The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down (2016–…): Season 4, Episode 2 - Putting the Pieces Together - full transcript

For more the two centuries

searchers on Oak Island

have made hundreds
of astonishing discoveries.

They've offered evidence
and hope that something

of incredible value
was buried here.

But what, when and by whom

are still the big
unanswered questions.

Over the next hour,
we'll be drilling down

on the biggest finds
of the past like never before.

We'll analyze
what each piece might reveal

in an effort to put together
an enormous Oak Island puzzle.



Pieces which may soon lead
to the ultimate find:

a vast and possibly
priceless treasure.

MATTY:
Oak Island.

This 140-acre landmass
in the North Atlantic

is the site of the world's
longest-running treasure hunt.

Dating back to 1795,

generations of searchers
have tirelessly worked

to unearth what they believe
to be a vast horde of riches

consisting of everything

from pirate gold
and precious jewels

to priceless historic documents

and, incredibly,
even religious artifacts

that might include
the Ark of the Covenant

and the Holy Grail.



Any examination
of the greatest discoveries

ever made on Oak Island

would have to begin here
at the Oak Island war room.

And it would have to include

the guys who made
some of the biggest

and most incredible finds
of the past five years.

Follow me.

MARTY: Hey.

-DAVE: Hey, Matty.

Matty.

MARTY: Matty Blake.

-Guys, how are you?

DAVE: Good.

How the heck are you?

-Great to see you, Marty.

-Great to see you, partner.

-Craig, how are you, buddy?

Good.

Rick.

Dave.

How you doing?

-How you doing, bud?

-Good, good.

-It's great to see y'all.

MARTY: Good to see you.

MATTY: So happy to be here
with you guys again.

I love talking to you guys
in the war room

'cause I know
how much happens here.

Come on, bring something up.

MATTY:
Since partnering with

Oak Island treasure hunter
Dan Blankenship in 2006...

That's the vault.

You're taking it apart
right now.

...brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina,

along with their friend
Craig Tester,

have made finds
that could convince

even the most hardened skeptic

that indeed something
of incredible value

lies buried here.

MARTY: Whoa.

CHARLES: Is It a coin?

MARTY:
I believe this is a coin.

MATTY: From a 1652
Spanish pirate coin...

GARY:
Look at this, Rick.

We've just found a jewel.

...to a semiprecious jewel...

JACK:
What is this?

...and even 17th century
human bones

from Europe and the Middle East

buried deep
within the Money Pit.

Holy schmoly, all right.

-RICK: It's a cross.

-GARY: That's a cross.

MATTY: But perhaps
the most compelling evidence

was obtained just last year

when Rick Lagina
and Gary Drayton

found a lead cross
at Smith's Cove,

a cross which many believe
has possible connections

to the days
of the Knights Templar

more than 700 years ago.

Rick, what comes to mind first

when I talk
about the past five years

-and what you've found?

RICK: the lead cross.

It was an exciting find,
there's no question about it.

But for me, the moment,

it was when I saw in my mind
that carving in Domme.

I mean, to make that connection

immediately became important
to me,

and I-I couldn't wait

to impart that
to everybody else.

This thing's
on that prison wall.

We're in the middle of
a season here.

We're in the middle
of season six.

Is there anything coming up
that we haven't seen

that we can get excited about
that you guys can tell me?

Yes, there is some stuff,

but we can't give you
a lot of it right now.

You know, we don't want
to give you stuff

that isn't quite there,

but there's
some really exciting stuff, yes,

that you don't know about.

How about we leave it at that?

That's fine, 'cause I know
that's all I'm gonna get.

To that end, Matty,
I will make a suggestion to you:

that you go down
to the Interpretive Centre.

Doug Crowell is down there,

and if you treat him well,
he may show you something

that you are going to be
interested in.

Oh, yeah.

Is he...

He's there now?

-He's there now.

-Thank you, guys.

All right.

That sounds good.

Built in 2015 by the Laginas

and their partners
at Oak Island Tours,

the Interpretive Centre
is a place where the public

can come to experience
the history of Oak Island

and see for themselves many
of the incredible finds

recovered
over the past two centuries.

-Hey, Doug.

-DOUG: Hey, Matty.

Man, it's good to see you again.

Good to see you, too.

The place looks great.

It's looking really well,
I think.

I'm really happy.

the displays
are really filling out.

Yeah.

Every time I come back, there's
more and more here.

Uh, oh!

-There's the coin
from the swamp, season one.

-Yes, it is.

There's the Ball tag,
season four.

Oh, there's the brooch
from last season.

It's so beautiful in person,
isn't it?

And then, oh, the new one.

This is from...

-season six, right?

That Is from this season.

That's incredible.

Well, speaking of

major discoveries
and huge finds,

one of the biggest,
both literally and figuratively,

is that 90 Foot Stone.

We actually have a replica
right over here.

Do you want to see it?

-Oh.

Yeah, yeah.

Right, the replica.

Please.

Thank you.

