's specific isotope value and

possibly its geographic place of origin.

It is Rick Lagina's hope that if the test is successful, he and the team will

be one giant step closer to finding out not only where the cross came from but

how old it is and perhaps more importantly who may have brought it to

oak island we have to get it tested there's no question about it mr

blankenship has always cautioned us don't let your imagination run away from

you stick to the facts you know be very objective in your analysis of anything

you find

So, at the end of the day, somebody needs to go to the UNB to get this test

done. Peter, I designate you to take it there. I can do that. Okay.

I will bring a couple of guys with us.

Perfect.

And I'm sure we're all aware of the unaccessible lots. Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 6,

7, and 8 are practically impassable.

Got a company to come down with what they call a mulcher.

Gary can finally get into these areas which have been inaccessible all these

years.

So, let's hope the lead is an auspicious start to a great new season. We got a

ton of stuff to do, but for right now, to the new season. This is as much work

as I care to do.

Absolutely. Cheers, guys.

Start pulling these sandbags off the G-phones.

Roger. The next day, as the team from Eagle Canada finishes preparing the

Money Pit area for today's seismic test line operation... Let's do this.

Rick Lagina, along with metal detection expert Gary Drayton and archaeologist

Laird Niven, head to Lot 2 on the western side of the island.

Look, they did a remarkable job of clearing, but I think we should keep

expanding the search area.

You lead the way.

you're the guy with the lucky metal detector they are searching areas of the

island that have remained virtually unexplored in hopes of finding important

artifacts or treasure this looks like a good spot guys

and we know we're the first people to search this probably

ever well all i can say is good luck

Let's do the big boulder.

Yeah.

Should we pull the moss off this?

Are we okay to do that?

Yep.

Wow, this has been on here a long time.

At the top.

Oh, is that a signal?

and that's non-ferrous oh really it's quite deep as well

reading 10 inches just there mate

still

reading deeper

Oh, I got it.

Oh, baby.

Look at the patina on that.

Oh, my goodness.

Now, that's a coin. You tell me what it is. That's a coin.

Wow. What is that?

That's King George III.

I know what this is. That's a cartwheel two pence, a twopenny.

This looks like it's from 1797.

In 1797, a shortage of small denomination coins throughout the

British Empire led to the limited production of some 720,000 copper coins,

known as twopenny's.

Minted with the likeness of King George III, the unusual size of the coins

combined with a wide outer rim earned them the nickname cartwheels.

That is freaking crazy.

What do you make of the lettering?

It should say Britannia on it, on one side.

Yeah. I mean, we got those King George coppers, King Charles up near the money

pit. We've got British presence on the island.

Because it is dated two years after the Money Pit's discovery in 1795, the

presence of a cartwheel penny on Oak Island offers possible evidence of

someone who may have come to the island searching for treasure.

But if so, what is it they were hoping to find on Lot 2, so far from the

infamous treasure site?

It always buoys our spirits to find a unique item that may or may not have a

significant impact on the constantly evolving story of Oak Island. It's

always nice to have a small win, and that's a small win.

Okay, I hate to badger you, but what else might you... Okay, let's have a

look, see if there's anything else.

As Rick, Gary, and Laird continue their search for artifacts on Lot 2...

Back at the money pit, Craig Tester and members of the Oak Island team eagerly

await the start of the seismic test line.

They've hooked up and then there's a line that goes 30 meters to the pack

that's charging up right now. When they charge, you'll hear the tone come over

the radio.

Okay.

The team

from Eagle Canada will now detonate. some 150 small charges.

This will generate a series of seismic pulses deep within the underground test

area.

I

thought

this year was going to be one of our biggest search years ever.

But I didn't understand until I got here how big we were going, starting off with

this seismic.

I like it. We've got good energy so far. And after last year, the finds that we

had just from the spoils, it gave us enough indication that there is

something down there worth finding.

And if we have a really good target off this seismic, it's not a guessing game

anymore.

One day after conducting the test line seismic scan at the Money Pit site...

We'd like to, first of all, welcome you to the war room.

Rick Lagina, along with Craig Tester, Charles Barkhouse, and Jack Begley, meet

with a team from Eagle Canada.

They are eager to find out if the operation was successful enough to

warrant further testing, in hopes of finding out what may have been buried

deep beneath the surface of Oak Island.

more than 200 years ago.

Hey, Jeremy.

Hello. Joining them via video conference is geophysicist Jeremy Church, who will

interpret the test line results.

We're looking forward to your presentation.

You've got some results that we very much look forward to coming to an

understanding about.

Yep.

We were super excited, stressed a little bit. We wanted to make it work.

I don't think a seismic like that have been shot in the world, like that type

of a parameter.

I think we're seeing a page of history here.

