The Curse of Oak Island (2014–…): Season 3, Episode 6 - Carved in Stone - full transcript

Tonight on the curse of Oak Island

that famous stone is it on the island it

was in chime phrase when I thought if

these are part of a bigger puzzle we've

got three new pieces let's see what we

found here do you think he's an art all

right these two pieces seem to be part

of the same stone you could probably

match them right up what we got a 5 when

we drill these homes the chambers were

the real treasures if he put an X on the



spot this was good work on Diaz Jack

Empire

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 bits of

gold chain a stone slab with strange

symbols carved into it even a 17th

century Spanish coin 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

while the process of exploring 10x has

been temporarily put on hold Rick lagina



has decided to focus his attention on

the hundreds of strange carvings that

have been found all over the island

carvings that may provide information

not only as to where treasure could lie

buried but who buried it and perhaps

even more important what it is Rick

lagina knows there is no better source

of information about Oak Island and its

history than his friend and partner dan

Blankenship at 92 dan has spent more

than 50 years determined to solve the

220 year old mystery

dad

got a question for you Ally you can if

you want okay but I'm gonna catch you

you know those thats stolen the H or the

famous H o stone oh yeah is it on the

island that's the first question not

that I know of rich I remember it many

years ago and it was on the island when

I was doing drilling on on that field

and I don't know maybe about 20 years or

so it just disappeared

in 1921 a huge boulder covered with

carved inscriptions was found on the

northern shore of Oak Island believing

it might have been placed there to mark

the location of buried treasure

searchers demolished it using dynamite

and dug underneath it although nothing

was found in 1936 treasure hunter

Gilbert Hedden saved some of the larger

fragments including one which featured

an H a cross and a circle with a dot in

the center

I don't know what to make all these

inscribe stones who found them when they

found them none of that is well

documented correct we don't know where

they came from

there's urban myths about them so you

know we're gonna leave no stone unturned

are you certain that it's gone I haven't

seen it I've never seen it I've never

seen it so you don't know if someone

took it so it could be still there

someone had to move it I mean it didn't

move by itself they're big yeah

I asked Nolan if he had taken it then he

said no you didn't take it

just like he didn't take them big rocks

huh uh-huh rocks are those the ones that

are concreted into his floor three

there's three in there Oh in there's

stones in the floor of the museum a land

surveyor by trade Fred Nolan came to Oak

Island in 1961 working in cooperation

with landowner Mr Chappell and treasure

hunter Robert Restall he helps survey

virtually every inch of the 140 acre

Island

in 1963 Noland purchased a large number

of acres near the islands north shore

and in 1969 he built a small Museum on

the mainland just across the causeway

there he displayed evidence he had

accumulated for nearly a decade

including artifacts pictures and news

articles about the search for treasure

on Oak Island and in the center on the

floor he embedded several large stones

in concrete stones he had removed from

the island

although Noland closed the museum in

1990 and later sold the property he left

the stones still embedded in the floor

could one of them have been the

mysterious H o stone great put them

stones in concrete over there in the

middle of his floor

why don't I know one that it did I'm

wondering if it has something to do with

the stone triangle since it was fine I

would be surprised if it did not have

something to do with the stone triangle

in 1897 treasure hunter Frederick Blair

discovered a mysterious triangle made of

round stones on oak islands South Shore

each of the sides of the triangle

measured 10 feet long and its apex

pointed TrueNorth directly toward the

money pit

although it was destroyed by Robert

dunfield's extensive excavations there

are many who believe that it and the

numerous other carved stones on the

island offered important clues to

solving the Oak Island mystery dan do

you know who owns the property now yeah

by the name of public cover we should go

check it out hey babe it's still there

hey it's one more piece of the puzzle

how many times I need 300 for a 300

piece puzzle let's go see if we can make

that happen yeah I think that's a good

idea

all righty what see you later dad okay

Dave there's a story here first and

foremost it's always been that way for

me when I was a little boy tonight

I wanted to know those I wanted the

answers to those questions as of yet we

have a phone