Oh, there it is.

Yep.

In 1804, nine years after

the original discovery
of the Money Pit,

Daniel McGinnis
and the Onslow Company

made the first major find
on Oak Island:

a large stone slab buried
at a depth of 90 feet.

When they removed it,
they discovered

that strange,
almost hieroglyphic symbols

were carved into it.

Suddenly, the hole they had dug
began to fill with water,

which flooded the Money Pit.

Doug, how did they first attempt
to crack this code?

DOUG: It was put on display
in the bookbindery in Halifax,

of course, for all to see.

And Professor Liechti
from Dalhousie University,

it's said that he saw it
and that he came up

with the first decipherment,
if you will, of this.

And it was supposed to be:

"40 feet below,
two million pounds are buried."

We don't know
the exact time period,

but we know when he was active

as a professor
at Dalhousie University,

and we know
when that decipherment

was first published
in the papers.

So it appears to be
in the late 1800s.

As far as the symbols go,
I mean,

some of these symbols
are so universal.

Some people
believe this inscription

to be in the Berber language.

But you can find these symbols
for Masonic purposes.

They're used in alchemy.

They're used in mathematics.

Some of them are Greek letters.

So it's not one language
represented here?

I-I personally don't think so.

I think this is exactly what
it seems to be.

I think it-it's a cipher.

RICK: Everybody...

Hello.

MATTY: In season two
of The Curse of Oak Island,

Rick, Marty and members
of the Oak Island team

met with Swedish researcher

and amateur cryptographer
Daniel Ronnstam.

After studying
the 90 Foot Stone

for several years,
he came to the conclusion

that in addition
to the initial translation,

the symbols carried a second,
very different, meaning.

-ALEX: It's not just
one single code?

DANIEL: Yeah.

-It's a double cipher code.

Yes.

And then you have the last "F."

MATTY:
Ronnstam believed

that the etching on the stone

reveals two more
Oak Island secrets.

The first is that the famous
17th century English scientist,

explorer and adventurer
Sir Francis Bacon,

who had ties

to a secret society
of intellectuals

known as the Rosicrucians,
is connected

to the treasure hidden
on Oak Island.

The second is that dried corn,

after being exposed to water,
would swell up

and could be used to plug up
the infamous flood tunnels.

This would allow digging
below 90 feet

and, ultimately,
access to the treasure vault.

Hey, guys.

-MATTY: How are you, buddy?

Good.

We're just talking about the,
uh, 90 Foot Stone here.

Okay, I just said I was good.

If you guys have deciphered it,
I'll feel great.

(DOUG laughs)
-MATTY: Yeah, solved.

We figured It out.

(laughs)
RICK: Okay.

Uh, there's a lot
to figure out about this.

I mean, it's one of the greatest

discoveries ever made
on Oak Island.

I think it's one
of the greatest mysteries.

Ah.

Because it's so intimately tied
with the discovery

of the Money Pit
and all the work that went on.

Is it a clue?

Is it a warning?

Is It something That will
help us get to the treasure?

Right.

But again, it-it's so typical
of Oak Island.

When it was initially found,

Then the pit floods,
and then this becomes, then,

at that point, highly relevant.

So, we know pretty certainly
that this stone exists,

That It was pulled out.

I believe so.

Are you confident
that your research

and all the work you've done

here on the island
might produce this stone?

Doug?

Should We show him?

I'd say yes.

-This way, Matty.

-That's a yes.

Over here?

-You've got eyes
as big as saucers.

(all laugh)

This is what I love.

(Matty exhales)

Doug will do the honors.

MATTY:
Wow.

So this is the 90 Foot Stone?

DOUG: In my mind,
it checks all the boxes.

We found it exactly where

it was said to have been
when it was last seen.

It was supposed to be
in the bookbindery.

This was in a crawl space,
under the floor,

just in back of where the window
would be on the ground floor.

So you really think
this is the 90 Foot Stone?

Are we 100% certain?

That-that's still
a question mark.

I mean, for anyone who reads
the Oak Island mystery,

uh, one of the most
curious finds,

unexplainable finds,
is the 90 Foot Stone.

You know,
it was never determined

what, uh... what it meant
when it was originally found,

and then it-it goes missing.

And now, perhaps,
for the first time in ages,

Doug believes he has found it.

But I will reserve judgment
because...

I'm not sure
it is this 90 Foot Stone.

Doug followed this trail,
and we now...

sitting in front of us,
we have the results

of all of his hard work
and effort.

And I truly do believe

that there is
some testing methodology

we can apply to perhaps...

if those characters
are still in this stone,

if there's a story there
in that stone,

that we can perhaps
bring them out.

Well, guys, thank you so much

for this eyes- and hands-on view
of this incredible find.

Congratulations.

-RICK: You're welcome.

DOUG:
Thank you.

MATTY:
When we return,

Over the past 223 years,

several names have loomed large
in the Oak Island story:

McGinnis,

Chappell,

Restall,

and Nolan, just to name a few.