You're talking about groundbreaking science.

Yeah. Great.

So now let Jeremy talk about the results.

Jack's going to bring the data on the screen here.

Using the data from yesterday's readings, the Eagle team has generated a

virtual cross-section of the ground beneath the test area.

It has allowed them to differentiate not only the layers of rock and earth, but

also whatever underground structures are buried within them.

I wish I could be there to see your faces because it's quite an impressive

image that has been created here.

I have an area circled in a little yellow circle, and I refer to that as a

possible shaft.

You'll see that there is a nice blue reflector that's...

broken at that point where i believe that shaft or opening is

this typically indicates that you have a massive change in the

material that's there and it's a depth between about 90 feet and 120 feet or so

that's the halifax tunnel so what we've seen yeah for rick

marty and the team The success of the seismic test offers a historic

breakthrough. Here's some really good news.

For the first time in the 223-year history of the Oak Island treasure hunt,

they will be able to effectively create an accurate map of what structures or

voids exist deep within the money pit.

The opportunity that's being presented to us by Eagle is...

Being able to look underground for the first time in two and a quarter

centuries of search, that's remarkable.

Because as you look back, the people that have come before us, they had no

idea of the complexities underground, and still they labored.

They would have done anything to look underground, to find the answers which

they so long fought for and bled for, and in some cases died for.

That story in and of itself, and it would be invaluable as any treasure.

This is groundbreaking you're gonna do something that's never been done in this

island It's the people that have come and gone invested their lives their

passions their interest in this mystery. Yeah You're now gonna give them The best

Christmas gift they've ever opened You're changing lives here and that's

pretty remarkable again, we get choked up I say, thank you

You should be proud of yourselves. Yeah.

I very much look forward to the continued hunt for the information in

Money Pit.

Yeah, it was nice to hit the mark on this one. You hit the mark. You hit the

bullseye. No question about it. Yeah.

The next day, the team from Eagle Canada returns to Oak Island, ready to begin

preparations for the large-scale seismic scanning survey across the entire Money

Pit area.

Over the next few days, they will detonate some 1,300 charges, which along

with some 1,500 geophone receivers, will allow them to create a virtual three

-dimensional map of the ground beneath Oak Island.

Where are you starting?

Right at the edge of the money pit on the west side.

Yeah, we're going to chew that money pit up pretty good.

In a good way. In a good way. Right now it's all about the data. Yeah, exactly.

Unlike the two-dimensional test line, the dynamite charges and geophone

receivers have been strategically positioned in a grid pattern around past

dig sites, including the C1 and HHFs.

The goal of the seismic in the money pit area would be to find a vault that we

may have missed To find something that we haven't even explored yet. I am

realistically optimistic about the results of the seismic I've seen a lot

of seismic over the last probably 40 years and they should be able to

delineate anomalies This is just one step forward in that search for the

truth

It would be awesome if we could get the 3D data process right away to actually

see some of it while we're still out here, but not likely.

Do you guys want to go up there and take a look?

Yeah, I'd like to go up there. Right, Dave? Yep.

Let's give it a look.

As each seismic line is charged and armed for blasting, it will be

wirelessly detonated from the inside of the command center, located nearby on

the South Shore Road.

Although only 20 grams of dynamite is being detonated in each charge, the team

must remain at least 150 feet clear of the blast area.

Hey, guys.

Charles, Alex, boys.

How's it going?

Very good. The guys are doing really well.

This is small scale in terms of what you normally do, right? But this is

incredibly labor intensive. I mean, I'm impressed. Look at all this work you've

done. Hats off to you guys. You really did a heck of a job.

Hopefully you're going to do something that's never been done on Oak Island

before, and that's pretty remarkable.

Yeah.

Ready to go?

Roger.

Here it comes.

We're watching the detonations go off. That somewhat reminds you of the 4th of

July.

Fireworks going off.

I think we have high expectations, all of us, about this year, the scope of the

project, because it's about trying to put the puzzle together.

There's only one goal that only has been one goal, and that is to solve the Oak

Island mystery.

There's no more guesswork.

You guys are actually going to give us a playbook, and that's pretty cool.

As the team from Eagle Canada continues their extensive seismic scanning

operation of the Money Pit area.

We'll see what they can do.

Craig Tester, Dave Blankenship, and Peter Fernetti are traveling more than

300 miles northwest of Oak Island to the University of New Brunswick.

in the city of fredericton they have come here to supervise a test of the

lead cross that was found last year at smith's cove holy shimole all right

it's a cross that's a cross if successful the test could shed new life

on its mysterious origin

Well, guys, this should be interesting.

It sounds like this laser ablation might tell us what area of the world this lead

came from, and that would be huge.

That'd be cool.

