The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down (2016–…): Season 9, Episode 2 - The Top Ten Templar Ties - full transcript
From an indigenous
legend that a Templar knight
was worshipped as a god...
I believe that it's bulletproof
the Templars went to America.
- That's a cross.
- To medieval artifacts
- from across the ocean...
- I've seen that shape before.
Where do you think
you've seen it before?
In France, in the
Templar prison in Domme.
To man-made structures
that could re-write
North American history.
This is the paved area.
There's the dates we're getting.
- What are they?
- Around 1200 AD.
And ancient maps that reportedly
document a secret journey.
The revelation
during Season Eight
of The Curse of Oak Island
that precious metals
do in fact lie buried
in the Money Pit...
means that Rick and
Marty Lagina and their team
may be closer than ever
to recovering a massive
treasure buried on Oak Island.
And with every major discovery
they unearth along the way,
they're also zeroing in
on who buried it here
and engineered the ingenious
workings that have
kept it so well hidden
over the centuries.
Pirates, European militaries
and early North American
settlers remain
on the whodunnit list.
But tonight we'll be
counting down the best clues
that this team,
well-studied theorists,
and even science
have produced that
keep pointing to other,
more incredible suspects.
I'm talking about the medieval
order of the Knights Templar.
Sound crazy?
Well, check out our list
and decide for yourself.
This is "Oak Island's
Top Ten Templar Ties."
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
According to documented history,
no one sailed to North America
from foreign lands prior
to Christopher Columbus'
journey in 1492.
But many Oak Island theorists
believe Columbus
may have been
on a follow-up voyage.
They point to the flag
that graced the sails
of his ships as a curious clue.
It was actually the cross
of The Knights Templar.
It's pretty wild, right?
In fact,
the very first discovery
that kicked off the Oak Island
mystery back in 1795 is believed
by some to be a direct sign
of Templar activity.
And tonight,
it kicks off our list
of the top ten Templar ties.
The Money Pit.
When searchers first
uncovered a 13-foot-wide
depression on Oak Island,
they were stunned
by the extensive oak platforms
uncovered every ten feet
down to a depth of 90 feet.
And in that ninth layer,
they found the legendary
olive-colored stone with
mysterious carvings that,
when removed, caused the pit
to flood from an ingeniously
designed flood trap
connected to the ocean.
So who could have achieved
such a design?
And why nine levels?
To get to the possible answer,
we have to go back all
the way to the 12th century.
In 1118 AD,
the military order of monks
known as the Knights Templar
was established
in Jerusalem to protect
the lives and property
of Christian pilgrims
as they journeyed
to the Holy Land
during the Crusades.
Their headquarters
were established
on the historic Temple Mount,
the original site
of the temple of King Solomon.
Beyond the idea
of some kind of bodyguard for
pilgrims to the Holy Land,
it's been suggested
that they had this immense
and ambitious program in mind.
Which would involve excavating
and basically looking
for knowledge
and looking for power
wherever they could find it.
Some researchers believe
that deep below the Temple Mount,
the Templars excavated
down through nine levels
of hidden chambers where they
discovered lost religious texts,
golden treasures and holy
artifacts that may have included
the Ark of the Covenant.
But then suddenly in 1128,
they became the richest
people in the world,
absolutely massively wealthy.
The King of France
considered the Templars
to be enemies because it
was convenient to do so.
Because that gave him
permission to steal their...
their treasures
and their-their wealth.
The king of France
then leaned on the pope
to back him up
and press charges
against the Knights Templar.
And here the pope was
siding with the king of France,
turning all of his people
over to be imprisoned
and burned at the stake,
and they felt horribly betrayed.
In 1307, Pope Clement
V ordered the Knights Templar
to be disbanded
and King Philip IV
of France had
many of them imprisoned.
They were tortured in
an effort to reveal
what they had found, and,
along with their Grand Master
Jacques de Molay,
brutally executed.
However, a number of the order
reportedly escaped to Scotland
with their secret treasures.
And, according to some
Oak Island theorists,
eventually journeyed across
the Atlantic to what would
become Nova Scotia in order
to build a "New Jerusalem."
I hate to do this to you, Marty,
but the prophecies
about the New Jerusalem say
that the New Jerusalem
will be built
on an island of swamp.
In 2014, the Laginas...
Along with Dave Blankenship
and Charles Barkhouse... met
with authors
and Oak Island theorists
Kathleen McGowan and Alan Butler
in Scotland and were given
an incredible presentation
on the design of the Money Pit.
When I read the account
of how McGinnis and his friends
first started
to dig at the Money Pit,
the first thing
they came across,
a couple of feet under
the turf, was a platform.
This rang a bell in my mind.
It's got to do with a particular
part of Freemasonry which, is
called the royal arch of Enoch.
There are many connections
between the Knights Templar
and the fraternal order of
Freemasonry, who many believe
descend from
the Templars themselves.
But a central figure
in Masonic worship is
the biblical figure Enoch,
the great-grandfather of Noah.
According to Masonic texts
and the Dead Sea Scrolls,
Enoch was the first
to build a temple
in Jerusalem at the location
of the Temple Mount.
And he was the one
who constructed
the nine underground chambers
to protect all the important
knowledge and treasures
of the world
before the great flood
was unleashed on mankind by God.
When the Knights Templar
were eventually able to...
build their own
New Jerusalem on Oak Island,
the Money Pit was
a deliberately constructed copy
of Solomon's Temple
and the chambers of Enoch.
Could the Money
Pit really have been built
by members
of the Knights Templar?
To not only hold sacred
and valuable treasures,
but also symbolize
the legendary Enochian Chambers?
It's an incredible theory,
but the Money Pit
had an incredible design.
It really makes you wonder
just what type of treasure
would justify
such an elaborate effort.
But let's be honest,
a theory is just a theory
until you can prove it.
And that brings us
to the next entry on our list.
And it's a find
that just might be
connected to the 90 Foot Stone.
The Hand Point Chisel.
All right.
This looks like a good area.
- Yeah.
- All right, here we go.
Music to my ears.
At the beginning
of Season Seven,
metal detection expert
Gary Drayton and Alex Lagina
were searching on Isaac's Point,
near Smith's Cove.
It was just after a long winter
and Gary was hoping that
the harsh seasonal erosion would
have helped stir up
some top-pocket finds.
I'm getting a signal here, Alex.
It's just
underneath that rock there.
All right...
There it is. I see it.
- You do?
- An iron spike.
- Where?
- Just here.
- Yep and look at this.
- There it is.
- Huh.
- That could be an old, crude spike.
That looks old to me.
That looks hand-forged.
That's nice.
The fascinating thing
about this, Alex, is it
don't compare
to other spikes we've found.
This is a totally different one.
Gary was right.
When he and Rick Lagina
took it to blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge, they were
stunned by his assessment.
I was thinking
it's something nautical.
It does serve a purpose,
but it's not on a ship.
That is definitely a hand-point.
- What's a hand-point?
- It is a tool.
They are used to detail
or carve rock or stone.
How old?
14th century.
Were there any, um, rocks or
stones carved on the island
or found on the island?
There are more than a few,
but the, you know,
the significant ones
from the historical record,
of course, are the 90 Foot
Stone in the Money Pit,
which had a line of
carvings on it, hieroglyphs.
You might have the very, uh,
hand-point that did that.