But one name
certainly belongs near the top.

Blankenship.

And I'm about to go talk to
the man who's lived and breathed

the Oak Island story
for nearly half a century,

Dan Blankenship.

-DAN B.: Oh, it's Matty.

Dave.

-Oh, Matty, how you been?

-How are you, buddy?

Good. and you?

Good to see you again.

-Dan, how are you?

How you doing?

Always Great to see you.

Good.

Looking great.

what brings you here?

Well, I was hoping to actually
talk to you guys about 10-X.

Let's go over to the table
and sit down then.

Yeah.

Great.

All right.

We've had some good talks
at this table

in the past.

(laughs)

Thank you, guys.

So, uh, Dan,

you've done so many great things
here on this island,

made so many discoveries,
but I want to talk

about what I think
may be your greatest,

was Borehole 10-X.

The borehole known as 10-X

was originally discovered
by Dan Blankenship

using a technique
called dowsing.

It involves the use
of what's called diving rods,

usually made from
dried tree branches or metal.

When pointed over the ground,

an experienced dowser
will notice

a slight tug or movement of
the rods when water is nearby.

In the early 1970s,

after dowsing an area
located just 180 feet northeast

of the famous Oak Island
Money Pit,

Dan Blankenship dug
a 27-inch-wide hole in hopes

of finding
a large underground chamber.

At an astounding depth

of 225 feet, he found one,

measuring some ten feet long,

ten feet wide
and ten feet high.

After putting an underwater
camera down the hole,

Dan was convinced he saw
a number of strange objects,

including a wooden post,

ancient tools,

a wooden chest,

and even the remains
of a human body.

-Oh, here they are.

-Yeah, that's some of the stuff

we brought up.

Let's talk about these things.

Uh, may I?

Can I touch them?

-Yeah, sure.

-I don't think none of 'em

Is gonna bite you.

(laughs)

He might.

this is... wood.

That came up
from about 161 feet.

Okay.

MATTY: Dan, what does finding
wood in 10-X possibly mean?

DAN B.: Well, it means
somebody put it there.

It didn't grow by itself.

Yeah.

It's too deep for a tree
to be growing there.

and then these are the...?

-That's the chain.

These are the little pieces
of chain.

Wow.

I see this, and I have to say

that this looks
very ancient to me.

Like, it looks very old.

Like, I don't see chains
that look like that.

Something hand-forged
down there.

To me, it was a...
a sort of a breakthrough.

Absolutely.

you know?

Clearly, something happened
down there.

This substantiates the fact
that somebody was down there

at that depth, you know?

There's no question about that.

This is the first real, uh,

breakthrough,
as far as I'm concerned,

away from the Money Pit area.

Absolutely.

Yeah, that's...

that's compelling.

I...

And-and, you know,

I remember seeing,
um, some footage

from that camera
that you had down there.

Um, I-I just don't...

I don't remember

what I could see
and what I couldn't.

We have tapes of what-what
he's seeing down there.

Let's go in the other room,
and we'll take a look at it.

-Really?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Sure.

RICK:
David and Dan

lived, breathed and bled 10-X.

This is Dan Blankenship's hole.

This is his legacy.

And he's long believed

that there's something
in the bottom of 10-X.

MARTY: Dan Blankenship
and Dave Blankenship

absolutely want
to go back to 10-X.

To me, one
of the big mysteries here

is what to sort out
that's natural from man-made.

And I think, you know,
I'm-I'm susceptible

to the wanting to believe, too.

MATTY: Now, do you rember
when this was made?

-1971.

-'71.

So, we are, what,

220 feet down 10-X?

DAN B.:
About 220, 225, give or take,

in that neighborhood.

MATTY:
That's deep.

Wow.

Now, hold on.

What is that?

That looks like some sort

of a... platform
or board sticking up.

DAN B.: It's a... it's a timber
in the roof, I assume.

That's what we got out of it.

How big did you estimate
this area to be?

Just what we're looking at here,
this, uh... this-this cavern?

Oh, from-from...
from diving that I did

after these pictures were taken,

I get the impression
that there's a room down there

probably as big
as 11, 12 feet square.

MATTY:
That's incredible.

That-that's a post.

I can see it clearly.

And then what's next to it?

It looks like some sort of box

or chest or something.

DAVE: Box.

-DAN B.: It's part of a chest

of some sort.

Matty: Holy...

And is that where the body
would've been,

on that other side of
that chest, curved around there?

-No, on this side.

Yeah.

On this side?

MATTY: We can't see it in
this image, but it would've been

right there?

-DAVE: No.

Yeah, right
at the bottom of the screen

-is where it would've been.

-MATTY: Oh, right under us.

DAVE:
Yeah.

MATTY: In season three
of The Curse of Oak Island,

Rick and Marty invited
underwater

visualization experts
Brian Abbott and Nick Burchill

to help them investigate
Borehole 10-X.

Ready?

-Drop it down two feet,

please, Rick.