I'm pretty excited to see what the results are.

Yeah, me too.

I believe this is our stop.

The Department of Earth Sciences at the University of New Brunswick is one of

the leading geochemical testing facilities in North America for the

study of historical artifacts.

Chris?

The team has arranged to meet with Dr. Chris McFarland, a professor of

geochemistry, who specializes in the study of ancient geologic depositions

and minerals.

Well, we've got something for you to look at. Just wondering if you could

tell us a bit about the testing procedures and whatnot.

Yeah, so we're going to do laser ablation. We want to get a really

high... precision and accurate lead isotope number. And from that lead, you

can determine where the lead came from. As long as we get enough lead to analyze

ratios. Okay.

Using a series of pulses from a high-powered laser, Dr.

McFarlane will cut a sample, barely the size of a human hair, from the surface

of the cross and vaporize it into an ionized gas.

This gas is then superheated.

and funneled into a device known as a mass spectrometer, which will determine

the lead's isotope signature.

Well, I have it with me.

Here's the box.

So we can get it going, get it into the machine.

Okay. Let's go see. Appreciate it. The laser ablation, it's kind of like

fingerprinting it. And once you have a fingerprint, then you can try to find

out where did that fingerprint come from.

Assisting Dr. McFarland is lab technician Brandon Boucher.

So let's have a look.

So that is the cross.

Yeah, very nice.

How about the corrosive material on it? I mean, does that help date it or not?

I think for us, we're going to avoid it. We don't want any impurities that are

possibly going to shift the ratios at all.

I mean, what if this was sitting in the air for hundreds and hundreds of years?

Would it get that same corrosion?

You don't get deposition.

on an object that hasn't been buried for you know quite a while oh that's great

this is not it's not something that was you know very good it wasn't buried a

week ago or a year ago or even 10 years ago yeah so should we proceed with

mounting this up now as far as i'm concerned okay because it's in a regular

shape we have to use a uh a sample holder this is called our universal

holder all this stuff over here these are all standards

So when we do isotopic analysis, we always have to reference the measurement

to a standard.

To ensure that the data collected is accurate, Dr. McFarland will also test

known samples of lead ore, also called standards.

This will give the mass spectrometer a baseline to reference when analyzing the

lead sample taken from the cross.

So the next step is actually put it in the machine. Okay.

not far away over here

now you guys should kind

of see this okay this is the coolest part of the whole day so this is where

all the action happens so we have to get this guy inside the cell so now this guy

is going to go in here and as i push it in you'll actually see oh yeah

so the magnets grabbed it

So what we need to do is actually go down to the cross and we need to find an

area that has some nice clean exposed lead.

And here we can also zoom in.

So what we're going to do is define about 20 sample locations within that

area. And then we'll go and define the standards to populate around them.

Okay, so that's our sequence.

So let's start the laser.

That's the laser pulsing. Each pulse is liberating material from the surface,

and it's actually high enough energy that it's making light.

So as the material is liberated from the surface with each pulse, the next pulse

of the laser is traveling through that, and it's actually ionizing it into its

own plasma.

Everybody that we've talked to thinks it's very old, so to me, it brings up a

bunch of questions that we don't have answers for right now.

but I'm eager to see what kind of results they'll come up with.

Okay, so this is good. So ready to go.

This is collecting now.

We come over here and we start the sequence.

And now we wait.

Okay. As Dr.

McFarland continues to conduct the laser ablation testing on the lead cross, Jack

Begley and metal detection expert Gary Drape are continuing their search for

important clues and possible treasure on Lot 2, the same area where the team

uncovered an 18th century British coin just two days ago.

Well, looks like we have our work cut out for us. Yeah.

This is a little higher up in elevation, so there shouldn't be any trash that's

washed in here.

Whatever's here should be good.

Since lots one through four really haven't been searched at all by anyone

in the past, there's a really good chance that we could find evidence of

people who were here looking for something or possibly depositing

something.

It's a little bit quiet, Jack.

I'm just going to keep zigzagging.

I'm hoping we can pick something up in these little valleys.

Let's search over by this boulder, Gary.

Oh, I would imagine there's going to be a depression at the side of it.

And that's interesting. You know, these are interesting features, these boulders

and depressions.

All of these boulders have got some kind of depression next to them.

Perhaps there is more underneath the boulder to discover.

All right, mate, I will have a little search around here, see if there's

anything close to it.

Yeah, yeah, I'll get on you.

Wait, really? You found something right away.

Well, that's a really nice sharp signal. What is it, iron?

Yeah, it's reading iron.

Yeah, it's iron.

Screaming iron.

I don't think it's very deep. Let me see if I can pinpoint it. Yeah, go for it.

This could be another lucky...

Find. There it is.