Gary might have not
only found the tool used to carve
the 90 Foot Stone,
but if Carmen Legge
is correct that the chisel dates
back to the 1300s, more than
a century before Columbus,
it just may provide
another critical tie between
the Knights Templar
and the Oak Island mystery.
Now the theory that
the Knights Templar deposited
a vast treasure on Oak Island
long before the 15th century is
for sure one of the most
incredible ever contemplated
to try to explain
the 226-year-old mystery.
And that's why Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team
treat every clue or find
with total objectivity.
I think if you could fill us in
on where your research
has led us.
I think that's
where we should start.
Yeah.
So in 2017,
Rick,
along with his nephews Alex
and Peter, travelled
to Southern France to meet
with researcher Nichola Lewis...
I think I did find a connection.
Where she presented the next
top Templar tie on our list.
So that's the H+O stone there.
The H+O Stone.
In 1921,
treasure hunters discovered
a large boulder covered
with mysterious carved symbols
on Oak Island's north shore.
They were hoping that it might
be covering a treasure vault,
which led
to a pretty unfortunate
method of investigation.
They blew it up with dynamite.
No treasure was found
below it and although many
of the large fragments have
gone missing over the years,
one was photographed bearing
an "H," a small cross symbol,
and an "O" - hence
the name: the H+O stone.
What these symbols represent has
remained a compelling curiosity.
I found two
Templar chapels in the Charente,
in the area where we are going
and one has wall paintings.
It's a fantastic painting.
And this is a Templar
going off to fight.
But on his shield, he's got this
cross, which is exactly like
the H+O stone
with the cross in the middle
and dots around the cross.
Oh, yes, very similar.
Absolutely.
I think we are
gonna find some very
interesting bits of information.
And for me, this has
always been and will continue
to be an information hunt every
bit as much as a treasure hunt.
I want some answers.
I think we all do.
- Yup. - Yeah.
- Let's make that happen.
Later during their trip,
Rick, Alex and Peter also
visited with researcher
Jerry Glover at a 14th-century
prison in the town of Domme,
where Templar knights
were once imprisoned by
the French King Philip the IV.
Come in.
Oh, wow.
It was here
that Jerry showed them even more
authentic Templar clues that
were literally carved in stone.
It's certainly interesting
that the cross at the center
with the pellets is indicative
of graffiti crosses
carved by Crusading knights.
You see similar ones,
uh, here in the guardhouse
at Domme.
Really? Where are those?
There's some over here.
Here's a good example.
Oh, yeah.
One, two, three, four...
- Well, no...
- You can see it better on the top one.
Oh, yes. Yes.
The symbology
we're seeing on the walls,
and the H+O stone...
Very, very similar.
I mean, they couldn't be
more similar.
So it's a direct connection,
but what does it mean?
Does that mean
that Templars did both?
I don't know.
I mean, it's a clue.
It-it surely opens
the door to possibilities.
So if these stunning
connections between the Templars
and Oak Island are legit,
just when did they make
that clandestine journey
across the Atlantic?
Well, the next
top Templar tie on our list
may offer a possible answer.
The Legend
of Prince Henry Sinclair.
- Look at that.
- Absolutely magnificent.
Yeah, that is beautiful.
Back in 2014,
just before the Laginas
and Craig met with Alan Butler
and Kathleen McGowan
in Roslin, Scotland,
they first visited one
of the most mysterious places
ever associated with both
the Knights Templar and their
descendants, the Freemasons...
Rosslyn Chapel.
Wow.
Oh, my God.
Amazing.
Constructed in 1456
by Freemason William Sinclair,
whose family also had
well-known Templar ties,
the chapel features
thousands of carvings.
Many researchers believe that
some of these carvings represent
clues of a journey made
to North America
more than half a century earlier
by William Sinclair's
grandfather.
Templar Knight
Prince Henry Sinclair.
According to some
in the indigenous Mi'kmaq
community of Nova Scotia,
in 1398 Henry Sinclair
arrived with a fleet
of large sailing vessels
and shared new methods
with them for fishing
and navigation.
His impact
on their culture was such
that he came to be worshipped
as a god known as Glooscap.
However, many researchers also
believe that he carried out
another profound agenda
as well, by burying
Templar treasures on Oak Island.
Henry Sinclair is often said
to have made the journey
to Nova Scotia,
but I think he had
a particular purpose in mind.
One theory is that,
uh, he was known to be
a very enthusiastic member
of the Knights Templar.
And there's great speculation...
And I'm going to use that word
strongly, speculation...
That he was looking for a place
to hide, uh, the great treasures
that the Knights Templar
supposedly had acquired.
Although proof of
that remains to be verified,
many believe
"rock-solid evidence"
that the journey took place
can be found
carved into the ceiling
of Rosslyn Chapel.
The legend here is that
Prince Henry Sinclair,
in 1398,
sailed to the New World.
And brought back with him...
corn.
And if you look up here,
there is what may appear to be
maize or, as we have
called it, Indian corn.
This chapel was built
well before Christopher Columbus
went to America.
Honestly, it looks like
- you can see the little corn kernels.
- Yes.
And there are other
carvings such as the aloe vera
and trillium, which again,
is a North American plant.
And, interestingly,
our botanist believed that
the trillium was trillium.
So we have to believe that
the people who carved
this chapel were far-traveled.
Corn is a new-world crop.
And one of the key things
is that there appears
to be a carving of a trillium.
Trilliums would have
been unknown to the people
who built that chapel had
they not been to North America.
In recent years the
Mi'kmaq adopted a cross as their
ceremonial flag, which is
actually a mirror-image match
of the Knights Templar
battle flag.
Coincidence? You be the judge.
When the legendary land
surveyor, treasure hunter
and Oak Island resident
Fred Nolan first arrived here
back in 1958, he had no idea
he would later discover
one of the most
compelling possible connections
between the treasure mystery
and the Knights Templar.
Not only is it one
of the largest man-made
features on the island,
but it was also hiding
in plain sight for centuries.
Nolan's Cross.
Although he originally hoped
to look for treasure
in the Money Pit,
after being denied access
by lot owner M.R. Chappell,
Fred purchased eight lots
in the middle of the island,
where he spent years surveying
the acres for possible clues.
This led him to find
what he believed to be
a number
of man-made stone markers.
In 1981, he was stunned
to realize
that five massive,
cone-shaped boulders
he had plotted on a survey map
formed a megalithic
symmetrical cross
measuring 720 feet wide
by 867 feet long.
Curious about what might
be at its apex, Fred performed
a shallow dig and unearthed
a sixth boulder carved
into the shape of a human head.
The symbol of the cross
immediately gave credence
to the idea that the legendary
Oak Island treasure might be
of a religious nature.
But in 2018, Oak Island
theorists Gretchen Cornwall
and John Temple shared
their research on how
it might also be another
key tie to the Knights Templar.
The Templars...
When they were outlawed
in 1307 to 1312...
They weren't just going
to disappear into
a puff of smoke because a king
in France wanted them to.
- Yeah.
- No, they took to the seas.
Some of them became pirates.
What's your theory on this?
St. John the Baptist is
the patron saint
of the Templar Knight order.
And, of course,
he was famously beheaded.
Yeah.
And that's how the Jolly Roger
became a pirate symbol.
It's actually
originally a Templar symbol.
And it represents
John the Baptist.
