The Curse of Oak Island (2014–…): Season 4, Episode 14 - Of Sticks and Stones - full transcript

Tonight on the curse of Oak Island

I believe that these stones were

transported I've never seen anything

like this maybe we're done with the

money pit there has to be enough seed ah

no I refuse to use the word failure

he's over there this might be part of

the original dig this one deathbed from

sixteen fifty five to sixty ninety five

right there original money pit yes

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

today 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

those are some massive beams you know

but what's it doing down there right

around 100 102 I don't know in a year

that has already been filled with new



discoveries

it's probably 18 feet long I'm thinking

ship planking and frustrating

disappointments whoa no we got a big

leak brothers Rick and Marty lagina are

hoping that their third big dig at the

money pit site will lead to their

biggest breakthrough yet well here's the

curious thing this is what Craig

actually was really intrigued by this

one piece of wood it's a peg no it's not

a pig they cut it off for c14 testing

Craig thought we might be in the money

pit with these timbers and this lady's

part of the original dig

remember the money fit the description

of the layers every 10 feet

you're right they could be that if

there'd been layers of these most like

that yeah

good make a nice platform

that's pretty significant piece of wood

when the money pit was first discovered

back in 1795 treasure hunter Daniel

McGinnis reported finding platforms made

of rounded oak logs every 10 feet when

some years later he and his fellow

searchers eventually reached a ninth

platform they found a large stone slab

marked with strange hieroglyphs when the

slab was removed it triggered what was

believed to be a booby-trapped flood

tunnel and the 90-foot deep shaft

quickly filled with seawater

but does the discovery of this rounded

piece of would mean that the laginas and

their partners have just located a

portion of the original money pit

let's see what the man over here Nestle

there he is horn and gentlemen good

morning

oh yeah Andrew are you doing good how's

it going it's going

alright now we're down 118 feet with the

can and 104 feet with the escalation our

target depth is still from like 160 okay

so we find wood I don't necessarily want

to call it all stop but we want to take

a good hard look at it okay actually a

bunch of Roanoke log would be hugely

significant to get Andrew you got work

to do so let's do it

we're burning fog good bring this off

hopefully no like daylight it is it

ain't de la that's a

how long minute bring something home

we stand there and watch that mr. pacman

go in and out of that pipe every time if

you want to see something really cool

hanging out of those jaws a significant

piece of wood a bit of a treasure chest

a piece of brass something I guarantee

every time every time everybody's
hoping for

piece of wood there

there's some really dark wood at the

Bark's alarm

seems to be raining over yeah I guess

what I'm gonna put a raincoat on

although the massive cranes and

equipment can work through rain if

lightning should begin to appear the

operation will need to be shut down for

safety purposes

just watch for lightning do you guys see

any lightning

new

we'll see how things go here

we are digging hole number three and we

came across something unanticipated

exciting actually

and we come up with a very different

looking piece of wood it's got a wedge

shape to it clearly shaped by man I'm

pretty sure it's hardwood based on its

density and the hardness to its feel

looks different than the Timbers we've

been through this is the most intriguing

piece I mean I think that might be old

a lot denser like it's old it doesn't

really look like it fits with all out

over there I think Dan might want it

look at this yeah I think you'd be

interested

as is often the case on Oak Island water

either from the sky or from the ground

becomes the obstacle to progress

about the time that some very

interesting wood is coming out of t one

nature who always holds the trump card

puts a stop to everything with a nice

loud clap of thunder and a spark of

lightning because that crew can't work

under lightning conditions with all that

steel way up in the air so we're shut

down a perfect opportunity to go show

our finds to Dan having worked and lived

on Oak Island for more than five decades

dan Blankenship has seen more and knows

more about the 221 year old mystery than

anyone alive we dug up some more stuff

at the money pit we're in the third hole

now some of these things came from about

a hundred and 102 feet okay

it's not soft wood then say Maya see how

tightly Green is Joe and then 118 give

or take this piece came up it's a wedge

yes it was a wedge if what was a wedge

for watching their tempers in the corner

and who are they dan has a lot of

experience with discovering things I

don't got mad so you know what I am

always hoping is he'll say oh yeah I saw

that before over here and then that's a

piece of data that we can use to

correlate trollin excellent this was

about this long I cut it in half to set

it off for carbon testing

I cut a piece off of here it's hard this

one's hard wood go ahead for a little

piece of wood well this has really fine

green to Dan just like the other one see

it I see if this is old let's say this

is oak could this be the original round

logs that they say we're in the money

pit

way back in 1795 it has an odor

definitely had a significant odor to it

the fact that the wood is both black in

color and has a foul odor is a good