See? That's exactly why all this moss needs to be taken off these boulders.

Yep. Well,

look at this.

Iron. Oh, and there's a drill hole.

There's a freaking hole.

What has someone been doing here?

Definitely, that is man-made.

Wow.

That is crazy.

The heck has someone been doing here?

While exploring Lot 2 on the western side of Oak Island, Jack Bagley and

metal detection expert Gary Drayton have just unearthed an unusual object, an

iron spike embedded in a large stone.

and with several holes drilled into it why would someone drill into this rock

and put metal in there definitely that is man-made do you think that there were

two right next to each other well we don't know how many is in here i mean

look jack you can see where this has been pounded in i mean this wouldn't

surprise me if this is a ring bolt You put a chain around or a rope and you

pull things.

It's there for moving some other stuff.

And what do you haul up?

Treasure.

Shortly after their discovery of the money pit in 1795, Daniel McGuinness and

his friend John Smith discovered a large iron ring bolt embedded in a boulder on

the beach at Smith's Cove.

They believed that this rock was part of an ancient pulley system, where heavy

cargo was moved on or off sailing ships by means of a heavy chain threaded

through the eye of a ring bolt.

Could this stone, found on Lot 2, have once been used for such a purpose?

And if so, what exactly was being transported, and why?

And look, if you look on here, there's like a tab that comes round.

And it's obvious that these two holes are connected.

I think that we need to, at this point, just call Rick, get him out here. This

is important enough for him to see. Yeah, because I've got a sneaky

suspicion that piece of iron is under there, and who knows what else is under

there. Exactly.

All right, I'll get him on the phone.

This is a really big fight.

This is original stuff, and this is exactly what we've been looking for.

More indications of original people and their activities.

Hello? Hey, Rick.

Hey, Jack. What's up?

So Gary and I found something that we think is really important and you need

to come see.

Whereabouts are you? In the middle of Lot 2, about halfway between the road

and the water.

All right, sounds great.

When Jack and Gary called, of course our ears go up, our heads come up. What is

it? If it's enough to make them think they've, well, they tagged it

significant find, obviously we're going to go look.

Hey, guys.

This cleared area, we've been running across big boulders, and this big

boulder here gave up a nice surprise.

Really? Yep.

We lifted the moss up, and that's what we saw.

You can see this boulder with a drill hole in it and a piece of iron.

It looks like an old eye bolt.

Why would this be in this boulder?

And this isn't just an isolated boulder. If you look down here, you can see them

in a line.

There's a lot of big boulders.

It's certainly unique. I mean, we've never found anything else like this.

Are there any other targets?

We might be able to get another signal once that moss is removed and I can get

my search coil further down.

This is something I think Laird would call cultural.

Yep. It's an interesting find. There's no doubt about it. You were right to

stop because Laird needs to render an opinion.

As part of their treasure trove license, the Oak Island team must first consult

with an approved archaeologist before digging any site.

that is believed to be culturally or historically significant.

For this reason, further exploration of the stone and the area surrounding it

will have to wait until team archaeologist Laird Niven can evaluate

it.

Well, kudos to both of you. I mean, it's a great find. It's obviously something

that we can't explain as of yet. We'll get Laird out here and move on from

there. And it's a new discovery on Oak Island. Absolutely. Any day you make a

new discovery.

Yeah, no. It's pretty special.

Absolutely. Good job, guys.

While Rick and members of the team wait for Laird's arrival, some 300 miles

northwest of Oak Island, in the city of Fredericton... So this is looking good.

Craig Tester, Peter Fernetti, and Dave Blankenship are at the University of New

Brunswick, where Dr. Chris McFarlane is about to begin a chemical analysis of

the samples taken from the lead cross.

found at Smith's Cove last year.

So right now just monitoring the signal that's coming from that standard and

we're now measuring it on the on the mass spectrometer.

Okay so now this is across.

It's certainly noisier because it's pure lead.

That is a bit different.

The black line here is silver.

So this does have some silver in it.

Silver? Is it possible that the cross found at Smith's Cove contains trace

amounts of this precious metal?

As early as the Bronze Age, silver was most commonly found mixed with deposits

of lead or copper ore, which were actively mined across the ancient world.

The reason for this is simple. Both lead and silver are obtained from the same

mineral source.

a mineral ore known as galena prior to modern advancements in refining

practices during the nineteenth century most metal alloys would contain trace

amounts of other metals from which they were extracted could finding traces of

silver be proof that the lead cross dates from before the eighteen hundreds

or even earlier

I think artisanal lead, which has not been smelted using modern techniques,

still has a lot of stuff left in it.

Okay. Okay, so that was the machine finishing.

Everything's done.

And so the next step is data reduction.

Okay. You shut down the torch.