And it is our thought that
the Money Pit
is Templar in origin.
Why do you draw
an inference that, uh,
there's a Templar
connection to the Money Pit?
Oak Island would be a safe
and a secure, hidden place
to put sacred relics.
The Templars
were great engineers.
They would have left a physical
stone key and marker.
And that's how the Templars
passed down information:
graffiti marks, uh, stone,
buildings, architecture.
So, fast-forward
to the Nolan Cross.
Your headstone...
Uh, the skull.
The head of the Nolan Cross
is a huge signpost,
if you will,
that the Templars were there.
The Nolan Cross
being, literally,
the skull and crossbones.
On its face, Nolan's Cross
is undoubtedly a compelling feature
that might tie to the Templars.
Unfortunately,
you can't date stone.
I'm gonna zigzag
along this track.
However, other clues have
been found on the island that can.
That leads us to
the next item on our list,
and potentially more evidence
that the underground
workings on Oak Island
go back to Templar times.
The Iron Swages.
- That sounds good.
- Yeah, that sounds good.
Here's the center, mate.
In 2019, while
metal detecting on Lot 21,
which was once owned
by Daniel McGinness,
Rick Lagina, along with
Gary Drayton and Dan Henskee,
made these incredible finds.
Is that it?
I don't even know what that is.
Wow.
Look at that.
That looks like it was used
for hammering that way.
It looks like it was made
for the wooden shaft to go in.
I mean, that is
a meaty piece of iron.
Oh, yeah.
You think it's very old?
Yeah, I couldn't
put a date on that.
I've seen some old, old tools.
And I've found medieval tools
but I've never found
anything looking like that.
Yeah, I believe that
this would be a top-pocket find.
I need a big top pocket, mate.
Strong pocket, yeah.
That first discovery
was certainly encouraging,
but just a few yards away, they
were stunned to find another,
even bigger identical object.
Wow!
It's another hammer.
It looks like a hammer head.
Look, it is,
it's got that same end as well.
And this is even bigger, look.
It's twice as
big as the other one.
Feel how heavy that is, Rick.
Wow. Wow.
Let's have a look
at that other one, Dan.
Let's see if it's similar.
Wow. So we got two of them.
When you're looking for
what could be a priceless treasure,
having great experts
to analyze possible clues
is pretty priceless, too.
And, once again,
blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge delivered
a stunning assessment.
All of these things
were found on the island.
So let's get to it.
What do you want to start with?
And I should tell you
when we first found these,
we thought they was
like stone mason's tools.
Mm-hmm.
They're not? Oh wow.
Dating back to
as early as the 12th century,
swages were commonly used by
blacksmiths to mold and sharpen
tools too intricate to be
formed by a hammer alone.
Tools that had
a very specific purpose.
For tunneling?
Have you ever seen any
of these in this area?
Is it possible that the
Oak Island team found some
of the actual tools used to
dig an elaborate treasure vault?
One that was designed
to possibly hide
priceless religious artifacts
and also thwart anyone
who dared try and retrieve them.
Now, even though the proof
of who's truly behind
the Oak Island mystery
and what they brought here
will be ultimately revealed by
what the Laginas and their team
dig up, we've already seen
just how important the help
from devoted theorists
and researchers has been.
Well, one of these folks
produced some documents that
not only purport to explain
the origins of the mystery
but is also
The next top Templar tie
on our countdown.
Hi Zena, it's Doug.
Zena Halpern's Maps and Cipher.
In 2016,
the late author
and former member
of the New England Antiquities
Research Association,
Zena Halpern, presented the team
with three documents
that she believed
had been created
by members
of the Knights Templar.
The map that's dated
in the upper right-hand corner
seems to be dated 1179.
In all, Zena presented
a map of Mahone Bay dating
all the way back
to the late 12th century,
another map of Oak Island
dated to 1347
with certain locations
labeled in French writing...
and a cipher dubbed
"La Formule," with a number
of symbols that matched those
reported on the 90-foot stone.
Really?
If all of the Zena Halpern
data is correct,
that there was
a Templar voyage to Oak Island,
it would be wildly significant.
Those are the kind of things
I've been looking for
since I got involved in this,
some hard data that says that
there was substantial
undertakings here prior
to the discovery
of the Money Pit.
Digging deep into her research,
Zena was not only able
to put a reported date
on the first Templar visit
to Oak Island,
but she also revealed
the identity of the man
who she believed to have been
behind the entire operation.
A Templar Knight
named Ralph De Sudeley.
Originally from Hertfordshire,
England, Ralph de Sudeley
was not only
on the front lines fighting
for Christian causes
during the Crusades,
but he is also believed
by some to have discovered
both the Ark of the Covenant
and the Holy Grail
below the Temple Mount
in Jerusalem.
The revelation that
the Oak Island mystery
could possibly date
all the way back to the late
12th century was certainly
incredible to contemplate.
But could any physical evidence
be found to back it up?
Well, that segues perfectly
into the next item on our list.
Got something here!
The Paved Area.
In 2019, Rick Lagina
and Craig Tester asked
professional diver Tony Sampson
to check out a possible
anomalous hard feature
they had previously detected
while investigating
the so-called
Mercy Point
in the Oak Island swamp.
Eight feet that way
is the solid platform.
The hard bottom you're
describing, you believe is
rock, not just hard bottom?
No. No, it's rock. Yeah.
- Pretty amazing.
- Wow.
The Fellowship then drained
the swamp and began a rigorous,
but careful excavation
from the area known
as the Eye of the Swamp all
the way to the Eastern border.
They were amazed
by what they kept finding.
Uh, there's these layers
of stone above the till
that have no clay around them,
and yet have swamp sediment
around them.
It has to be manipulated.
I can't find a natural process
that would've led to this.
It's a manipulated site.
To me, it's like
somebody came in and put
the small rocks on the bottom,
just like a building a road,
and then put the bigger rocks
on top of that.
It's that... I think, precise.
I'll be honest, my eyes
and boots perspective...
It's man-made.
- I don't know.
- Well...
if you go seaward...
We're on a line.
Like, if you have the eye...
as a excavated site.
If you have this paved
area as a filled-in site,
maybe trying to make a platform.
Something solid.
And then if you go seaward,
you have the deepest portion
of the swamp,
where it was actually an inlet.
It all lines up
with the peninsula
cutting through it.
And, so, was this some kind
of work surface if people
brought boats in?
The paved area all but proved
that the swamp was man-made.
But man-made by who? And when?
- Hey, guys.
- Gentlemen.
A few weeks later,
Dr. Spooner got the answer
after carbon dating
organic materials
found within the feature.
The results must have had
Zena smiling down from above.
The dates are
rather extraordinary.
There's the dates we're getting.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
What are they?
Around 1200 AD.
- Medieval.
- Medieval, baby!
You know,
1200 AD? People working
in a swamp on Oak Island?
It's crazy.
There's a
wonderful story written here.
I've always wanted to turn
the last page on Oak Island.
And it's certainly
not there yet.
We're but chapters in,
after all this time.
- We're just beginning.
- Oh, yeah.
Unbelievable!
That's what comes to mind.
Unbelievable.
This is great, Dr. Spooner.
- Thank you very much.
- Oh, you're welcome.
Now, so far, we've drilled down
into a number of theories,
discoveries and even documents
that directly tie the medieval
order of the Knights Templar
to the Oak Island mystery.