after placing a call to Barry and Karen

public cover the owners of what was once

Fred Nolan's Oak Island Museum we ready

to do this

Rick lagina along with Dave Blankenship

and Jack Begley head over to the place

where they believe important clues might

lie cemented into the floor they have

made arrangements to remove the stones

and return them to the island that is if

they can pry them loose without causing

any damage you bought the property from

Fred right when when you purchased it

did he relate anything about it or where

he found it how it came to be well he

told us they were very valuable to the

Oak Island story and that he had found

them on the island and wanted to keep

them where they would be safe forever so

we mounted them in concrete in the

middle of the building by all means

we bought the property were peeking in

through the window looking at this going

what what can this be we think there are

actually three here are they laid out in

any specific way he didn't indicate that

but Fred is very very into the way rocks

point on his property and every rock on

his property he feels this pointing that

direction for a reason

so he may have done that that wouldn't

surprise me that's why I asked she may

have laid him specifically examined

something to him or maybe that's how he

found him I think Fred Nolan is an

absolute true believer

he's as obsessed as anybody else but he

has to fight internally in himself to

release all this stuff that he kept so

private for so long we're only guessing

all of us know other than the fact that

you say that Fred felt they weren't

important oh well obviously no there

could be some markings on the underside

no well if you do grab that jacket we

can find out what's on the other side of

them all right

like most things regarding Oak Island

nothing's easy Fred had put in concrete

for God's sake so you don't know we have

to jackhammer moat but it's interesting

that he felt that they were that

important to make certain they were

preserved or not lost

Hey

today it would be nice there you go

on the mainland just across the causeway

from Oak Island Rick lagina Dave

Blankenship and Jack Begley are in the

process of removing three large stones

embedded in concrete giving an I are old

man but you know what when Jack

relinquished the the jackhammer David

stepped right in as he always does I

mean he's right there on the spot

willing to do whatever whenever you may

need sweating bullets no disrespect to

Jack but you know kudos to David okay

dude let's see what we found here if we

found anything ready let's see what do

you see you nice Roman numeral yeah look

at one and maybe x and x you're right

that's definitely carved away why the

app you have a little bit of water left

what were those do you think this is a

not P or P

re it looks like

ar e could this stone be one of the

fragments of the huge boulder that also

included the missing a Joe stone just

maybe it's part of the H o stone and

maybe if these are part of a bigger

puzzle we've got three new pieces

they're big and they're heavy yeah and

they don't always fit together but at

least there's three more I think what we

need to do is find an expert not only to

look at the carvings themselves but to

get the carvings to become more visible

I mean somebody who knows what they're

looking at

after an exciting day on the mainland

Rick lagina is once again focused on

what is perhaps the biggest clue of all

the money pit into this end he and Dave

Blankenship have brought underwater

visualization expert Brian Abbott back

to the island so Brian I'm you know

obviously glad you're back

okay thanks of course the issue is

valley 3 we'll all right earlier this

year Brian Abbott

used to scanning sonar to confirm data

suggesting that a man-made chamber

complete with wooden posts and possibly

human remains are lying at the bottom of

borehole 10x now Brian has been invited

back to put a similar device down a hole

that lies near the original money pit

the same hole were Rick Craig and the

team found evidence of the mysterious

wooden vault that was first discovered

by treasure hunters Frederick Blair and

William Chappell back in 1897 you think

you're on the vault

rictus humming that if Brian can get

images that prove there is a 7-foot tall

wooden vault down near the bottom of the

money pit he can convince Marty and

their partners to dig it up using a

relatively experimental method known as

a freeze ring a freeze ring is probably

the technology we would utilize if we

saw target in there it's not a new idea

there was a study by some engineering

students actually McGill University and

McGill so we've known about it but it's

very very expensive because digging in

the money pit area is likely to cause

flooding at any depth below 60 to 90

feet the freeze ring method would

literally freeze any modern water that

surrounds the excavated area and could

cause it to collapse in the case of the