So there's our two ratios of interest.

There's the galena and there's the cross.

We can now compare that to some of the North American deposits.

Okay. I'll just put it into my spreadsheet over here.

There you go.

So the cross is not obviously related to

North America.

That's very good.

So there's nothing in North America that compares to that.

Yeah, North American-wise.

Not from North America?

Could it be that not only the lead, but the cross itself, came to Oak Island

from somewhere as far away as Europe or the Middle East? And could this news

offer further validation that the cross is, in fact, centuries old and... of

Templar origin.

That's great news, though. Yeah.

We wanted it to come from Europe. Yeah.

So hopefully that's where it's pointing.

From my perspective, it's looking good.

I think that's great.

Appreciate it. Yep.

Good luck.

Thank you.

Shortly after receiving the results of the laser ablation test conducted on the

mysterious lead cross, Craig Tester is calling together his partners for a

conference call in the Oak Island War Room.

Hey, Craig.

Hey, Craig. Hey, guys.

Make it good, Craig.

Okay.

So we had the laser ablation done on the lead cross.

And so what they did, they ran a test to try to determine what mine this lead

might have come from.

The test results are very interesting.

Tell us.

Really, they just spit out a tremendous amount of data concerning the isotopes.

And the very good news is, you know, they have a very extensive

database for North America.

And it doesn't match up with anything from North America. So the lead cross is

not from North America.

Well, that's gigantic.

That's actually a relief. That's huge.

Wow. I mean, look, I was always intrigued from the moment that cross

came out of the ground. It looked eerily identical to the carving in Dome that we

all saw, well, Peter, Alex saw.

Over here is some of the most well-known carvings at Dome this way.

While visiting a 14th century prison in Dome, France last year, Rick Lagina,

along with nephews Alex Lagina and Peter Fernetti, were shown a number of

carvings known to have been made by members of the Knights Templar, during

their years of captivity.

They obviously wanted to keep that symbolism alive.

Incredibly, one of the carvings was eerily similar to the lead cross found

at Smith's Cove.

Now with this evidence, if you will, that UNB is telling us

it's not North American lead, it certainly doesn't eliminate the

possibility that this is indeed a Templar connection.

We haven't eliminated it. This would have killed it. There's another way to

say it. This would have killed it if it was North American. But it didn't. But

it didn't.

The initial data is great.

Now we take the next step, you know, further define when and where that cross

was made.

Give us a really complete understanding of what this artifact can tell us.

Wow, so this thing has some story to tell us yet then. If it was not made or

mined in North America, where the heck did it come from?

Huh. Did they give you any insight, Greg, about where we go next?

No, they suggested, you know, we look to Europe.

There's a lot of different places that might have experts in different areas.

So I think we need to just start searching around.

I know for me, it just ramps up our interest in doing the Smith's code work.

Gary always talks about, surely it has friends.

Okay, so let's see where the data leads us. Let's proceed.

Okay. See you, Craig.

See you, Craig. See you guys soon.

After receiving the incredible news, that the lead found in the cross came

from somewhere other than North America,

Rick Lagina and archaeologist Laird Niven joined Gary Drayton to inspect the

mysterious drilled stone on Lot 2.

Right here, guys.

Okay.

I mean, this has been altered, but it's almost like it's been, it's almost like

it's impacted like this.

Yeah, because if you look here, there's a mark here where it looks like they

started.

No, that is strange.

It's just unusual to see that pin in there.

That's a unique feature we've never seen anywhere else. No.

So I guess what you would like to do is peel back the moss and see if we can't

see more evidence that compels us to go down the road of, hey, this might be

significant.

I may get to see what's under that moss.

Let's photograph it first.

Look at that.

Did we bring the snips?

We did.

Right behind it.

Oh, yeah. There's more.

Look at that face.

Oh, there you go.

There's one there. There's one there. There's one there.

Pull the moss back. And there's a bunch of other drill holes.

And, you know, why were they doing that? Why this specific rock?

But there's definitely here, here, here, here, here.

And they're all the same diameter as well.

Perhaps dating the spikes, they'll be able to tell us when this work went on.

Yep. That is the one key.

The one interesting thing is how old is the metal?

And the hope would be that we can give it to Dr. Brousseau and she can give us

a date range on it. If it predates the discovery of the money pit, then it's

very interesting.

And look at that.

You see any significance to this?

See this yeah, yeah Is there a way we can clean

that up a little bit? Yeah, we could try pouring some water on it. See what that

does. Yeah, right It

looks like a triangle to me

I Mean it could be it could be chiseled

I know, you know, masons all had their specific mark.

A carved triangle?

Possibly made by Freemasons?

For more than two centuries, the secretive fraternity of builders known

as the Freemasons have left an undeniable mark on the Oak Island

mystery.