indication that it is also centuries old

we get this singular round smaller

dimension piece of wood very blackened I

think it was like a stockade you know

like this flat and the original

description of the money pit is every 10

feet there were oak logs embedded in the

walls

could this be one of them appears to be

oak it's very heavy

very tight grain could this be one of

those pieces I'm be interested to find

out what's your cock and didn't chose I

you know age wise if this comes back

1550 or something then that's pretty

significant that's a pretty good

indication that you're in the right spot

well guys we're going up here to I think

probably Fred Nolan's most traumatic

discovery while waiting for the

operation at the money pit to resume

Rick lagina along with Island historian

Charles Barkhouse and Jack Begley have

invited stonemasons Mike Whalen and Mark

Fouchier to inspect one of the most

intriguing rock formations ever found on

Oak Island Nolan's cross our interest

was for Mike and Mark to look at it

straight over here and see if the stone

had actually been carved this is the

headstone of the cross so where the arms

and the stem intersect this is what Fred

found in 1981 landowner and professional

surveyor Fred Nolan discovered five

large cone-shaped boulders on his

property that formed a perfectly

symmetrical cross that measured 720 by

867 feet believing there could be

something buried at the center Fred dug

down and uncovered a sixth boulder that

eerily resembled a large human head like

right here that looks like it's been

chiseled about here here here

here here yeah looks like somebody

shaped it although there are many who

believe that the mysterious boulders on

Fred Nolan's property were meant to

represent a Templar cross there is

another more ingenious theory one that

suggests the boulders were carefully

arranged to form what is known as the

Tree of Life

an ancient Hebraic symbol which

represents the ten spiritual principles

or semi roads that are contained in

God's creation of the universe this is

it this theory was given further

credence when a number of smaller

strangely flat-sided stones were found

at the exact places around the cross

when this fe rock would be located what

this interesting is it's rounded on the

back yeah

and kind of heard you have to look at it

looking down but it's the impression

that you know you can see that this

would be where the I would be in the

nose in the mouth and there's an

indentation here you can see right here

although it has weather where you could

put like a small naval Cutlass or naval

sorted like this is the blade part now

again it's weathered a lot and it was

much more defined years ago when I first

saw it about 20-some years ago what's

unique about this is it's it's

completely different from the other

stones the other stones are basically

granted and they're cone shape or this

one is obviously much flatter the

suspicion is that the face especially

the eye perhaps was looking at an area

of significance

that's our suspicion we're hopeful that

Mike and Mark will be able to give us

some information from the stones you

know might it leave the treasure I don't

know might lead to other discovery

agendas I don't know we have to start

somewhere and place to start is with

experts any idea what type of stone this

is is this sandstone things I sense them

because Fred's always assumed that it

was sandstone yeah as opposed to the

other points on the cross are all

granted you know

Charlie do you remember the face being

any more exaggerated than it currently

is well certainly the indentation I've

got a you know Fred very kindly let me

take a photo of the headstone and

certainly the Cutlass indentation was

much more defined than it is now like I

said over the years a weathered and

unfortunately awesome nature Assad soon

it will wither quickly given the fact

that it's been exposed and was buried it

was reactivated then buried again moved

around doesn't take long for that for

the sandstone to to erode and get rid of

any indications or any markings whether

it was work just difficult safe

curiosity of course is its orientation

at the intersection of the stem of the

cross and the arm of the cross according

to Fred survey data it's less than a

degree off of perpendicular and this is

at that point

and then of course the carving the fact

that it was right at the intersection I

mean Mother Nature is good but I don't

think she's that good I think it was put

there for a purpose you know obviously

and in so did Freddie I mean you're

talking massive weight you know to

maneuver this into position and a COPI

partly not for shape a few edges knocked

off air and there it's just something

that they were looking for and they

found this piece and it suit their

purpose to me I think it's a calling

card to me it's a come look at me and at

this point we don't know what's that the

Cutlass that was mostly notice or

someone was supposed to notice or wasn't

the face we don't know when and where it

was done and then interventions at any

particular time right yeah the curious

thing is I for my part I've never seen

no I'm not a geologist by for my part

I've wandered the island quite a bit it

I don't recall a piece of sense on this

big anywhere that surface flauta granite

a lot of big boulders not this

we appreciate you looking at it and we

were just looking for answers and that

the clues as to whether or not was a

human construct have been those clues

have been lost but we do have one more

rock we would like to show you
because

it's set in stone subject to weathering

at a rapid pace they could not make a

definitive statement about the face

stone they couldn't say yes or no