wooden vault a series of holes would be

drilled in a circular pattern

approximately 150 feet deep then a

cooling agent such as glycol would be

pumped into each hole literally freezing

the ground solid and allowing for a safe

excavation

we've got a head and got Jordan Valley

well drillers to come in because there

is an obstruction at about 141 all right

so we're gonna have him kind of swab out

the hole and hopefully get that

obstruction out of the way we feel like

the best opportunity is put the sonar

back in immediately upon Jordan pulling

his tools out I don't know what's your

thought on well we can give it a shot

I'll have to be careful because if you

create this vacuum or you create this

flow of sediment coming in it could trap

the sonar pin it in there what's the

little one cost 35 40

yeah you got some toys up here too yeah

couple three you want to drive some sure

absolutely fun okay let's all cross your

fingers hope it's not plugged yeah all I

can say in 1897 drilling master William

Chappell while working for treasure

hunter Frederick Blair found what they

believed to be a 7-foot tall wooden

vault

since want the team has recently named

the tester vault was discovered 143 feet

below ground well driller Jordan Rogers

has reamed or cleared the area just

above the vault with this drill before

we leave the hall we could go to 180

well let's figure out how much hole we

got here hopefully we got some Jordan

will next drop a measuring cable down

the hole making note of where it lands

this will determine the amount of open

space there is underground

we got five six feet of open hole is

enough to image yeah that's right come

on give me a good number

1:48 Brian you got about seven feet open

hole all right sounds good we got about

seven drops that we can do that good

enough as it is lowered down the hole

the ms1000 takes lateral scans in a

circular pattern making a 3d image of

the space around it I hate to jinx us

but the day's starting off good we'll

get that in the hall let's go

I'm ready to roll

they don't trip

okay let's drop it in you do what

happens let me know when it hits water

at the money pit

underwater visualization expert Brian

Abbott is using a scanning sonar device

to verify the existence of a wooden

treasure vault some 143 feet below the

islands surface water okay keep going

yeah

we want to get the sonar done 145 feet

underground and have it do its work then

come out with clear and concise imagery

that says hey guys Here I am come get me

what do you wanna do now okay

go six inches in okay seeing anything at

all just letting this scan all the way

around and it's not showing me anything

it's like completely kind of closed off

so let's go six inches more okay so

we're roughly at 145 ish what do you got

anything hang on a second

seeing anything at all now 145 issues

where we should be seeing something

that's where the core was yeah six

inches more yeah okay

nothing Brian hang on a second

it's widening out a little bit we may

have gone from foot after two feet oh

you got a bigger void yeah a bigger void

as Brian Abbott found the space he needs

to get an image of the mysterious

underground cavity where are we at one

we're at six and a half feet in so

you're close to tagging bottom yep so

it's just got a you know fine little

cavity going down you saw nothing

angular or not enough all I got is an

outline of something so I think we're

just kind of in a another kind of

straight shaft of unconsolidated

sediment the money pit is the most

difficult to excavate that it's ever

been in the 220 years since it was found

you have 44 shafts so it's probably

voids undergrown because of those very

unstable it's a huge challenge

okay well here's where I'm at I don't I

I don't think this is gonna work yeah I

think we'll pull it yeah slowly bring it

out

although Rick Brian and the team could

not get a clear image of the object in

the money pit they do know based on last

year's discovery that there is something

of interest down there let's clear up

clear up the site

unfortunately the hole that was drilled

last year is simply too narrow and too

impacted with mud and sediment to get a

good reading the only way to be certain

what lies at the bottom is to dig a hole

more than 143 feet straight down

before the Sun sets on Oak Island Rick

lagina is hoping that the day will not

be a total disappointment and to this

end he has invited stone structure

expert and local historian Terry Deveau

to meet him at the Oak Island visitor

center which also is the site of the

islands Museum welcome back my pleasure

rick is hoping that Terry can help

evaluate the large carved stones that he

and the team recently retrieved from the

small house on the other side of the

causeway the ones formerly placed there

by treasure hunter Fred Nolan alright

these are the points of interest if you

will oh I've never seen this oh these

are the actual inscribed stones mr.