Using sonar technology,

along with the Spectrum 90
high-definition camera,

which can enlarge images
up to 40 times their size

and give precise measurements
of any objects it encounters,

Brian and Nick were able
to provide further evidence

that what Dan Blankenship saw
at the bottom

of 10-X more than 40 years ago

was not just an illusion.

where are you going
with this, Brian?

-I know.

Yeah, I know.

-You know where I'm going
with this.

-You're saying that,

-that I'm looking at...

-I'm saying

this is a body
laying across here.

Really?

Yeah.

-There's an object down there

that looks like human remains.

Watching this was incredible.

-Uh, thank you so much
for letting me see this.

Yeah.

I-I think, to me,
it conclusively proves

That There are...

-There's something down there.

Yeah, at the very least, there's
non-natural shapes down there.

At the very least.

-Oh, no.

(stammers)
I'm 100% positive

that-that...
(stammers)

whatever's down there
was put there by-by somebody.

I still want to finish it.

We will.

Thank you, Dave.

Thank you, Dan.

Thank you so much.

This was awesome.

Coming up, we'll examine
the amazing finds

It was the first big
Oak Island find,

the one that started
this amazing treasure hunt.

And it was made
by teenager Daniel McGinnis

and two of his friends
back in 1795.

Unfortunately,
after two centuries

of failed attempts to
excavate it, the exact location

of the original treasure shaft
has been lost.

But, hopefully, not for long.

Here to tell me more
about what many consider

the most important spot
on the island

is island historian
Charles Barkhouse.

Well, we've certainly taken
some shots trying to find

-that Money Pit, huh?

-Uh, yes, we have.

Yes.

Looks like we're taking
some shots right now.

(laughs)

MATTY:
Well, I want to talk about some

of the more recent finds here,

and I want to start with H-8,
which, I believe,

to this day, Marty still feels
is the Money Pit.

Am I...

Am I right On that?

He does. and-and We found

some incredible things
coming out of H-8.

MATTY: In season five
of The Curse of Oak Island,

the team made some
of their most exciting finds

in the borehole known as H-8.

RICK:
Wow.

Really.

Glazed pottery.

DAVE: Pottery.

RICK: Yeah.

TERRY: Blue Pottery.

MATTY: In addition to
18th century English pottery,

they unearthed the possible
remnants of an ancient book.

It doesn't resemble the piece
of parchment that we have.

DAN H.: Mm-hmm.

But It kind of looks
like it could be

some old parchment.

MATTY:
And at a depth of approximately

165 feet, they made what was
perhaps their most intriguing

find of all...

To me, it looks like wood.

But it's extremely dense.

...fragments of human bones.

You guys have found
so many finds here

in your shots
at finding the Money Pit.

Um, what other historical finds,
over the years,

have-have made people think
that they're in the right area?

In 1897,
the Oak Island Treasure Company,

which was basically headed
by Frederick Blair,

along with his drill operator
William Chappell,

they have a drilling platform
set up at 90 feet.

William Chappell's operating
the drill,

and, at 126,
they hit an iron barrier,

which they're able
to drill through.

At 153,

they go through about four
to six inches of cement.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

When they pull up

the drill bit at some point,
they find

something very interesting
on it.

As a matter of fact, there is.

We found a letter
at the Beaton Institute

which describes them
finding flecks of gold

On the drill bit.

-That wasn't the only thing

-on that drill bit, was it?

No.

Actually,
they-they find this thing,

and it's, like,
a little balled up thing,

and they're not sure what it is.

And they take it to Truro,
where they meet with Fred Blair

and some of the other directors
of the company.

It was a Dr. Porter
who opens this thing up

under a magnifying glass

and carefully opens it up
and sees either "V-I"

or part of "W-I" written
in an old English script,

what they describe as India ink
with a... kind of a quill pen.

So what's a piece
of parchment paper doing there

with human writing on it
at 160 feet?

-That's a great question, Matty.

I wish I had an answer for you.

(laughs)

I've only seen images of it.

I always wondered how big it was

and how exciting
that must have been for them.

would you like to see it?
you have...

Do We have It here?

Well, not here.

We actually
have it at the research center.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I need to see that.

-Yeah, please.

-Why don't we go down
and take a look at it right now?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay.

This is great.

Although
the large wooden structure

now known
as the Chappell Vault

has yet to be
officially relocated,

Rick, Marty
and the Oak Island team believe

that they may have found it
as recently as last year,

only to have it
slip away once again

and sink even further down
beneath the island's surface.

(creaking)

CHARLES: Paul Troutman,
this is Matty Blake.

PAUL:
Hi.

Nice to meet you, Matty.

-MATTY: Paul, good to meet you,
finally.

Yeah.

Welcome to the research center.

this Is great.

CHARLES:: Well, Paul, one of the
reasons I brought Matty down,

not only to show him
this facility, but also

to have him take a look
at that piece of parchment.

Okay.

I have something
that you're gonna like.