Well, what if some Templar
treasures were deposited
many centuries later
by descendants of them?
Let me explain with
the second-most compelling
item on our countdown.
The Rochefoucauld Connection.
So, we have your map
that shows Nova Scotia.
And we have a map that seems
to be a French map
of Oak Island.
This Oak Island map
that you're showing us...
It seems to indicate that
someone came here in 1347.
Circling back
to Zena Halpern's map
of Oak Island that
was dated to 1347,
the date wasn't the only thing
that caught intrepid
Oak Island historian
Doug Crowell's attention.
After doing some digging
in the Nova Scotia archives,
he made another
incredible discovery.
I found eight pages
of a ship...
what looks like a ship's log.
These eight pages that I found,
I made a transcript, guys,
of what the log actually says.
What's really interesting
is it appears to be a ship's log
that indicates that
they were here in advance
of the French fleet
that was coming over in 1746
to take back Acadia.
In 1746, the
French Crown sent an armada
across the Atlantic Ocean,
hoping to seize Nova Scotia
and parts of the
Northern American colonies
from the British.
Led by an admiral
named Duc d'Anville,
it was not only the cargo
he was reported to be carrying,
but also his lineage
that caught Doug's eye.
Interestingly enough,
the Duc d'Anville...
His real name was
Jean-Baptiste Louis Frédéric
de Rochefoucauld.
It's the Francis Rochefoucauld
on Zena's map
that's given information
about Oak Island and-and what
looks like a buried treasure.
It's the Rochefoucauld
connection.
The Rochefoucaulds
were a powerful family
of French nobles who could
trace their lineage
back to the ruling class
in the holy city of Jerusalem
during the Crusades,
and are believed
by many to have close ties
to the Knights Templar.
So, on September 6,
the ship's log was:
"At mid-day we reach a deep bay
"with several hundred small
islands wooded to the shore.
"The great quantity of treasure
on this vessel makes it
unwise to jeopardize it in
any engagement with the enemy".
"September 8.
It has been agreed that
"a deep pit be dug
and treasure securely buried.
"The pit to have
a secret entrance
"by a tunnel from the shore.
"On September 13, down 67 feet,
"pit seemed damp
from seepage of sea water.
Have decided to go deeper
to dry soil."
And it ends.
And that's where it ends.
But it is amazing.
I mean, a great quantity
of treasure, and... and that
they appear to be in this bay.
As the
ship's log unfolds,
it describes
a construction of a shaft.
Very similar to the descriptions
of the original find
of the Money Pit.
I think it's-it's... it fits.
The thing about this
that-that makes it exciting
is that it fits really well.
Could it lead to some more
investigative work?
Absolutely.
Doug, this is, uh, incredible.
Incredibly fascinating.
And, whether it ties or not,
it's a really
interesting bit of history.
The historical evidence
found in Nova Scotia potentially
connecting the Rochefoucauld
family to Oak Island
is what set the stage
for Rick and his nephews'
journey to France
that we covered earlier.
As our countdown tonight
has firmly established,
of all the theories put forth
about the possible origins
of the Oak Island mystery,
it's undeniable that science,
expert analysis and even
historical documents could
suggest a potential Templar tie.
But of all those clues,
this next and final one
still hails
as king of the Templar ties.
The Lead Cross.
So you're thinking
between the beach and the old
- cofferdams, this is a perfect spot?
- Yeah.
Let's see
if we can find something.
Gary Drayton
has established a nice cache
of catch phrases
like "top-pocket finds"
and "bobby-dazzlers."
- Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
- What?
- I don't see anything.
- I see something.
But this discovery made
in 2017 with Rick at Smith's Cove
was most appropriate
for a potential Templar tie.
- Holy...
- Holy sha-moly, all right.
- It's a cross.
- That's a cross.
There's a square hole.
Yeah, right there. How old?
This is the type of thing
I'd expect to find in Europe.
When I first saw it, I thought
that looks like medieval.
A medieval cross.
I've seen that shape before.
I swear that'll tell the tale
how old it is, that shape.
Where do you think
you've seen it before?
You know, when I was in France,
I saw a carving like that
in the Templar prison in Domme.
It's an incredible structure.
So were they housed
here for seven years?
Yes, they were, yes.
As we saw earlier, Rick, Peter
and Alex not only saw images
that resembled the carvings
on the H+O Stone when researcher
Jerry Glover took them
to the 14th century Templar
prison in Domme, France,
but he also showed them
numerous religious carvings
that the Templars went
to desperate measures to create.
How would they have carved this?
They surely would not
have had implements?
It's said that, because
their weapons would have
been removed from them
when they were imprisoned,
they would have
had to have maybe
used their teeth
or their fingernails.
And one of those
carvings was an exact match
in design to the cross
found at Smith's Cove.
So that is
the cross.
Yeah, very nice.
Seeing is believing,
but objective science
is a worthwhile backup
when you're trying to solve
a centuries-old mystery.
Rick, Marty and Craig Tester
then had laser ablation
conducted on the cross
to extract lead isotope samples
at the University
of New Brunswick.
If you can, uh, ring Tobias up?
Those samples were then
sent to the German Mining Museum
in the city of Bochum
where chemist Tobias Skowronek
was able to compare them
with historically-documented
lead mining data
throughout Europe.
So Tobias,
as you can probably understand,
we're somewhat
on pins and needles, uh,
hoping to hear what
you have to tell us, so...
if you'd be, again, so kind,
uh, we're very anxious.
Yeah, so, I compared
the lead isotope data
of the cross that you
gave me with my database
of ore bodies and metals here.
And I think I got some pretty
interesting results for you.
So, comparing the data,
I noticed that the lead isotopes
of the cross are somehow
related to European deposits.
But I did not find
any match
with the quarries that were
used in the 15th
to 17th centuries.
I, therefore,
went on and compared
the lead isotopes of the cross
with those of deposits
where archeologists
know medieval mining took place,
and I think
I found a match there.
- Really?
- Yeah!
And, time-period wise, you think
- it's pre-15th century, then?
- Um...
I think it's
pre-15th century, yes.
- Wow.
- You nailed it, Gary.
- Yep.
- But where the heck did it come from?
The data of the cross
is very consistent with
the area of Southern France.
Wow.
Look at him. Look at him.
Grinning like a Cheshire cat
over there.
I knew it.
That's fantastic.
That cross is
associated with the Templar
influence region in France.
It's certainly the time
of the Templars...
1300s, 1400s...
Um... or even earlier.
It's a piece of data.
I can't disregard data.
Here's a piece that does support
a very ancient landing
on this island, at least.
I mean, if it was made
pre-15th century
and it was deposited
near the time it was made,
it is probably the most
historic thing that's maybe
ever happened in North America.
- Yeah.
- That's incredible news.
The hunt continues.
Now, until a vast treasure
is finally unearthed
from Oak Island,
perhaps we'll never know
who was behind the mystery.
But what we do know is this:
somewhere deep below where
I am standing right now
in the Money Pit area,
a vast cache of silver
and perhaps other
precious metals lie buried.
And in three short weeks,
when season nine
of The Curse of Oak Island
begins,
Rick, Marty, Craig
and the rest of the team
will objectively follow
the evidence as they drill
and dig to reveal the truth.
Stay tuned, Acorns.
The answers
are closer than ever.