okay gentlemen we're gonna get out here

and we're gonna look at the bottom of

the cross if you will if it was standing

upright and it's a cone-shaped granite

boulder possibly you know uppers to five

tons in size and just take a look at it

and give us your impression

this is it right here

again they're all they're all grown at

the five stones and they're all shaped

like this the question is that they find

if stolen close to what they need and

maybe just do some a little bit of you

know tweaking right exactly

or was this actually manipulated I don't

think is natural at all I don't know

what it is but it doesn't pair natural

I've never seen anything quite like this

I don't see that being natural that's

really smooth Mike don't you think I

don't know what it is but there's a

paradox right near the middle of Oak

Island

on property belonging to the family of

Fred Nolan local stonemasons monkfish

here and Mike Whalen may have just found

an important clue on the bottom Boulder

of the megalithic formation known as

Nolan's cross that surface is unusually

smooth here and it would take a lot of a

lot of dragging to get a central's that

smooth really hmm what does that whether

it was what does that tell you maybe it

was in transport yeah something's

happened to that surface of the stone

the granite is rough the whole stone and

yet at the bottom

it was smooth if these stones had been

drugged for long distance to position in

this particular place I mean that's an

aha moment I did not know this about

this don't know it's not natural

but as to when it was done is that he

was guest

if you drug a stone like that down like

a gravel path you'd almost get a finish

like that if you went long on that

that's interesting that's very

interesting it was the game how do you

move or such a large stone and if that

is possibly the result of transport as

you indicate they had to have a way to

move this thing

it's almost a footprint if you were to

drag it yeah yeah yeah

Oh Cohen is a thousand-piece puzzle with

500 pieces missing

yeah and you just added one yeah let me

thank you for that thank you fastest

happy to help

thank you happy to help okay let's uh on

to more puzzles yeah yeah later that

same day finally got the data back right

breaker

rick marty and members of the Oak Island

team gather in the war room to hear the

results of the carbon testing done on

the mysterious pieces of wood discovered

in the t-one chef at the money pit I'm

very hopeful because of this piece of

wood this piece of wood in that piece of

wood we want proper dates but you only

get a probability curve and you know if

the probability curves are lean towards

the early years fantastic

everything's in the first one is the

timber at 102 feet which is this guy

right here the 95 percentile range is

anywhere from 16 72 1780 what good times

a wooden timber dating as far back as

1670 ad

could this be proof that the team has at

long last found the location of the

original money pit logos from 1655 to

1695 well that's pretty good then isn't

yeah it's this one that's intriguing

yeah that one might be one of the

original logs that covered the money pit

more helpful right there wasn't just

that that intrigued us it's incredibly

heavy yeah

even as I continued to read about Oak

Island and the description of the money

pit in my mind I'm thinking Oh logs

embedded in the walls I'm talking oak

logs but here's this much smaller

dimensioned log is it part of the

construct of the money pit could it be

yeah because they weren't meant to

support anything they were simply meant

to separate so that each level could

fall independently of the one above it

could this be one of those maybe

your father's always said darkened wood

blackened wood with an order and that

has to be oak clinic so I mean the

greens on that or well won't can have

white green but it's very hard till got

branches are sticking out right so there

would have been number the original

money pit was described as logs of home

yeah anyway so what's this test I know

this one tested from sixteen fifty five

to sixty ninety five well then that

means that one is holed then you've got

something that's not the kind of

material that anybody used for any of

the shafts and Craig thanks and I think

maybe he could be right that that would

have been one of the logs of the

ten-foot platforms so that would be very

significant well this is sounding like

that almost has to be original yeah

that's what this is implying yes right

there the original money pit yeah maybe

we're zeroing in on it yeah it could

have been Spanish or it could have been

pirates the bridge murder Sh

that fits once again with this sort of

British military for their jet 1762 were

prior very much more interested in what

the hammer grab might bring up yeah this

we're gonna continue to hammer grab we

need to have eyes on it all the time

yeah okay so now I got more sitting to

doing that front-end loader oh you poor

boy I know

fuck it was a great great meeting thanks

for the day to Prague

I'm very hopeful song I want to go back

out there I'm sure you guys do too so

let's get after it okay

or quite after receiving test results

indicating that they may be close to

finding the exact location of the

original money pit Savior our Castle

Rock Rick Marty and the team have

returned to the t-one worksite only to

discover that today's findings are less

than encouraging they should be pulling

up more bits of wood and evidence of

manmade workings deep underground

instead they are now finding only bits

of clay and chunks of stone the hope is

when you dig in the money pit you dig

into something that's unambiguous a

vault with gold coins or bars or