Not only are prominent treasure hunters, including Daniel McGinnis, M.R.

Chappell, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt all been members.

But well-known Masonic symbols, such as triangles, and even the sacred letter G,

representing the great or divine architect, have been found carved on

stones all over the island.

I can't think of a single example anywhere on the island where you see

this type of rock deformation, so we should look into it further.

This may turn out to be something connected to the island in the mystery.

I'm curious to see if that really is a carving or even an attempt at a carving.

Then that makes this significant.

Pushes one to, well, what was the purpose of that? They chose this for

some reason. It's the question we're left with right now.

Yeah. Maybe they did this work to leave a message.

So it's interesting.

Yes.

As a new day begins on Oak Island.

You're getting ready to set off another set of charges?

Yes. And the team from Eagle Canada continue their seismic scanning

operation at the Money Pit site.

Here it comes.

Okay, so just real quick, tie it all together.

Fair enough.

Marty Lagina and his nephew Peter Fernetti.

are about to conduct another investigation at smith's cove this is

the port joining them are geophysicist mike west and his associate andrew

gillis that's it we're functional yeah down the hill yeah you guys have

done some work here yeah we're going to do a pretty massive excavation down at

smith's cove we're going to put in a cofferdam right just past dan's old

copper dam you can see it already coming into view

We had Gary Drayton do normal metal detecting there.

And the EM61, which you're bringing, right? Yep. Goes much deeper. It's

basically more of a high-power metal detection unit.

Unlike conventional metal detection devices, the EM61 device is designed to

sense metal objects at depths of nearly 20 feet.

Equipped with a GPS mechanism, it can pinpoint the position of any metallic

target. to within centimeters of its exact location below ground let me get

you lined out here it is the team's hope that the data collected can be used to

create a map of potential dig sites for the major excavation plan to happen here

this year we're going to be excavating about where that little pond is right

there yeah that's where the u-shaped structure is what if you went from that

metal deal what if you kind of tried to do this pie piece here first yeah i'm

saying to do this whole area With this, it would take some time. That's kind of

what we want you to do. Yeah.

All right. Okay. Well, you've got your marching orders. Rick has some other

stuff for me to do, Pete, so I'm going to skedaddle. But, you know, get what

you can, and then when the tide goes out, get more.

Okay. All right. Carry on. All right. See you. See you.

While Mike West and Andrew Gillis begin their deep scan for metal artifacts at

Smith's Cove, Rick Lagina, Craig Tester, and Dave Blankenship.

travel some 150 miles northwest to the city of St.

John, New Brunswick. I don't know about you guys, but I'm very interested in

seeing this technology they're going to apply to provide us with a proper plan

for the project in Smith's Cove.

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, I just got to believe we're going to find a lot of things.

They have arranged a meeting at the headquarters of Irving Equipment

Limited, the company that for the past three years has been chiefly responsible

for all of the major drilling operations on Oak Island.

Hey, guys. David.

Welcome. Good to see you again. Good to see you as well. How are things?

Good. Good. Very good. Good. Craig. Good.

Dave, how you doing?

So welcome to Irving Equipment. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Yeah, we got a couple tricks up our sleeve. We're looking to showcase for

you guys today, but hopefully just have a good discussion about Smith's Cove,

what you want to do. Okay. Perfect. Let's go.

Follow me.

This year, in addition to the money pit, the Laginas and their partners.

want to expand the team's excavation efforts to include Smith's Cove, where

last year Rick and Gary Drayton found the mysterious lead cross.

Because of its location at the ocean, digging at Smith's Cove will require the

team to first construct a massive cofferdam.

It will also require a large investment of money, as well as numerous permits

and permissions from the government.

If we can get a proper cofferdam in place, I think we can prove up the flood

system and which direction it goes and lead us to the money pit.

Gentlemen, welcome to the lift lab. Here we have with us our engineering folks as

well as some of the folks from our pile driving department.

Okay. Let's just summarize a little bit about what we talked about.

Sure. From previous discussions, we understand the scope as being that you

need a structure that will hold back the water to permit excavation and

exploration around the smith's cove area so we also understand that you would

like to possibly dig down 10 feet in the smith's cove area as well so we have a

proposal here to uh to review with you guys great in order to really sort of

immerse yourselves in the plan that we're presenting here we're going to

talk about this augmented reality technology it's not full virtual reality

with vr you're totally blocking out everything around you and you're just

looking at a totally virtual environment.

What we want to do is be able to take the lift plans that we've designed and

then superimpose the equipment, the structure on a digital representation of

the island.

The benefits of that are that you get that immersive experience without losing

sight of what we're really trying to talk about, which is the worksite and

how what we're planning on putting on the worksite fits together.