As always, keep the faith.
We'll see you soon.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
legend that a Templar knight
was worshipped as a god...
I believe that it's bulletproof
the Templars went to America.
- That's a cross.
- To medieval artifacts
- from across the ocean...
- I've seen that shape before.
Where do you think
you've seen it before?
In France, in the
Templar prison in Domme.
To man-made structures
that could re-write
North American history.
This is the paved area.
There's the dates we're getting.
- What are they?
- Around 1200 AD.
And ancient maps that reportedly
document a secret journey.
The revelation
during Season Eight
of The Curse of Oak Island
that precious metals
do in fact lie buried
in the Money Pit...
means that Rick and
Marty Lagina and their team
may be closer than ever
to recovering a massive
treasure buried on Oak Island.
And with every major discovery
they unearth along the way,
they're also zeroing in
on who buried it here
and engineered the ingenious
workings that have
kept it so well hidden
over the centuries.
Pirates, European militaries
and early North American
settlers remain
on the whodunnit list.
But tonight we'll be
counting down the best clues
that this team,
well-studied theorists,
and even science
have produced that
keep pointing to other,
more incredible suspects.
I'm talking about the medieval
order of the Knights Templar.
Sound crazy?
Well, check out our list
and decide for yourself.
This is "Oak Island's
Top Ten Templar Ties."
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
According to documented history,
no one sailed to North America
from foreign lands prior
to Christopher Columbus'
journey in 1492.
But many Oak Island theorists
believe Columbus
may have been
on a follow-up voyage.
They point to the flag
that graced the sails
of his ships as a curious clue.
It was actually the cross
of The Knights Templar.
It's pretty wild, right?
In fact,
the very first discovery
that kicked off the Oak Island
mystery back in 1795 is believed
by some to be a direct sign
of Templar activity.
And tonight,
it kicks off our list
of the top ten Templar ties.
The Money Pit.
When searchers first
uncovered a 13-foot-wide
depression on Oak Island,
they were stunned
by the extensive oak platforms
uncovered every ten feet
down to a depth of 90 feet.
And in that ninth layer,
they found the legendary
olive-colored stone with
mysterious carvings that,
when removed, caused the pit
to flood from an ingeniously
designed flood trap
connected to the ocean.
So who could have achieved
such a design?
And why nine levels?
To get to the possible answer,
we have to go back all
the way to the 12th century.
In 1118 AD,
the military order of monks
known as the Knights Templar
was established
in Jerusalem to protect
the lives and property
of Christian pilgrims
as they journeyed
to the Holy Land
during the Crusades.
Their headquarters
were established
on the historic Temple Mount,
the original site
of the temple of King Solomon.
Beyond the idea
of some kind of bodyguard for
pilgrims to the Holy Land,
it's been suggested
that they had this immense
and ambitious program in mind.
Which would involve excavating
and basically looking
for knowledge
and looking for power
wherever they could find it.
Some researchers believe
that deep below the Temple Mount,
the Templars excavated
down through nine levels
of hidden chambers where they
discovered lost religious texts,
golden treasures and holy
artifacts that may have included
the Ark of the Covenant.
But then suddenly in 1128,
they became the richest
people in the world,
absolutely massively wealthy.
The King of France
considered the Templars
to be enemies because it
was convenient to do so.
Because that gave him
permission to steal their...
their treasures
and their-their wealth.
The king of France
then leaned on the pope
to back him up
and press charges
against the Knights Templar.
And here the pope was
siding with the king of France,
turning all of his people
over to be imprisoned
and burned at the stake,
and they felt horribly betrayed.
In 1307, Pope Clement
V ordered the Knights Templar
to be disbanded
and King Philip IV
of France had
many of them imprisoned.
They were tortured in
an effort to reveal
what they had found, and,
along with their Grand Master
Jacques de Molay,
brutally executed.
However, a number of the order
reportedly escaped to Scotland
with their secret treasures.
And, according to some
Oak Island theorists,
eventually journeyed across
the Atlantic to what would
become Nova Scotia in order
to build a "New Jerusalem."
I hate to do this to you, Marty,
but the prophecies
about the New Jerusalem say
that the New Jerusalem
will be built
on an island of swamp.
In 2014, the Laginas...
Along with Dave Blankenship
and Charles Barkhouse... met
with authors
and Oak Island theorists
Kathleen McGowan and Alan Butler
in Scotland and were given
an incredible presentation
on the design of the Money Pit.
When I read the account
of how McGinnis and his friends
first started
to dig at the Money Pit,
the first thing
they came across,
a couple of feet under
the turf, was a platform.
This rang a bell in my mind.
It's got to do with a particular
part of Freemasonry which, is
called the royal arch of Enoch.
There are many connections
between the Knights Templar
and the fraternal order of
Freemasonry, who many believe
descend from
the Templars themselves.
But a central figure
in Masonic worship is
the biblical figure Enoch,
the great-grandfather of Noah.
According to Masonic texts
and the Dead Sea Scrolls,
Enoch was the first
to build a temple
in Jerusalem at the location
of the Temple Mount.
And he was the one
who constructed
the nine underground chambers
to protect all the important
knowledge and treasures
of the world
before the great flood
was unleashed on mankind by God.
When the Knights Templar
were eventually able to...
build their own
New Jerusalem on Oak Island,
the Money Pit was
a deliberately constructed copy
of Solomon's Temple
and the chambers of Enoch.
Could the Money
Pit really have been built
by members
of the Knights Templar?
To not only hold sacred
and valuable treasures,
but also symbolize
the legendary Enochian Chambers?
It's an incredible theory,
but the Money Pit
had an incredible design.
It really makes you wonder
just what type of treasure
would justify
such an elaborate effort.
But let's be honest,
a theory is just a theory
until you can prove it.
And that brings us
to the next entry on our list.
And it's a find
that just might be
connected to the 90 Foot Stone.
The Hand Point Chisel.
All right.
This looks like a good area.
- Yeah.
- All right, here we go.
Music to my ears.
At the beginning
of Season Seven,
metal detection expert
Gary Drayton and Alex Lagina
were searching on Isaac's Point,
near Smith's Cove.
It was just after a long winter
and Gary was hoping that
the harsh seasonal erosion would
have helped stir up
some top-pocket finds.
I'm getting a signal here, Alex.
It's just
underneath that rock there.
All right...
There it is. I see it.
- You do?
- An iron spike.
- Where?
- Just here.
- Yep and look at this.
- There it is.
- Huh.
- That could be an old, crude spike.
That looks old to me.
That looks hand-forged.
That's nice.
The fascinating thing
about this, Alex, is it
don't compare
to other spikes we've found.
This is a totally different one.
Gary was right.
When he and Rick Lagina
took it to blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge, they were
stunned by his assessment.
I was thinking
it's something nautical.
It does serve a purpose,
but it's not on a ship.
That is definitely a hand-point.
- What's a hand-point?
- It is a tool.
They are used to detail
or carve rock or stone.
How old?
14th century.
Were there any, um, rocks or
stones carved on the island
or found on the island?
There are more than a few,
but the, you know,
the significant ones
from the historical record,
of course, are the 90 Foot
Stone in the Money Pit,
which had a line of
carvings on it, hieroglyphs.
You might have the very, uh,
hand-point that did that.
