The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down (2016–…): Season 9, Episode 4 - The Fellowships Top Ten Finds - full transcript
MATTY: For 226 years now,
Oak Island has been home
to a fascinating
treasure mystery.
And although many compelling
reports have surfaced
over the generations
about evidence of treasure,
booby-trapped flood tunnels
and even a large stone bearing
a carved message saying
"Forty feet below,
two million pounds are buried."
Most of that is all anecdotal,
with no hard evidence
to verify any of it.
- Look at that, that's a beauty!
- Oh, wow. Look at that.
GARY:
That is a bobby-dazzler.
MATTY: Well, over
the last eight seasons of
- The Curse of Oak Island...
- It might be actually gold.
- The world has seen for itself...
- Whoa!
As Rick and Marty Lagina
and their team have made
- discovery after discovery...
- I believe this is a coin.
Suggesting that something of
incredible importance happened
on Oak Island that may rewrite
North American history...
Holy schmoly, all right.
- It's a cross.
- That's a cross.
And that there is
something of great value
still hidden deep
in the Money Pit.
- Look at that.
- Yes!
So tonight, with just one week
left before
the highly anticipated
premiere of Season Nine
of The Curse of Oak Island,
we'll be counting down
the top ten finds
the Fellowship has made
so far...
that indicate Rick,
Marty and the team
are closer than ever
to the ultimate answers.
♪ ♪
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
When Daniel McGinnis, John
Smith, and Anthony Vaughan
discovered the Money Pit
back in 1795,
they had no idea that they had
uncovered a worldwide phenomenon
that would impact millions
of people from that day forward.
The generations of searchers
that followed over
the next two centuries
would keep Oak Island on the map
as an attraction
and mysterious destination
where something of value
may have once been hidden.
But over the years, with
no major discovery of treasure...
Despite numerous large-scale
digging and drilling operations,
skepticism began to grow.
It seemed quite
fantastical growing up.
And, um, it was alluring,
the idea
that there
was treasure so nearby.
And people who made
the quest were considered
somewhat eccentric
and, uh, out of the ordinary.
Perhaps a little out there.
At first, I think locally
we thought it was a big joke.
You know, that type of thing.
There was a lot
of skepticism before,
and that, that's
kind of ingrained
in the, in the families.
They didn't find anything
in the past.
They're not gonna
find anything now.
But with the fact
that they're seeing
on the show,
the artifacts we're finding,
the structures
that we're finding.
We're bringing in these experts.
That has changed completely.
It's done a complete 180
in the local belief
about this island.
I think that people are much
more openminded as to
what actually is there anymore.
What it is we're looking for
and what significance it is,
has-has grown
over the course of time.
Now it could be there.
Like, it just could be.
Well, Rick, there you have it.
You and Marty and the team
must be pretty gratified to hear
just how much faith
you're restoring in people.
It's more than gratifying,
it's humbling.
The people of Nova Scotia
and indeed
the people of the world continue
to encourage us to search
for answers to the mystery.
But for me, what's
really the most gratifying
is that they
have actually bought into
the story of Oak Island
every bit as much
as the treasure cache.
Well, you know what?
Treasure cache.
That's actually a perfect segue
to our first sign of treasure
on our countdown,
so well done, buddy.
- I thought you might like that.
- I did.
RICK: Number ten:
The Chinese Cash Coin.
Okay. Let's keep going then.
MATTY: Just last year in Season
Eight, while detecting on Lot 15
between the swamp
and the Money Pit,
metal-detection expert
Gary Drayton and Jack Begley
made a find that made all
the medieval things
the team has uncovered...
look modern.
- (beeping)
- It just sounds so good.
- (whining)
- Just there.
(beeping)
Come to papa. Where you hiding?
- I see it!
- Ooh!
Oh! No way!
GARY: That's a little
beauty, look at that.
- That's an old coin, mate.
- Oh, yeah!
That is an old coin!
MATTY: As usual,
Gary's intuition was correct,
but even he
was stunned by the analysis
conducted by rare
and ancient coins expert
Sandy Campbell.
- Let's see what we have.
- Okay.
It clearly is
a Chinese cash coin.
OK.
Wow.
You know, it could be
11, 12, 1,300
years old or even older.
RICK:
Wow.
Billy, as a key member
of the Fellowship,
I wanted to get your
take on this.
Sure, Matty.
You know, I think when
the Oak Island mystery first
began in 1795,
most people assumed it was just
17th or 18th century pirates
that buried treasure here.
Matty, what would explain
a coin... a Chinese coin
that dates over 1,300 years ago?
Totally, right. And that
sets us up perfectly for our
next top Fellowship find
that you made,
and that also provided
some incredible clues.
- We have a boatload of them.
- (laughs)
I see what you did there.
Well done, Billy!
Number nine: The Ship's Railing.
Billy, can you do
right about there?
- Yup. Yup.
- Okay.
MATTY: While digging near
the southern border
of the triangle-shaped swamp
also during Season Eight,
Billy, Doug Crowell
and other members of the team
made a discovery that they
knew right away was curious
but had no idea how significant
it would prove to be.
DOUG: Is that a piece
of cut wood there?
Or is that the corner of a rock?
Is that cut wood or not?
Or just did I split it
with the bucket?
It might be. I'll go get it.
Oh, look, they got something.
Oh, look at that.
What have you got?
It looks like
a piece of finished wood.
It seems like
a pretty solid piece of wood.
That's beautiful actually.
MATTY:
Beautiful, indeed.
In fact, it's the first
piece of wood the team has
found that could qualify
as a bobby-dazzler.
- Hey, guys.
- BOTH: Hey.
So, this came up
from quite a depth.
I mean, it looks to be quite a-a
uniquely finished piece of wood.
You put your hand
around it, Rick,
it has that feel, you know?