Nolan owned it interesting enough to

actually remove it from the island and

to safeguard it he found that important

and I don't know why Terry Mike you take

a look at this you think if this is

natural or is this is man-made

definitely man-made up here what's then

are you look here Terry you see this

there's a straight line yes and then you

have this this semicircle right could

that be the letter D or I think so that

looks like a day to me yeah and that

that hold

looks like it kind of matches the

curvature of this edge doesn't okay

these two pieces seem to be part of the

same stone the two pieces of a puzzle

you could probably match them right up

two pieces of a puzzle pieces that

actually fit together nice like a glove

got a match right there all right so we

have our a d d e and probably an M

could it be an H for heading that would

explain a lot if it was headin could it

be that the carvings on the stones are

referencing Gilbert Hedden the man who

searched for treasure on Oak Island back

in the 1930s it seems like an armed

living anything else did Rick and the

team just discover an important clue one

so important that treasure hunter Fred

Nolan believed he had to hide it and

cement it into the floor of a small

building off the island

we truly appreciate you coming we

learned a little bit but it will keep

looking that's all we can do at the

start of another day of treasure hunting

on Oak Island Rick and Marty lagina have

arranged to meet a man who is offered to

tell them not only what is buried on the

island but who buried it and how to

retrieve it Oh who's here John O'Brien

this is my brother Marty hi Marty how

you doing pleased to meet you sir to

meet you come on

why not I think you're more or less

familiar with this right oh yeah I

pretty well know what's going on all

right yeah here's the thing Jim what we

want to do is find out what's in cavity

at Jan 35 I want to see that post I want

to get a piece of it I want the box

that's a lot of the box yeah let's get

the boxes out nobody does all this work

to hide marbles but you know what my

understanding is you want to show us

some stuff here you want to see some

stuff do we want to take a little tour

what do you want to do now I would like

to go down to the so Shore all right

let's go down there okay

with more than 35 years of experience in

the mining industry author and oak

island historian John O Brien is an

expert at retrieving precious objects

from often impossible to reach locations

he has also been obsessed with solving

the mystery since first hearing about

the island and later visiting it as a

young boy growing up in nearby Halifax I

was just young following when they first

come on the island last week at a

meeting with Rick and members of the

team John O'Brien shared the story of an

amazing discovery his father made while

visiting Oak Island in the early 1960s

my father and one of his best friends

Charlie they were on the UM and they

told me that they had found a rock and

it was shaped like an ice-cream cone

the top was flat they said and the comb

went like that arrow going down what

they did was they uncovered all around

and there was hieroglyphs it was carved

in the rock so then he used latex paint

to get the images that were on the rock

Charlie and dad decided that they would

send these to her University in the

United States to find out what kind of

writing or hieroglyphs it was and I was

there when a box came back and there was

an envelope there and the latex things

were inside and Charles read that these

hieroglyphs that were written on there

came from Central America

a cone-shaped stoned with hieroglyphs

from Central America but before we try

to find out what treasure was here we

have to figure who did the work on Oh

God but I believe that this was the work

done of the Aztec empire
the Aztec

empire hiding treasure on Oak Island

could such a fantastic theory be even

remotely true thriving from 1428 to 1521

the Aztecs are thought to have been a

relatively advanced and culturally

sophisticated civilization their capital

Tenochtitlan was an elaborately

engineered city of pyramid-shaped

temples all decorated with gold as well

as an ingeniously designed water

distribution system

in 1519 the Spanish led by Hernando

Cortez began a ruthless campaign to

destroy the influence of the Aztec

people in the region and thus seal the

fate of the Empire

but what remained a mystery to the

Spanish was the fate of the Aztecs vast

stockpiles of gold and jewels they were

thought to have simply vanished could

they really be on Oak Island

that was the Mayans ship became ashore

and they discovered belogorsk lay in the

sediment to the visas of Americans that

was worth more than ol pal Igor scant

clay otherwise known as blue clay was

widely used by the ancient Mayans to

adorn their temples it is also known to

have medicinal properties although large

deposits appalling Gorsky clay are not

known to exist in mexico it is fairly

common in areas of the southeastern

United States in 2011 researcher Richard

Thornton published his explosive

findings concerning what he believes to

be Mayan ruins in northern Georgia

ruins which are believed to date back

1,100 years hey Rick is

to play during an excavation just a few