parchment documents or whatever I mean

when you do that it wouldn't be

confusing would it let's talk to Andrew

we're in a drawer and gentlemen how are

ya good are you yeah

good all right talk to us you know the

drill we are a hundred and forty eight

feet with the can and we're at 147 148

with the diggin okay so we're going one

for one right now go ahead we're gonna

get would it be right now we're gonna

hit what it's gonna be this bucket
right now

they just say it but I don't think

there's anything there I feel the

pressure as each hammer grab comes out

because I just kept coming up with clay

certainly nothing definitively man-made

maari's absolutely right I mean there

was nothing definitive about it

nothing it never stopped I mean there

was hammer grab after hammer grab after

hammer grab of clay I tell you what Rick

this place could annoy the del I llama I

mean for God's sake you know right about

we're right where we want to be right

where we bloody wanna be none of this

makes sense

oh this is outside the purview of logic

amen

a Rick and I and the team agreed on a

budget for this year and we're running

out we tried to stretch that budget and

decided to go for the t1 well but we

haven't had that breakthrough yet

there's the operative word yet okay yes

I just think that there's something very

significant here if this doesn't work

I'm a measure twice cut once guy if we

have to go to a much larger scale

investigation I'm willing vo there we

need answers

Wow

finding water in the t-one shaft is

hardly surprising the absence of any

wood and seems to indicate that the team

may have reached yet another dead end

there he goes a totally empty

very little of nothing

so guys right now we're down about 156

with a cannon

anyway you could be on metal

Charles there have been reports of

plates of metal that other explorers

could not get through true absolutely in

1897 after discovering a mysterious

7-foot tall wooden vault some 153 feet

deep inside the money pit treasure

hunter William Chappell located what

appeared to be an impenetrable metal

object at a depth of approximately 171

feet could Rick Marty and the team have

located another such plate

if so who put it there

what might it be protecting we're hoping

that maybe what's killing these teeth

could be a metal plate how fat you've

hammered on it yeah and you know and we

should see some indication if that's the

case absolutely let the big dog eat

again

put mr. pac-man in there

give it a couple foot drop try to stab

it and grip it and rip it

all right last chance here we go

there you go ready do a happy dance

Charles

come on minute

last chance

the next draft comes and I'm hoping that

what's happening is we're clipping a big

piece of metal where do you want it Rick

he wants it on the ground

the chapel expedition drilled into

something that they described very like

that if we're hitting the metal plate

that's exciting that would be great

like a slate though

that's not good

if we hit bedrock bennett's it's over

it's not gonna go down and your mind

goes from wow this is what I really want

it to be and it is and then it goes to

the harsh reality of oh no it's not

then another question it raises its head

in that is what do we do we're on

bedrock it's time to terminate that's it

we're done

we're done what began as a date of eager

anticipation has suddenly turned to one

a bitter disappointment for Rick Marty

and the team after spending the last of

this year's engineering budget trying to

find the original money pit they have

literally hit bottom and there are no

more options left so I'm disappointed I

mean that's all we've got is interesting

pieces of wood after three very

expensive digs in the money pit we hope

to encounter the vault and come up with

metal in pieces and metal bars so I'm

disappointed but it'd be nice to find it

you know do the happy dance right here

yeah I'd love to see my brother on top

the vault but it didn't happen

difference between being disappointed

and being dissuaded from continuing

there's no guarantee on Oak Island you

do what you can you persevere in the

face of adversity and you carry on look

here's the thing I got more data I think

what we need to do is get all this data

you know and take a look

so our Rick look I appreciate the

optimism we just sank three three-man

size shafts into the money pit and then

come up with anything

counter that with 222 years well we have

they didn't have this

we're not gonna quit it's here why are

you so convinced

because they were convinced all of the

work ants

why was Fred blaring ball from 1893 to

1951 and he wasn't convinced what was in

my shop they all had to believe

otherwise what was the point of them

being here nobody wants you guys to find

it more than I do

I think it's quiet contemplation time

let's uh let's just go have a think

about all this let's go

tough deal Rick tough deal mm-hmm let's

call Craig all is not lost

no Krieger well by this time you are

aware that we have now dug three very

deep very expensive very large holes in

the money pit but no vault no treasure

so just stating facts here to use a

baseball analogy that's three strikes

usually you're out but it's only the

eighth and the game would be over over

the bottom of the ninth it's only the

bottom of the eighth is that your call

I mean I'm still hopeful and I'm

interested going to the southwest and

then we continue pushing a hold on while

the gears here that's my thought you

want to do this yeah I do

you are certainly a perpetual optimist

big brother

I don't want to be part of leaving the

stone unturned

but this is getting painful you know

you know there has to be and enough seen