Gary might have not
only found the tool used to carve
the 90 Foot Stone,
but if Carmen Legge
is correct that the chisel dates
back to the 1300s, more than
a century before Columbus,
it just may provide
another critical tie between
the Knights Templar
and the Oak Island mystery.
Now the theory that
the Knights Templar deposited
a vast treasure on Oak Island
long before the 15th century is
for sure one of the most
incredible ever contemplated
to try to explain
the 226-year-old mystery.
And that's why Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team
treat every clue or find
with total objectivity.
I think if you could fill us in
on where your research
has led us.
I think that's
where we should start.
Yeah.
So in 2017,
Rick,
along with his nephews Alex
and Peter, travelled
to Southern France to meet
with researcher Nichola Lewis...
I think I did find a connection.
Where she presented the next
top Templar tie on our list.
So that's the H+O stone there.
The H+O Stone.
In 1921,
treasure hunters discovered
a large boulder covered
with mysterious carved symbols
on Oak Island's north shore.
They were hoping that it might
be covering a treasure vault,
which led
to a pretty unfortunate
method of investigation.
They blew it up with dynamite.
No treasure was found
below it and although many
of the large fragments have
gone missing over the years,
one was photographed bearing
an "H," a small cross symbol,
and an "O" - hence
the name: the H+O stone.
What these symbols represent has
remained a compelling curiosity.
I found two
Templar chapels in the Charente,
in the area where we are going
and one has wall paintings.
It's a fantastic painting.
And this is a Templar
going off to fight.
But on his shield, he's got this
cross, which is exactly like
the H+O stone
with the cross in the middle
and dots around the cross.
Oh, yes, very similar.
Absolutely.
I think we are
gonna find some very
interesting bits of information.
And for me, this has
always been and will continue
to be an information hunt every
bit as much as a treasure hunt.
I want some answers.
I think we all do.
- Yup. - Yeah.
- Let's make that happen.
Later during their trip,
Rick, Alex and Peter also
visited with researcher
Jerry Glover at a 14th-century
prison in the town of Domme,
where Templar knights
were once imprisoned by
the French King Philip the IV.
Come in.
Oh, wow.
It was here
that Jerry showed them even more
authentic Templar clues that
were literally carved in stone.
It's certainly interesting
that the cross at the center
with the pellets is indicative
of graffiti crosses
carved by Crusading knights.
You see similar ones,
uh, here in the guardhouse
at Domme.
Really? Where are those?
There's some over here.
Here's a good example.
Oh, yeah.
One, two, three, four...
- Well, no...
- You can see it better on the top one.
Oh, yes. Yes.
The symbology
we're seeing on the walls,
and the H+O stone...
Very, very similar.
I mean, they couldn't be
more similar.
So it's a direct connection,
but what does it mean?
Does that mean
that Templars did both?
I don't know.
I mean, it's a clue.
It-it surely opens
the door to possibilities.
So if these stunning
connections between the Templars
and Oak Island are legit,
just when did they make
that clandestine journey
across the Atlantic?
Well, the next
top Templar tie on our list
may offer a possible answer.
The Legend
of Prince Henry Sinclair.
- Look at that.
- Absolutely magnificent.
Yeah, that is beautiful.
Back in 2014,
just before the Laginas
and Craig met with Alan Butler
and Kathleen McGowan
in Roslin, Scotland,
they first visited one
of the most mysterious places
ever associated with both
the Knights Templar and their
descendants, the Freemasons...
Rosslyn Chapel.
Wow.
Oh, my God.
Amazing.
Constructed in 1456
by Freemason William Sinclair,
whose family also had
well-known Templar ties,
the chapel features
thousands of carvings.
Many researchers believe that
some of these carvings represent
clues of a journey made
to North America
more than half a century earlier
by William Sinclair's
grandfather.
Templar Knight
Prince Henry Sinclair.
According to some
in the indigenous Mi'kmaq
community of Nova Scotia,
in 1398 Henry Sinclair
arrived with a fleet
of large sailing vessels
and shared new methods
with them for fishing
and navigation.
His impact
on their culture was such
that he came to be worshipped
as a god known as Glooscap.
However, many researchers also
believe that he carried out
another profound agenda
as well, by burying
Templar treasures on Oak Island.
Henry Sinclair is often said
to have made the journey
to Nova Scotia,
but I think he had
a particular purpose in mind.
One theory is that,
uh, he was known to be
a very enthusiastic member
of the Knights Templar.
And there's great speculation...
And I'm going to use that word
strongly, speculation...
That he was looking for a place
to hide, uh, the great treasures
that the Knights Templar
supposedly had acquired.
Although proof of
that remains to be verified,
many believe
"rock-solid evidence"
that the journey took place
can be found
carved into the ceiling
of Rosslyn Chapel.
The legend here is that
Prince Henry Sinclair,
in 1398,
sailed to the New World.
And brought back with him...
corn.
And if you look up here,
there is what may appear to be
maize or, as we have
called it, Indian corn.
This chapel was built
well before Christopher Columbus
went to America.
Honestly, it looks like
- you can see the little corn kernels.
- Yes.
And there are other
carvings such as the aloe vera
and trillium, which again,
is a North American plant.
And, interestingly,
our botanist believed that
the trillium was trillium.
So we have to believe that
the people who carved
this chapel were far-traveled.
Corn is a new-world crop.
And one of the key things
is that there appears
to be a carving of a trillium.
Trilliums would have
been unknown to the people
who built that chapel had
they not been to North America.
In recent years the
Mi'kmaq adopted a cross as their
ceremonial flag, which is
actually a mirror-image match
of the Knights Templar
battle flag.
Coincidence? You be the judge.
When the legendary land
surveyor, treasure hunter
and Oak Island resident
Fred Nolan first arrived here
back in 1958, he had no idea
he would later discover
one of the most
compelling possible connections
between the treasure mystery
and the Knights Templar.
Not only is it one
of the largest man-made
features on the island,
but it was also hiding
in plain sight for centuries.
Nolan's Cross.
Although he originally hoped
to look for treasure
in the Money Pit,
after being denied access
by lot owner M.R. Chappell,
Fred purchased eight lots
in the middle of the island,
where he spent years surveying
the acres for possible clues.
This led him to find
what he believed to be
a number
of man-made stone markers.
In 1981, he was stunned
to realize
that five massive,
cone-shaped boulders
he had plotted on a survey map
formed a megalithic
symmetrical cross
measuring 720 feet wide
by 867 feet long.
Curious about what might
be at its apex, Fred performed
a shallow dig and unearthed
a sixth boulder carved
into the shape of a human head.
The symbol of the cross
immediately gave credence
to the idea that the legendary
Oak Island treasure might be
of a religious nature.
But in 2018, Oak Island
theorists Gretchen Cornwall
and John Temple shared
their research on how
it might also be another
key tie to the Knights Templar.
The Templars...
When they were outlawed
in 1307 to 1312...
They weren't just going
to disappear into
a puff of smoke because a king
in France wanted them to.
- Yeah.
- No, they took to the seas.
Some of them became pirates.
What's your theory on this?
St. John the Baptist is
the patron saint
of the Templar Knight order.
And, of course,
he was famously beheaded.
Yeah.
And that's how the Jolly Roger
became a pirate symbol.
It's actually
originally a Templar symbol.
And it represents
John the Baptist.
And it is our thought that
the Money Pit
is Templar in origin.