With applications ranging from the medical to engineering fields, augmented

reality, is an emerging technology whereby computer-generated sensory data

such as imagery and sound can alter an individual's perception of actual real

-life environments.

Put simply, it creates a three-dimensional simulation of the

physical world.

Using a headset device known as a HoloLens, the digital model can be

manipulated by simple hand movements.

What I'm going to do now is load up a hologram.

There's cameras on the front of these HoloLens goggles, so you're going to see

my output here on the screen.

The HoloLens technology uses hand gestures, so you can see it here. It's

kind of small scale, so we'll make it a little bit bigger and drag it.

It's amazing.

And I want to rotate it around so the cove is facing you guys, so you can see

the cove in the front.

I'll grab it here and kind of rotate it around for you.

So there, you can't see it in front of you, but I can see it. There's a cove

right there on the table for you.

That's sort of the starting point. We can also now look at the CAD files that

we developed on top of this.

So there we are.

There's your cranes, again, showing the range of the working profile there.

Okay, so to summarize all the discussions on how actually we install

this cofferdam, we would start to construct a road.

from the Money Pit area all the way right down to the beach.

It's a road that's going to be about approximately 500 feet long.

Once we get down to the beach area, then we would construct a crane pad. What

this crane pad is going to do is going to allow us to crane back and forth as

required to drive the sheets from the center point all the way back to the

shoreline. We also talked about the old cofferdam that was constructed back in

1970. As you can see, it's kind of like a darker shaded area here.

That will show you exactly the kind of like the footprint of the old existing

structure. And as you can see, we'll be outside of that. So it allows us soil

support inside of the cofferdam.

You know, we're retaining back a minimum on high tide of six feet of water. So

the forces are significant for sure. It definitely gives you a sense of scale

because we know how big that crane is. You look at the amount of earth we have

to deal with.

It's intimidating.

Yeah, it is a big structure.

It's certainly the biggest project we've undertaken so far. Oh, yeah.

You know, it's very helpful to see a bird's eye view, literally, of the

Smith's Cove work, of the scope of it, the scale of it.

Here it is in real time, what we're about to undertake.

And as I'm looking at it, I'm thinking to myself, you know what? Time waits for

no one. We have to get this started.

Is there anything else that we need to talk about here, or do you guys think

that we're good to go?

What do you think? I think we're good to go.

Good. I think I just want to affirm to you guys why this project is so

important to us on a number of levels.

You know, everyone says that the puzzle, the mystery actually started upon

finding the money pit in 1795. The truth is, my suspicion is that the original

depositors, this is where they started.

Because there was something they had that was so valuable that they needed to

protect it.

And that's why they had to create this.

The other thing is we found this cross, but we believe there are other artifacts

in the area where it was found in an association with this U-shaped

structure. So we'd like to get to the bottom of the importance of Smith's Cove

and the work that was done there. And now with your assistance, your help, we

think we're on the precipice of unraveling that mystery.

Will it find treasure?

Will it find answers?

You know, maybe write a page into this ever-evolving story.

I think it will.

Well, let's seal it on a handshake then, and I'm old school.

Okay. Sounds good. Thank you. Thanks.

Let's get it done.

Following

their

trip to Irving Equipment Limited... Let me give Marty a call.

Yeah.

Craig Tester, Dave Blankenship, and Rick Lagina call Rick's brother Marty.

to update him on their morning meeting.

Hey, Marty, you there?

Yeah, Craig.

Hey. What's going on?

We met through Irving's office today. Okay.

We discussed Smith's Cove, putting the pilings in. All right.

Rick and I felt confident that they could do the job, so we said, sure,

we'll do it with you guys.

Yep. David agreed as well. All right, Dave. Yep.

Thanks, Kurt. I did see the picture you sent.

And it's exciting to see that picture and see that dike holding back the sea

and then being able to work it there in the dry. I just hope that that can

really happen.

Yeah, I agree. Yep.

The excavation at Smith's Cove is going to be the biggest thing that we've done

here since we've embarked on this quest.

I have some trepidation about it. It's going to be a lot of work.

This is more about eyes and boots on the ground, getting dirty, jumping in.

making real finds real discoveries so i'm very much looking forward to it it's

finally we're getting the hands dirty again it is a treasure hunt after all

well well done guys i'm happy with the results yes i'm firmly on board okay

release the home yeah smith's cove here we come as

rick craig and dave make their way back to oak island rick's nephew peter

fernetti along with geophysicist Mike West and his associate Andrew Gillis,

continue their search for artifacts at Smith's Cove.

There's certainly something right there. Right where you are? Yeah.

Do you know any depth with that? No, but it's a pretty big response.

It's even like debilitable reading.