(laughs)
This is fantastic.

-Here's the photo of it.

Yes.

Now, this... this is
what I'm familiar with.

Well, here's the actual piece
of parchment.

This is handed down from Blair
to Chappell to Dan, 121 years.

MATTY:
Oh, my goodness.

Look at that.

PAUL: We actually have
a microscope over here.

We might be able to get
a better picture for you.

So we can take a look
right over here if you want.

Oh, yeah.

Let's take a look.

All right.

So I don't know
if you can see it, uh...

MATTY:
Oh, my, what a difference.

You look over here, you can see
the sweep of the "V"...

Matty: Yeah.
-...and the "I" right here.

Absolutely.

-It's in a very fancy font, too.

and you can see that.

Matty: Yes.

PAUL: You know, this verifies
a lot of the stories,

that they're true
and this is not just hearsay.

This is an actual artifact
that was handed down

from generations and something
that was found in the Money Pit.

And, Matty,
this is some of the parchment

that we found in H-8 last year.

Oh, yeah.

And it's been confirmed
as animal parchment,

as animal skin.

Tested and-and-and...?

Yes.

Wow.

Right here.

MATTY:
That is a material, like...

You can almost see the fibers.

you can see them.

Mm-hmm.

MARTY: I think this has been
our most successful year

On this island...

Wow.

...with all those things
that we found.

And-and, you know,
four or five of 'em probably,

by themselves,
are highly, highly significant.

Human bones
are highly significant.

Leather book binding--
highly significant.

Parchment-- highly significant.

It is animal fiber
of some sort.

I didn't expect it to stand up
to a scientific scrutiny,

that it really was some sort
of animal fiber,

piece of paper-- parchment.

Very intriguing.

And also, what I have here,
again from H-8,

is some of the leather
that we found.

Oh, this I want to see.

Yeah.

the-the potential bookbinding.

Yep.
Paul: Yes.

When you're finding things
that the early searchers found,

and you're finding
the same items, then it means

you must be getting close
to the same area they were in.

MATTY: I mean, Charles,
when you see all this together,

(sighs) what are you thinking?

I think H-8 is certainly
a prime target

for any further investigation.

Absolutely.

I mean, it speaks to the growth

and the amount of discoveries
you guys are making.

And I just wanted to thank you.

This is a thrill.

Yeah,
keep finding more every day.

CHARLES:
Look, it was our pleasure to

-show it to you, Matty.

-MATTY: Thank you, guys.

Coming up, Rick Lagina and I
will take a closer look

of Oak Island-- the dark,
stinky, bug-infested swamp.

But whatever it may lack
in pleasant aroma,

it more than makes up for
with the things found here.

Here to help me take a deep dive
into the swamp,

not literally,
is the great Rick Lagina.

-Rick, thanks
for being here, man.

Thank you.

So, I've been in here before.

I don't want to go in today,

But I want to talk
about the finds made here.

Absolutely.

It's every bit as mysterious
as the Money Pit, in my opinion,

because when it comes right down
to finding things,

this has been
much more resistant

to investigative processes
than the Money Pit has.

Yes.

Let's go back in time,

before you got here,
and talk about Fred Nolan.

It was the belief of long-time

Oak Island treasure hunter
Fred Nolan

that the triangle-shaped swamp

was artificially created
centuries ago.

It was made after two small
islands were joined together

by means of a cofferdam system,

which allowed for
an entire ship to be sailed in,

sunk, and then the water
around it drained out,

forming a large,
triangle-shaped swamp

to hide the wreck.

But could Fred Nolan's
incredible theory be true?

Numerous objects recently found
in the swamp

help make a compelling case.

Fred Nolan spent a heck of a lot

of time here.

RICK: Absolutely.

He must have thought there was
something going on in the swamp.

He did make
some significant finds.

He did find a ship's mast.

He did find a ship's scuppers.

The swamp just keep-keeps,
uh, coming up

with new stuff all the time.

RICK: Were these found
in the bog, as well?

They were all found
in the bog, yeah.

what are they?

Parts of a ship.

The ratlines of a ship.

See?

This is where the ropes
went through.

RICK:
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

You know,
for going up to the mast.

Mm-hmm.

-And, uh,

this is... shows the, uh...

the scuppers
on the side of a ship...

Mm-hmm.

...where the, uh... the deck,
all the water washes away.

How far from the beach

were these items found,
do you recall?

They were pretty well
in the middle of the swamp.

Mr. Blankenship
has long held that

what happened here was a,
um, conspiracy, if you will,

among the Spanish sea captains.

Some ships went back,
but some ships came here.

Diverted.

Is It possible

that they were sunk?

Sink it, and thereby
sink the treasure.

Well, and let's talk about
your interest in the swamp.

Um, we fast-forward
through history a little bit.

You arrive, and then early on
in the run of this show,

you find a coin.

Yep.

a coin?

I believe this Is a coin.

-No!
you serious?

-What?!

-Oh, that's an eight.

What is that?