off

Rick let me tell you I was probably the

most excited to put these holes down and

the money pit but not a lot of treasure

to show for it no but information surely

it's had its rewards certainly but maybe

we're done with the money pit

no cuz no I'll be honest no I refuse to

use the word failure we now have a

greater understanding of the underground

in the money pit area but is the money

pit a tough nut you bet it is does it

live up to its name

absolutely but there's still

opportunities here I mean you know it's

the same old sorry topic of money it's a

reality you know but I think we can I

think we can do it I think we take

another look at the monies that are

available and I think there's a way to

make it happen

Greg where are you for me I put in

what's needed to do one more I just want

to ask Rick one question

I want to leave here with having done a

damn good try but your criteria has

always been you don't want to leave here

with regrets are you gonna have regrets

if we don't dig this hole

in my relationship with record there's a

strong bond both of us know that if we

fell in a deep hole the other one would

go in and get the person who fell I mean

that's that's just the things just as

confidence that they're there for you

that's the strong bond between us and I

respect that I'm kind of feeling shifted

towards doing it but you know what

Charles has picked my hole Craig has

picked the hole I think the final

position of this one should be yours
you

me Alex

and Mom and Dad so let's name it for our

parents let's call it the george and and

lagina number one gal gal number one you

alright with it mom was quite a gal

alright I like it I'm on board

alright let's dig one more but you don't

want we got things to do then we got to

pick the bloody site yeah well I have an

idea but I want everybody to weigh in

I'm excited about the fourth hole

because I've always thought why chase

one singular target Torian go read the

written history says that in 1861 there

were three quote unquote thunderous

collapses in the money pit there's this

imposing location of the money pit right

there when that happens that explosively

the material in that chamber is going to

be dispersed over a wide area chase that

chase the debris field the flood tunnel

comes in from the north

the water's coming in for this direction

well you have been already thinking

about this brother in 1861 12 years

after the discovery of what many

believed to be two stacked wooden chests

filled with gold a team of treasure

hunters trying to reach the bottom of

the original money pit by digging an

adjacent shaft and a depth of 118 feet

the shaft known as shaft number six

began filling with seawater

shortly afterwards a series of loud

crashes were heard leaving the workers

to speculate that the wood cribbing in

the money pit had collapsed and that

whatever possible treasure lay at the

bottom was now scattered across a vast

underground and underwater debris field

so money pit collapses the debris field

goes this way I'd go right in there

right here that's where we drill right

there he's saying seven feet south four

feet west of v3 bottom hole let's go do

it

thanks Greg take care thanks thanks

okay I like that a lot that makes me

feel a lot better

q k to choose a hole on Oak Island I

mean nobody deserves that more than you

nobody has put their soul into this like

you have nobody has been less self

aggrandizing than you look he deserve it

it is as simple as that

well thanks

so anyway you do it together

ever since he first read about it as an

11 year old boy it has been Rick lagina

stream to solve the Oak Island mystery

it is a dream that has been with him for

more than 50 years and one that he

cannot extinguish easily or willingly

good morning we've got a little change

of plans

okay what we want to do is have one more

go at the Bolton sharp so just the

caution you you know we could hit wood

we could hit stone and we could itse and

we could hit what we're looking to

exactly well that would make it all

worthwhile that's the location right

there

we're about seven feet west and seven

feet south of e3 are seven feet right

there that's our spot right there

that's regalis gal number one I just

wonder what mom and dad would think

really is where my mind goes what would

they think your dad would be interested

because but he would he likes things

judge yeah well your mother would be

proud of you she'd think we were nuts

but she often thought we were nuts what

mother doesn't think her boys are nuts

sometimes

I feel it everything's gonna jive that's

the spot very good

okay I'll bring you guys back up here in

a mr. Dubois very much appreciate the

fourth hole good luck or gal appreciate

you guys yeah Gail one hi she's her gal

she's a good-looking gal - better be

for some the curse of Oak Island comes

in the form of death caused by

unforeseen calamity

but for others it comes in the form of

fierce determination fueled by faith and

tempered by the likelihood that too much

has already been discovered for anyone

to give up now

for Rick and Marty lagina and their

partners the bold decision to dig a

fourth exploration shaft has brought a

renewed excitement but could they really

be within a few precious feet of finding

their target or will they discover that

they have not only tempted fate one more

time but too often

next time on the curse of Oak Island a

special two-hour season finale we are

third to zero in on something

ten years of planning treasured yes

that's fantastic

four years of digging the gold coin deep

in the money pit finally pays off we're

gonna get some answers you really do

have something here

Subtitled by Diego Moraes