Why do you draw
an inference that, uh,
there's a Templar
connection to the Money Pit?
Oak Island would be a safe
and a secure, hidden place
to put sacred relics.
The Templars
were great engineers.
They would have left a physical
stone key and marker.
And that's how the Templars
passed down information:
graffiti marks, uh, stone,
buildings, architecture.
So, fast-forward
to the Nolan Cross.
Your headstone...
Uh, the skull.
The head of the Nolan Cross
is a huge signpost,
if you will,
that the Templars were there.
The Nolan Cross
being, literally,
the skull and crossbones.
On its face, Nolan's Cross
is undoubtedly a compelling feature
that might tie to the Templars.
Unfortunately,
you can't date stone.
I'm gonna zigzag
along this track.
However, other clues have
been found on the island that can.
That leads us to
the next item on our list,
and potentially more evidence
that the underground
workings on Oak Island
go back to Templar times.
The Iron Swages.
- That sounds good.
- Yeah, that sounds good.
Here's the center, mate.
In 2019, while
metal detecting on Lot 21,
which was once owned
by Daniel McGinness,
Rick Lagina, along with
Gary Drayton and Dan Henskee,
made these incredible finds.
Is that it?
I don't even know what that is.
Wow.
Look at that.
That looks like it was used
for hammering that way.
It looks like it was made
for the wooden shaft to go in.
I mean, that is
a meaty piece of iron.
Oh, yeah.
You think it's very old?
Yeah, I couldn't
put a date on that.
I've seen some old, old tools.
And I've found medieval tools
but I've never found
anything looking like that.
Yeah, I believe that
this would be a top-pocket find.
I need a big top pocket, mate.
Strong pocket, yeah.
That first discovery
was certainly encouraging,
but just a few yards away, they
were stunned to find another,
even bigger identical object.
Wow!
It's another hammer.
It looks like a hammer head.
Look, it is,
it's got that same end as well.
And this is even bigger, look.
It's twice as
big as the other one.
Feel how heavy that is, Rick.
Wow. Wow.
Let's have a look
at that other one, Dan.
Let's see if it's similar.
Wow. So we got two of them.
When you're looking for
what could be a priceless treasure,
having great experts
to analyze possible clues
is pretty priceless, too.
And, once again,
blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge delivered
a stunning assessment.
All of these things
were found on the island.
So let's get to it.
What do you want to start with?
And I should tell you
when we first found these,
we thought they was
like stone mason's tools.
Mm-hmm.
They're not? Oh wow.
Dating back to
as early as the 12th century,
swages were commonly used by
blacksmiths to mold and sharpen
tools too intricate to be
formed by a hammer alone.
Tools that had
a very specific purpose.
For tunneling?
Have you ever seen any
of these in this area?
Is it possible that the
Oak Island team found some
of the actual tools used to
dig an elaborate treasure vault?
One that was designed
to possibly hide
priceless religious artifacts
and also thwart anyone
who dared try and retrieve them.
Now, even though the proof
of who's truly behind
the Oak Island mystery
and what they brought here
will be ultimately revealed by
what the Laginas and their team
dig up, we've already seen
just how important the help
from devoted theorists
and researchers has been.
Well, one of these folks
produced some documents that
not only purport to explain
the origins of the mystery
but is also
The next top Templar tie
on our countdown.
Hi Zena, it's Doug.
Zena Halpern's Maps and Cipher.
In 2016,
the late author
and former member
of the New England Antiquities
Research Association,
Zena Halpern, presented the team
with three documents
that she believed
had been created
by members
of the Knights Templar.
The map that's dated
in the upper right-hand corner
seems to be dated 1179.
In all, Zena presented
a map of Mahone Bay dating
all the way back
to the late 12th century,
another map of Oak Island
dated to 1347
with certain locations
labeled in French writing...
and a cipher dubbed
"La Formule," with a number
of symbols that matched those
reported on the 90-foot stone.
Really?
If all of the Zena Halpern
data is correct,
that there was
a Templar voyage to Oak Island,
it would be wildly significant.
Those are the kind of things
I've been looking for
since I got involved in this,
some hard data that says that
there was substantial
undertakings here prior
to the discovery
of the Money Pit.
Digging deep into her research,
Zena was not only able
to put a reported date
on the first Templar visit
to Oak Island,
but she also revealed
the identity of the man
who she believed to have been
behind the entire operation.
A Templar Knight
named Ralph De Sudeley.
Originally from Hertfordshire,
England, Ralph de Sudeley
was not only
on the front lines fighting
for Christian causes
during the Crusades,
but he is also believed
by some to have discovered
both the Ark of the Covenant
and the Holy Grail
below the Temple Mount
in Jerusalem.
The revelation that
the Oak Island mystery
could possibly date
all the way back to the late
12th century was certainly
incredible to contemplate.
But could any physical evidence
be found to back it up?
Well, that segues perfectly
into the next item on our list.
Got something here!
The Paved Area.
In 2019, Rick Lagina
and Craig Tester asked
professional diver Tony Sampson
to check out a possible
anomalous hard feature
they had previously detected
while investigating
the so-called
Mercy Point
in the Oak Island swamp.
Eight feet that way
is the solid platform.
The hard bottom you're
describing, you believe is
rock, not just hard bottom?
No. No, it's rock. Yeah.
- Pretty amazing.
- Wow.
The Fellowship then drained
the swamp and began a rigorous,
but careful excavation
from the area known
as the Eye of the Swamp all
the way to the Eastern border.
They were amazed
by what they kept finding.
Uh, there's these layers
of stone above the till
that have no clay around them,
and yet have swamp sediment
around them.
It has to be manipulated.
I can't find a natural process
that would've led to this.
It's a manipulated site.
To me, it's like
somebody came in and put
the small rocks on the bottom,
just like a building a road,
and then put the bigger rocks
on top of that.
It's that... I think, precise.
I'll be honest, my eyes
and boots perspective...
It's man-made.
- I don't know.
- Well...
if you go seaward...
We're on a line.
Like, if you have the eye...
as a excavated site.
If you have this paved
area as a filled-in site,
maybe trying to make a platform.
Something solid.
And then if you go seaward,
you have the deepest portion
of the swamp,
where it was actually an inlet.
It all lines up
with the peninsula
cutting through it.
And, so, was this some kind
of work surface if people
brought boats in?
The paved area all but proved
that the swamp was man-made.
But man-made by who? And when?
- Hey, guys.
- Gentlemen.
A few weeks later,
Dr. Spooner got the answer
after carbon dating
organic materials
found within the feature.
The results must have had
Zena smiling down from above.
The dates are
rather extraordinary.
There's the dates we're getting.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
What are they?
Around 1200 AD.
- Medieval.
- Medieval, baby!
You know,
1200 AD? People working
in a swamp on Oak Island?
It's crazy.
There's a
wonderful story written here.
I've always wanted to turn
the last page on Oak Island.
And it's certainly
not there yet.
We're but chapters in,
after all this time.
- We're just beginning.
- Oh, yeah.
Unbelievable!
That's what comes to mind.
Unbelievable.
This is great, Dr. Spooner.
- Thank you very much.
- Oh, you're welcome.
Now, so far, we've drilled down
into a number of theories,
discoveries and even documents
that directly tie the medieval
order of the Knights Templar
to the Oak Island mystery.