Yeah.

RICK:
You know, the coin itself--

it's a Spanish maravedi eight,
dated 1652.

Roughly a hundred-plus years

-before the "find"
of the Money Pit.

hmm.

What was someone doing here
way back then?

You know, so it opened up,

again, the doorway
to possibilities.

And you continued to make steps.

You weren't done with the coin.

Uh, we find a spike.

Let's talk about that spike.

-Oh, yeah.

-Oh, look at that.

That's nice.

RICK:
Let's put it this way.

That's not
an off-the-shelf item.

Okay?

(laughing): Yeah.

Well said.

And so,

-what's it doing in here?

Right.

I mean, one of the
very plausible explanations

is that it is part of a ship.

And Gary Drayton believes
that could be the spike

from a 17th century
Spanish galleon.

Which was remarkable.

I found exactly the same objects
as this on...

off Spanish galleons from
the late 1600s, early 1700s.

Okay.

Now we find a possible timeline

between what we were
talking about earlier,

-Fred Nolan's theories.

Mm-hmm.

and We find a possible
Spanish galleon ship spike.

Mm-hmm.

Jack Begley unearths
a large plank.

TONY:
It's a large board.

MARTY:
Are there nails in it?

RICK: That board was intriguing,
to say the least.

Its extraordinary length...

Matty: Yeah.

...really led us
to believe that it is

a ship's decking,
or the batten boards of a ship.

I'm not a shipbuilder,
but something happened here.

It just doesn't seem
to be easily explainable.

And then,
when you carbon date it,

it comes late 1600s
to early 1700s.

So we've got the coin,
the spike, this plank,

Nolan's theories, Nolan's
thoughts, what he found before.

Mm-hmm.

Does this all point

to this was a Spanish operation?

You know,
if I were a betting man

and you laid that evidence
out in front of me,

that's where I would go.

Absolutely.

Let's put it this way.

all Right.

-There's nothing here

that has been found
that is contrary

to that belief, and-and that...
that says a lot.

One thing we haven't talked
about that Fred Nolan found,

right near here,
and possibly ending right here,

-is Nolan's Cross.

Mm-hmm.

In 1981, Fred Nolan located

five large cone-shaped boulders
on his Oak Island property

near the triangle-shaped swamp.

Because he was
an expert surveyor,

Fred took precise measurements
of their location,

which were revealed to form
a perfectly symmetrical,

megalithic cross.

At the center,
he discovered a sixth boulder

that appeared to feature
the carving of a human face.

To this day, the true purpose
of Nolan's Cross

is one Oak Island discovery

that still remains one
of its biggest mysteries.

I don't know what
to make of Nolan's Cross.

Is there a reason
that it was constructed

in very close proximity
to the swamp?

It begs understanding.

It's still
a-a significant mystery.

Well...

But I think It means something.

MATTY:
Are the compelling finds

pulled from the swamp evidence

that a Spanish treasure lies
buried on Oak Island?

But what about the clues
that point

to English explorer
Sir Francis Bacon?

Could there even have been more
than one depositor involved?

So, Rick,
we've gone through the finds.

Enough here to warrant you
continue searching in the swamp?

-Yes, no question about it.

(Matty sighs)

I love when you get like that.

Thanks, brother.

-You're welcome.

-I'd go back in with you.

Yeah, well,
careful what you wish for.

(Matty laughs)

MATTY:
When we return,

They say that nothing is certain
unless it's carved in stone.

Well, I'm here with Alex Lagina
and Jack Begley,

and they're about
to show me a bunch of mysterious

stone carvings found right here
on Oak Island.

Guys, what can you tell me
about what I'm seeing here?

Well, what we have here
are some fragments

of various carved stones that
were found around the island,

and what we've done is
we've kind of brought them here,

both to keep 'em kind of safe,

uh, as we do a lot
of the explorations

that we do on the island.

Of course, things here get
overgrown very quickly,

so it's easy
to lose track of this stuff.

MATTY:
The first rock carving found

on Oak Island was discovered
90 feet beneath the ground,

when the Onslow Company
unearthed

a large gray-green stone slab
in 1804.

On it were a series of
strange symbols and markings,

vaguely similar to ancient
Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Although the original
90 Foot Stone

disappeared more
than 100 years ago,

several more
mysterious carvings

have been found on the island
since the treasure hunt began.

Some of these rocks are
potentially significant,

and then others
we think might just be graffiti

from either searchers or people

who were, you know,
living in the area.

Makes sense.

-Because we're looking for

things that are hundreds
of years old.

Uh, anything relatively
more recent

is going to be
in better condition.

Well, is there anything here

that might not be graffiti

that you think
could possibly be original?

Yeah, absolutely.

By your right
leg on the corner of that rock.

-Oh, yeah.

-See, you've got kind of

like a "R" or "FE"
or something like that.

Oh, yeah, that almost looks
like an "E."

ALEX: Yeah, you know, some
faint-faint lines on that one.