weeks ago Rick Marty and Jack Begley

found a large quantity of blue clay

while digging at a spot where researcher

Robert Marcus indicated the treasure

might be found I know that's amazing

stuff could the proof that blue clay can

be found on Oak Island help validate

John O'Brien's theory

the significance of the social shaft was

that was the first shaft put down to

establish a mine here

the Aztecs found the blue clay that they

wanted they knew they could mine that

they probably put a shaft in about eight

foot round and they would have hit

belogorsk I play at 50 feet so just

simple basic mining always 300 feet was

the extent of their ventilation there

would have to be a ventilation shaft

it's probably hidden that's why I

figured there was another shaft up there

and all of a sudden I looked at one it's

the money pit shaft and when the Aztecs

came to hide the treasures they knew

there was an old mine here they

remodeled it and made it into a trap in

fact they made the whole mine into a

trap according to John O'Brien's theory

after the Aztec people buried their

sacred treasures on the island

they remodeled an abandoned Mayan

mineshaft to serve as a lure for

would-be treasure seekers they also

booby-trapped it with flood tunnels to

thwart all who came looking for their

treasure

according to Aztec beliefs the souls of

the dead had to pass through nine levels

to obtain eternal rest or their ultimate

reward in 1804 when the money pit was

first excavated to 90 feet nine levels

of oak platforms had been unearthed at

10-foot intervals and in the center of

the ninth platform was an embedded stone

with mysterious carvings that when

removed opened a supposed flood trap

that is defeated every major search

sense

so John is there anything buried here in

this area this general vicinity I don't

believe so I believe that the Aztecs

treasure is not here it's just like a

couple hundred yards over there

while visiting Oak Island mining expert

and author John O'Brien has just made

one of the most amazing claims ever

about the 220 year old mystery method

yes he believes that what is buried on

Oak Island could very well be the

priceless treasures of the Aztec empire

okay what are we doing here this is the

stone at the absolute bottom of Nolan's

cross after leaving the South Shore

O'Brien and the team have arrived at one

of the mysterious cone-shaped boulders

that form a curious megalith the

grouping known as Nolan's cross first

discovered by Oak Island landowner and

treasure hunter Fred Nolan in 1981

although many Oak Island theorists

suggest that the so-called cross can be

linked to everything from the Knights

Templar to the lost works of William

Shakespeare no one has ever been able to

determine its true purpose

would you believe you're standing on a

cliff I believe is you took the topsoil

off here 30 feet down to bedrock but

just like a couple hundred feet over

there the bedrock is a hundred and

eighty feet down when the Aztecs came to

hide the treasures they wanted no sign

of anything going on above they come up

underneath a cliff and they bring all

their goods everything to fill the

chambers then they plug them the

entrance is way down deep meanwhile

there's no evidence anything going on so

that the top would look understood

according to John O'Brien's theory the

Aztecs who were skilled at building

canals and waterways came to Oak Island

sometime in the early 16th century here

Aztec engineers built dams and

artificial beaches on both sides of what

were once two separate islands they then

dug shafts into cliff faces horizontally

and then refilled the dammed area with

rocks and mud creating

O'Brien's research has also led him to

believe that the huge megalithic

boulders which form Nolan's cross could

provide the key to finding out where the

Aztec treasure chambers still remain

hidden

they planned on coming back to retrieve

it I don't think that they would have

gone in that lagoon and dig down there

to retrieve it all they have to do was

come here and find this cross why the

shape of a cross John why was that

important to that every ancient

civilization of the world had the cross

but to the Aztec Mayan the cross was

rejuvenation and revival it it was like

a tree growing up and the cross beams

were the branches where civilization was

going to be destroyed they knew that but

the plan there would be a revival that

their civilization would rise again and

where would you put the treasures that

you wanted to keep that were history you

would put them at the roots this is the

root of the cross right here according

to the Mesoamerican culture the world

was represented by a world tree with the

heavens above it and the underworld

below - the Aztecs the tree symbolized

both life and death with the arms and

trunk of the tree symbolizing the

cardinal directions and their deities

four of the rocks of the cross are on

the east side of the island only two

were on the west side the key rocks are

on this side and they knew that's the

spot they would dig and it's exactly

between that rock and the next rock over

there 147 feet between them

that's a ritual measurement of the

Aztecs and I bet you that's where they

hit it it's exact on this cross in 1986

archaeologists discovered that the