Well, what if some Templar
treasures were deposited
many centuries later
by descendants of them?
Let me explain with
the second-most compelling
item on our countdown.
The Rochefoucauld Connection.
So, we have your map
that shows Nova Scotia.
And we have a map that seems
to be a French map
of Oak Island.
This Oak Island map
that you're showing us...
It seems to indicate that
someone came here in 1347.
Circling back
to Zena Halpern's map
of Oak Island that
was dated to 1347,
the date wasn't the only thing
that caught intrepid
Oak Island historian
Doug Crowell's attention.
After doing some digging
in the Nova Scotia archives,
he made another
incredible discovery.
I found eight pages
of a ship...
what looks like a ship's log.
These eight pages that I found,
I made a transcript, guys,
of what the log actually says.
What's really interesting
is it appears to be a ship's log
that indicates that
they were here in advance
of the French fleet
that was coming over in 1746
to take back Acadia.
In 1746, the
French Crown sent an armada
across the Atlantic Ocean,
hoping to seize Nova Scotia
and parts of the
Northern American colonies
from the British.
Led by an admiral
named Duc d'Anville,
it was not only the cargo
he was reported to be carrying,
but also his lineage
that caught Doug's eye.
Interestingly enough,
the Duc d'Anville...
His real name was
Jean-Baptiste Louis Frédéric
de Rochefoucauld.
It's the Francis Rochefoucauld
on Zena's map
that's given information
about Oak Island and-and what
looks like a buried treasure.
It's the Rochefoucauld
connection.
The Rochefoucaulds
were a powerful family
of French nobles who could
trace their lineage
back to the ruling class
in the holy city of Jerusalem
during the Crusades,
and are believed
by many to have close ties
to the Knights Templar.
So, on September 6,
the ship's log was:
"At mid-day we reach a deep bay
"with several hundred small
islands wooded to the shore.
"The great quantity of treasure
on this vessel makes it
unwise to jeopardize it in
any engagement with the enemy".
"September 8.
It has been agreed that
"a deep pit be dug
and treasure securely buried.
"The pit to have
a secret entrance
"by a tunnel from the shore.
"On September 13, down 67 feet,
"pit seemed damp
from seepage of sea water.
Have decided to go deeper
to dry soil."
And it ends.
And that's where it ends.
But it is amazing.
I mean, a great quantity
of treasure, and... and that
they appear to be in this bay.
As the
ship's log unfolds,
it describes
a construction of a shaft.
Very similar to the descriptions
of the original find
of the Money Pit.
I think it's-it's... it fits.
The thing about this
that-that makes it exciting
is that it fits really well.
Could it lead to some more
investigative work?
Absolutely.
Doug, this is, uh, incredible.
Incredibly fascinating.
And, whether it ties or not,
it's a really
interesting bit of history.
The historical evidence
found in Nova Scotia potentially
connecting the Rochefoucauld
family to Oak Island
is what set the stage
for Rick and his nephews'
journey to France
that we covered earlier.
As our countdown tonight
has firmly established,
of all the theories put forth
about the possible origins
of the Oak Island mystery,
it's undeniable that science,
expert analysis and even
historical documents could
suggest a potential Templar tie.
But of all those clues,
this next and final one
still hails
as king of the Templar ties.
The Lead Cross.
So you're thinking
between the beach and the old
- cofferdams, this is a perfect spot?
- Yeah.
Let's see
if we can find something.
Gary Drayton
has established a nice cache
of catch phrases
like "top-pocket finds"
and "bobby-dazzlers."
- Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
- What?
- I don't see anything.
- I see something.
But this discovery made
in 2017 with Rick at Smith's Cove
was most appropriate
for a potential Templar tie.
- Holy...
- Holy sha-moly, all right.
- It's a cross.
- That's a cross.
There's a square hole.
Yeah, right there. How old?
This is the type of thing
I'd expect to find in Europe.
When I first saw it, I thought
that looks like medieval.
A medieval cross.
I've seen that shape before.
I swear that'll tell the tale
how old it is, that shape.
Where do you think
you've seen it before?
You know, when I was in France,
I saw a carving like that
in the Templar prison in Domme.
It's an incredible structure.
So were they housed
here for seven years?
Yes, they were, yes.
As we saw earlier, Rick, Peter
and Alex not only saw images
that resembled the carvings
on the H+O Stone when researcher
Jerry Glover took them
to the 14th century Templar
prison in Domme, France,
but he also showed them
numerous religious carvings
that the Templars went
to desperate measures to create.
How would they have carved this?
They surely would not
have had implements?
It's said that, because
their weapons would have
been removed from them
when they were imprisoned,
they would have
had to have maybe
used their teeth
or their fingernails.
And one of those
carvings was an exact match
in design to the cross
found at Smith's Cove.
So that is
the cross.
Yeah, very nice.
Seeing is believing,
but objective science
is a worthwhile backup
when you're trying to solve
a centuries-old mystery.
Rick, Marty and Craig Tester
then had laser ablation
conducted on the cross
to extract lead isotope samples
at the University
of New Brunswick.
If you can, uh, ring Tobias up?
Those samples were then
sent to the German Mining Museum
in the city of Bochum
where chemist Tobias Skowronek
was able to compare them
with historically-documented
lead mining data
throughout Europe.
So Tobias,
as you can probably understand,
we're somewhat
on pins and needles, uh,
hoping to hear what
you have to tell us, so...
if you'd be, again, so kind,
uh, we're very anxious.
Yeah, so, I compared
the lead isotope data
of the cross that you
gave me with my database
of ore bodies and metals here.
And I think I got some pretty
interesting results for you.
So, comparing the data,
I noticed that the lead isotopes
of the cross are somehow
related to European deposits.
But I did not find
any match
with the quarries that were
used in the 15th
to 17th centuries.
I, therefore,
went on and compared
the lead isotopes of the cross
with those of deposits
where archeologists
know medieval mining took place,
and I think
I found a match there.
- Really?
- Yeah!
And, time-period wise, you think
- it's pre-15th century, then?
- Um...
I think it's
pre-15th century, yes.
- Wow.
- You nailed it, Gary.
- Yep.
- But where the heck did it come from?
The data of the cross
is very consistent with
the area of Southern France.
Wow.
Look at him. Look at him.
Grinning like a Cheshire cat
over there.
I knew it.
That's fantastic.
That cross is
associated with the Templar
influence region in France.
It's certainly the time
of the Templars...
1300s, 1400s...
Um... or even earlier.
It's a piece of data.
I can't disregard data.
Here's a piece that does support
a very ancient landing
on this island, at least.
I mean, if it was made
pre-15th century
and it was deposited
near the time it was made,
it is probably the most
historic thing that's maybe
ever happened in North America.
- Yeah.
- That's incredible news.
The hunt continues.
Now, until a vast treasure
is finally unearthed
from Oak Island,
perhaps we'll never know
who was behind the mystery.
But what we do know is this:
somewhere deep below where
I am standing right now
in the Money Pit area,
a vast cache of silver
and perhaps other
precious metals lie buried.
And in three short weeks,
when season nine
of The Curse of Oak Island
begins,
Rick, Marty, Craig
and the rest of the team
will objectively follow
the evidence as they drill
and dig to reveal the truth.
Stay tuned, Acorns.
The answers
are closer than ever.
As always, keep the faith.
We'll see you soon.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.