Uh, this rock behind Jack,
actually,

if you want to point that out,
Jack, it's got some...

JACK:
It's got Roman numerals,

-an "S."
-MATTY: Oh, wow.

And then some other letter here.

And then on this one here
behind me,

you know, this is a lot more
faint, maybe an "E."

This one's very faint, um,
similar to that right there.

These two look like
they go together.

One thing we're thinking
is maybe

these are all part
of the same rock.

Right.

It almost looks like
pieces of a puzzle...

Right.

-...you could possibly
put together.

And there was a stone
called the H-O Stone.

Matty: of course.

-Uh, that was actually blown up

in the 1800s sometime,

um, because searchers at
the time believed there was

something underneath it.

-JACK: As you can see,

there's a reason
why we call it the H-O Stone,

since those are the two
prominent letters

on the face of it.

That lettering looks
really similar to some of

-this lettering, doesn't it?

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

ALEX:
This symbol in particular,

the-the plus in the middle with,
you know,

it looks like dots around it,
uh, is very similar

to a symbol that we saw
in Domme, France,

when we were kind of
investigating what could be

a Templar connection
to the island.

We'd like you to take a look
at that stone,

the H-O Stone,
which was found on Oak Island.

What do you make of that?

It's certainly interesting
that the cross

at the center with the pellets

is indicative
of graffiti crosses

carved by crusading knights.

Here's a good example.

RICK: The symbology
we're seeing on the walls

and the one specific stone
on Oak Island

with the so-called H-O Stone--
very, very similar.

They couldn't be more similar.

But there's a lot of connective
tissue to layer upon that,

that similarity, and-and
as of yet, we're not there.

Guys, I-I keep seeing this.

-ALEX: That's the Boat Stone
right there.

Matty: Wow.

ALEX: Jack has a photo
you can see here.

And we call it the Boat Stone
because that's what

the Restalls called it
when they discovered it.

Because they felt like this was
the hull of the ship down here

and then the mast,
and that it looked

like a ship or a boat.

MATTY: Robert Restall,
along with his wife, Mildred,

were motorcycle daredevils
from Ontario, Canada.

During the 1940s and '50s,

they wowed crowds
at county fairs and auto shows

performing a notorious stunt
called the Globe of Death.

After reading about
the Oak Island mystery

in a magazine, Robert became
obsessed with the notion

that he would be the one
to figure out

how to stop the flooding
at Smith's Cove

and find
the legendary treasure.

In 1959, Robert, Mildred,

and their sons
Robert Junior and Ricky,

moved to Oak Island,

and over the course
of the next six years,

they made discoveries
that linked them forever

to Oak Island's
incredible history.

This wasn't the only, uh,
strange stone

that the Restalls found, right?

No, it wasn't.

Uh, in fact,
one of the most famous

was the-the 1704 Stone,

which they found out back
in Smith's Cove.

And maybe it's best that we go
back there, and, you know,

we can kind of talk
about some of their finds.

It's perfect.

Love it.

-Who's calling it?

Shotgun.

Ah, sorry, Jack.

(laughs) He called it.

Nothing I can do.

ALEX: Do you know where
you're going, Matty?

Oh, yeah.

MATTY: Every time I come here,
I'm just struck by this scene.

-It's...

-Oh, yeah.

I mean, I can't believe it,
either, you know?

And, uh,
speaking of finds out here,

that area right between
the stump and that rock,

kind of where the stake is...

Matty: Right.

...is where the 1704 Stone
was found.

right Over here?

ALEX: Yep.

Robert and Bobby were digging

a test pit
down in Smith's Cove,

and they put the spoils
just up on the beach,

and Mildred and Ricky
were going through the stones

and actually found it.

I don't know if you'd seen what
the stone looked like before,

but I brought a picture along.

MATTY: What does it mean?

Another question, you know.

There's all kinds
of theories about it.

Um, some people, of course,
you'd look at it,

you'd probably think date,
most logically.

Right.

-Some people think it's
a measurement.

There's even talks of it
maybe being a hoax.

What do you guys think
when you look at that?

First of all,
I think the Restalls

had too much respect
for the legend

to perpetrate a hoax like that,

so if it's a hoax,
it wasn't done by them.

But, you know, that said,
if it is authentic,

what Does It mean?

Matty: Really interesting.

ALEX:
So, if it's meaningful,

we should be able to find,
you know,

something else of interest
out here in Smith's Cove.

MATTY: Smith's Cove has always
been a major point

of interest on Oak Island,

but it has recently risen
to a whole new level

of importance
for the Lagina brothers,

ever since Rick and Gary
Drayton's discovery

of what appeared to be an
ancient lead cross last summer.

Holy schmoly, all right.

-RICK: It's a cross.

-GARY: That's a cross.

That looks like medieval.

A medieval cross.

That's really old.

MATTY: Now that they've built
a massive,

525-foot-long cofferdam
to hold back the sea,

they're hoping that by
excavating Smith's Cove

they will find the clues needed

to solve the Oak Island
mystery.