number 147 was significant in the ritual

architecture of both the Mayans and the

Aztecs according to John O Brien the

halfway mark between the bottom two

boulders of Nolan's cross is exactly 147

feet you're saying the place to dig if

you were in charge of this here

expedition is halfway between this rock

and the next one on the cross yes right

in the middle of 147 each way below that

and below the bedrock are the chambers

where the real treasures hid no no

okay John what are we gonna find when we

drill these holes I believe there's two

chambers there one is the historical

religious artifacts of an empire a 16

million people and in the other is the

tomb of the god King Montezuma and it's

sitting there it's been sitting there

since about 1521 I'll bet my hat on it I

won't need we have a plethora of wild

theories out here now to add to that

we've got the treasure of the Aztecs

well okay that seems a stretch to me but

what if he's right my goodness what if

he's right

but even if John O'Brien's incredible

theory is true proving it will still

remain a considerable challenge for Rick

Marty and their partners because the

marked location of the treasure cache is

not on their land but on land owned by

the man who discovered Nolan's cross

Fred Nolan so you're indicating to us

that further search regarding your

theory would have to of necessity

operate on Fred's property so in order

for this to work we'd have to reach out

to mr. Nolan

mr. Nolan would have to agree to work

with us and agree to work with you in

terms of the development or the

exploration of your theory right yeah I

know what a land mine that is right yes

I know all about it although most of the

140 acres of Oak Island is either owned

or controlled by the laginas and their

partners 20 acres are owned privately

and 16 of those are owned by Fred Nolan

a man who has so far been reluctant to

collaborate with them so John look thank

you very much for coming on the island

it's intriguing like a lot of things are

out here let us kick it around and we

will certainly get back with you and see

what the consensus is so I want to thank

you one of the interesting things about

John O'Brien's theory was simply this he

put an X on the spot

the unfortunate thing is the X's on mr.

Nolan's property now could we reach some

sort of agreement perhaps but as of

right now we cannot proceed with John's

theory we got to talk to dad and see if

we can get Fred on board too yes yes

that would be great

Cheers thanks a lot

okay guys we I think have reached the

point where we gotta take a deep breath

and figure out what the hell would

decide exactly what we're gonna do right

after an exciting week that has brought

not only new clues but an incredible new

theory Rick and Marty lagina have

gathered with their partners in the warm

room for an important meeting we need to

deal with
just as dan Blankenship has

spent the past 50 years trying to solve

the Oak Island mystery Fred Nolan has

been working toward the same goal for an

even greater amount of time for a while

the two men even worked together as

partners until a series of professional

disagreements grew into a bitter rivalry

that has lasted to this day what was

going on in this island was a feud in my

opinion it's about as strong as any

you've ever heard about although Dan and

his former partner David Tobias and

later Rick and Marty lagina along with

Craig tester controlled most of Oak

Island including the money pit area and

Smith's Cove Fred Nolan controls much of

the mysterious triangle-shaped swamp he

also owns the area were in 1981 he

discovered a number of large megalithic

boulders boulders which when viewed from

the air formed the shape of an enormous

cross you're not going to forgive and

forget

40 years of

very contentious issues and it's left

its wounds we can't do anything unless

we have a real deal with the new ones

and rig has done a great job of calming

down the tensions here friends got a lot

of information on the swamp

he's probed it for years and years and I

think it's a lot of information let's go

get a deal with them we've made a

working relationship offer ie we fund

several drill sites he put sex on the

spot and within that framework of that

that proposal I think we can add the

swamp extension agreement and then

thoughts that works for everybody okay

okay Rick go get it are we done here

then yeah all right yay let's pool this

meeting up and go do something

well ending the feud also lead to a new

beginning a cooperative partnership that

could reveal important information and

even more exciting discoveries

or could the wounds inflicted on the two

men simply be too deep and too infected

by mistrust

to ever have a chance to heal perhaps

the answer lies buried somewhere on Oak

Island and deep beneath a patch of

ground that is yet to be explored next

time on the curse of Oak Island deal

with Nolan how does that strike you with

mixed emotions it's time to quit the

fighting I don't want to be an obstacle

anymore welcome to the team

ready to put it in the ground Fred right

on your squat looks like to man baby

there's a cavity in this slate that

would be the most important discovery on

Oh God

that's actually metal

Subtitled by Diego Moraes