It's even off the scale. We're up in, you know, 3,000, 3,400 millivolts. Our

baseline's right around zero, and that's spiking off the charts right there. And

I don't see any evidence of any kind of metal on surface.

So there's something really big deep?

Yeah. This isn't a subtle response.

A large metal object buried deep below the surface at Smith's Cove?

Could it be related to the lead cross found here last year?

That's one that I'd certainly take a look at. Yeah.

We'll create some maps, we'll find these targets, and we can come back at a later

date and dig them.

We definitely will.

Although Mike is certain that the EM61 has detected the presence of a

significant metal target, the team will have to wait until today's scans can be

properly analyzed before they can determine the object's exact GPS

location. Maybe I'll get one more pass.

Then we'll hop to the other side.

And then we'll jump to the other side. Awesome. Perfect.

The next day.

I think we just go right in here.

Rick Lagina and metal detection expert Gary Drayton. Start right here,

actually. Continue their ongoing search for important clues.

This time on Lot 21.

Well, this is 21. We've never been in here before. You got the McGinnis

Foundation over there.

Let's see what we find.

Right.

Let's go, Lucky Digger. Let's go.

Shortly after Daniel McGinnis and two of his friends discovered the Money Pit in

1795, the young man moved to Oak Island and built a home.

Here, he lived for the remainder of his life.

Farming, raising a family, and searching for treasure.

Three years ago, while visiting the island, three of Daniel McGinnis' direct

descendants shared an incredible story with Rick, Marty, and the team.

Now, I've been told they found three treasure chests.

And what is in this box is one of the things that came from that chest.

along with an amazing object that Daniel reportedly found some 30 feet deep in

the money pit.

Wow.

Although the remains of Daniel McGinnis' house were removed more than a century

ago,

the rock foundation remains as a protected historical site.

Because of this, Rick and Gary are careful not to disturb any areas within

100 feet of the foundation.

in hopes their search of the surrounding ground will yield important information.

It's only reading three or four inches.

I'm getting readings over here as well.

Ooh, look at that.

Is that an oldie?

I don't know.

Looks old.

Let's have a look, see if I see any screw threads. Yeah, these are old

screws.

So we've got an inch.

We need the chest. Chest.

And that's how it is on Oak Island a lot of times.

Once you find one or two good things, you find a lot of things in the same

area.

Come on just one more nice little signal around here. What we need to do is just

circle this area. Yeah a couple times

Well

that

doesn't sound too bad

You never, ever know what's gonna come out of your next hole.

What do I always say?

Just win, baby. Choose your whole day.

Here we go.

Still sounding good? Still looking good?

Oh, my gosh!

It's another Bobby Dazzler! Look!

While metal detecting on lot 21, Rick Lagina and Gary Drayton have just made

an astonishing and potentially historic find.

That's a stone.

It's a brooch. That's a bloody brooch. Look at that. That's a gem.

That's red, too.

A jeweled brooch found on the western side of Oak Island and nearly a mile

from the money pit?

That's heavy.

We did it again.

Feel the weight on that compared to the other one. Oh, look at that.

Isn't that much heavier?

Could it be related to the one discovered last year on Lot 8, which not

only contained a semi-precious jewel, but which might also date as far back as

the 16th century?

Gary reached in, and there it is, the brooch.

And, you know, it's a holy shmoly moment for Gary.

Wow. And it is for me, too.

It was hard not to get excited because if it predates searcher activity, it's

absolutely an excellent find.

Look at that.

That's some sort of ornament there, some sort of ornament there.

I mean, a lot of work went into that. That's why I'm thinking this could be

special. I just think that how ornate it is is going to tell us something.

It's beautiful.

That is unbelievable.

The Broach brothers are back.

Looky diggers.

Right, you know what?

Top pocket finder. Top pocket finder.

Just make sure you zip it up.

For Rick, Marty, and their team, the discovery of what may be an actual piece

of treasure offers a momentous start to their new year on Oak Island.

But could it also validate their belief?

that at some time perhaps centuries ago a group of people came here for the

purpose of hiding something of incredible value like gold and jewels

buried by pirates the lost manuscripts of william shakespeare precious

religious artifacts taken from the temple of king solomon or could it be

something small and modest like a simple lead cross which when analyzed could

change history and which was discovered on an area of the island that waits

to be explored next time on the curse

of oak island we got two broaches and two red gemstones yes that's pretty

amazing This is not your ordinary gem.

It's super ancient. Now we're cooking. These artifacts are pushing us back

farther in time than I ever thought. For the first time in two and a quarter

centuries, we can look underground in the money pit. We can give you guys some

answers. What are the lighter spots? I would say it's pure gold. Holy shimole.

We have found our first gold on Oak Island.