Well, I wish you guys luck in
trying to continue their legacy

and maybe make the find
that the Restalls never could.

Thank you.

-Thanks, guys.

all these finds
laid out like this.

Let's talk about fact
versus fiction.

There are some finds,
historically,

that may or may not
have been true.

Ha-Has anything been uncovered
recently, in your estimation,

that's cleared up some fact
versus fiction?

The long-fabled enormous mounds

of coconut fiber
in Smith's Cove.

And then we personally
extract it from the cove.

-That's fact.

-Yeah, that matters.

Parchment, okay?

Dan had the parchment

from that...
the drilling program,

and now we have another piece
of parchment, and we know

from science applied to it
that is indeed parchment.

There's the historical "knowns,"
if you will,

but we have to prove
that they are real.

MARTY: Yeah, I'd put that
slightly different.

If we find it, it's real.

If we have to just read about
it, I discount it heavily.

But if you were
to go through here

and just sort of magically
eliminate things that, um,

are clearly searcher,

you're still left
with quite a few things here.

The bone.

That little bit of parchment,
identified as parchment,

it just seems wildly
out of place underground.

And that little bit of leather
over there,

which has been identified
as bookbinding.

All of those pull you,
you know, to, "Hmm."

Yeah, I-I'm glad you bring them
up, 'cause when you talk about,

you know, Chappell bringing up
a piece of parchment paper,

and then years and years
and years and years go by,

it almost becomes legend,

and then you guys pull this out
of the ground.

MARTY: Anything found
at depth kind of has

an automatic multiplier On it.

Right.

-It's just more...

Yeah.

It raises the bar.

It's more significant
by its very nature.

I want to focus on this kind of,
middle of the table.

I want to kind of spread it out
a little bit

and talk about
the more historic finds.

What historic find-- old find--
stands out to each of you?

Look, When Rick and I and Craig

decided to re-embark
on this quest,

you know,
if I cast my mind back,

and looking at it saying, look,
is this real or is it not?

These mattered.

The pictures of
the U-Shaped structure.

I remember Craig and I
looking at each other

and saying, "Wow, you know,

how can you argue with that?"

That's a massive structure
that doesn't make any sense.

The finds that Dan
had made in 10-X,

and the-the wood way down deep,
and the-the chambers,

those were all...

-Like, uh,
that chain right there?

some of That stuff?

-Those links of chain, yes.

Rick, looking back historically,

what were some of the big finds
for you?

Really, it's not one
individual find or finds.

What it is, is, is that the past
continues to resurface

and directs our search agenda.

We're in Smith's Cove right now
because of those scissors,

because of
the U-Shaped structures,

and those things were found
over 50 years ago.

So the past keeps re-inserting
itself, if you will,

into the modern-era
search agenda.

But the lead cross certainly,

uh, was the impetus,
if you will,

for saying to ourselves,

MARTY:
So let me just say

something about
this lead cross right here,

because it's-it's dramatic.

What we learned, to a high
degree of scientific accuracy,

is that that came from a mine
that closed in the 14th century,

that was open in antiquity.

So they're-they're not even sure
when it started,

but it was done
in the 14th century.

And that mine
is in southern France.

That mine is within about
30 miles of Rennes-le-Chteau,

which we visited, which we know
was a Templar stronghold.

And it looks identical
to what Rick observed on a wall

where Templars were held.

Okay,
you can't discard any of that.

That's all fact.

Does that mean there's
Templar treasure here?

You tell me, Matty Blake.

-It doesn't hurt the case.

(laughter)

It doesn't hurt the case.

So it's-it's enigmatic.

I mean, even for me,
who wants to not go

to such esoteric things,
you know, it's...

you have to deal with the facts,

you know?

Yeah.

Look, this information,

which sits here in front of us,

that is a treasure.

It may not be
the singular treasure,

but it is a treasure.

We thank you.

MARTY: Okay.

Well,
let's get back to the dig.

Shall we?

Yep.

-All right.

Season six, baby.

Matty.

-Thank you, guys.

MATTY:
Antique jewelry.

Stones with strange carvings.

Pieces of parchment
and leather binding.

Ancient human bones from Europe
and the Middle East,

found deep below ground.

And a mysterious lead cross

believed to be nearly
700 years old.

For 223 years, searchers
have been trying to solve

the Oak Island
treasure mystery.

They have collected an enormous
amount of evidence,

but still no single piece

that will help them solve
this incredible puzzle.

Fortunately, it's a puzzle
that Rick and Marty Lagina,

and the whole
Oak Island team...

We've got a coin!

...are determined to complete.

Was an incredible treasure
buried on Oak Island by pirates?

Or was it the Knights Templar?

Perhaps it was Francis Bacon.

And is there one treasure
on Oak Island or several?

As the search for answers
continues, I for one can't wait

for the next exciting episode of
The Curse of Oak Island.

Subtitled by
Diego Moraes / Ewerton Henrique