What do you think?
You're the guy to ask.
This looks like
a finished piece of wood.
This is out of place down there
for sure.
It looks like railing.
It looks like ship's railing.
And it looks...
kind of a square hole there
as well, which is a good sign.
So there would have been
a square fastener there,
making it old,
if it's an old iron fastener.
- RICK: Very cool. Very cool.
- GARY: Yup.
The swamp has been, probably,
the most interesting
physical feature on the island.
The swamp is proving to be
an interesting part
of the Oak Island mystery.
In fact, it may be
a mystery unto itself.
I am certainly glad
that we stayed the course.
Good eyes.
Top-pocket find.
(laughter)
MATTY:
One of the greatest attributes
that Rick, Marty, Craig,
and the Fellowship have
brought to the search is
the application of science.
And I got to be there
in person with the team
when Craig delivered
the carbon testing analysis
that proved just how
meaningful this piece
of ship's railing could be
to solving the mystery.
You know, right
towards the end of the year,
they came up
with a piece of wood
that-that we thought was
a ship's railing.
And it was down
about ten feet deep,
about the deepest thing
we found in the swamp.
So we tested it and retested it.
The date was 660 to 770 AD.
(laughs)
I'm sorry.
I'm almost speechless.
We have a railing that's
fluted from the six to 800s.
Like, that's amazing!
There's no post-770 number?
- No.
- Even a small percentage after that?
No, this is the earliest thing
we've found.
What the hell happened
on this island?
What the hell
happened on this island?
You know, Gary, when you look at
the kind of totality of all
the team's finds, it's hard
for me not to believe there are
multiple operations happening
here over a long period of time.
- What's-what's your take on that?
- I agree, Matty.
I think people have been
depositing treasure
on this island for centuries.
And our finds tell us that.
And, I think
it's still here, mate.
Wow, really?
That-That's actually perfect.
Do you, do you want to queue up
our next top Fellowship find?
You "red" my mind, Matty.
"Red." Oh, that's good.
That's really good.
(beeping, blipping)
GARY: Number eight:
The Garnet Brooch.
'Cause I've got
a good digger with me.
MATTY: While searching
on Lot 8 during Season Five,
Gary Drayton and Rick Lagina
uncovered an object
that suggested they just might
be close to hitting the jackpot.
(metal detector whining)
I was going slow enough
to detect
a good target next to the iron.
(beeping)
That was weird... look.
Look at this, Rick.
We've got it!
We got it... there was
a bit of metal in the thingy.
- Look at that, that's a beauty!
- Oh, wow. Look at that.
- That's beautiful.
- That bloody well is, isn't it?
Wow.
Look at how many facets on that.
GARY:
That is a bobby-dazzler.
- That's gorgeous.
- Now we know
why we always recheck
the hole, don't we?
- Look at that.
- Oh, man.
We just found a jewel.
MATTY:
For Rick, who had dreamt
of finding treasure on
Oak Island since his childhood,
it was something he had
to share right away
- with Marty and the others.
- All right, all right.
He's grinning
like a Cheshire cat.
What have you got?
GARY:
We found a jewel.
- MARTY: Wow.
- JACK: Oh, man.
CHARLES:
Way to go, Gary.
It's not every day you find
a jewel on Oak Island.
CHARLES:
Absolutely.
- Now you can't do the gold dance, can you?
- No.
Let's see the ruby dance.
(laughter)
In the moment,
I was very excited about it.
That would be
the first real treasure
found on Oak Island.
A gemstone, a significant...
He thought three-carat gemstone.
Might-might open
all kinds of doors up.
I don't know what to say, Gary.
Well done, for sure,
very well done.
Yeah, pretty cool.
Well, this needs to get
to a jeweler, ASAP.
MATTY: And the following spring,
that's exactly what they did
when they visited renowned
gemologist, Charles Lewton-Brain
at the Alberta College
of Art and Design.
LEWTON-BRAIN:
We have a large red gem.
Okay, so I placed the, uh, gem
into the video microscope.
You can see the facets...
They don't meet perfectly.
- Yeah. - Mm-hmm.
- And, so, definitely hand-cut.
Not machine-cut. And...
definitive handmade...
Not modern.
When you say "not modern"?
At least... um, 500 years.
We do have a lot
of surface damage.
Perhaps we should look
at the other microscope.
And there's cracks, and grooves.
But they're sharp cracks
and grooves.
- Is that good or bad?
- It's good.
Well, if you want it to be
a gemstone, it's good.
But I would say
so far consistent
with garnet.
It's a pretty stone.
Good.
We've got us a gemstone.
- Yes, you do.
- (laughter)
MATTY: A gemstone
brooch found on Oak Island,
dating back 500 years or more.
It may not be as old
as the Chinese coin
or the ship's railing
found in the swamp,
but it is something
even more compelling.
It's a piece of treasure.
Just like the next
find that made our list.
- RICK: Let's see what we find.
- GARY: Right.
Let's go, lucky digger.
MATTY: Right before they made
their trip to Alberta to have
the garnet stone analyzed,
Gary and Rick were back at it
making another historic
and valuable discovery.
You never,
ever know what's gonna
come out of your next hole.
What do I always say?
Just win, baby,
change your whole day.
- Here we go.
- (whining)
Still sounding good,
still looking good.
Number seven:
The Gold-Plated Brooch.
Oh, my gosh!
It's another bobby-dazzler!
Look!
- That's a stone!
- It's a brooch.
It's a bloody brooch,
look at that.
That's a gem.
RICK:
That's red, too.
We did it again!
MATTY: Finding another
bobby-dazzler was obviously
a huge moment for Gary and Rick.
In fact, it began
their new shared moniker
as "The Brooch Brothers."
But when Rick's brother
Marty brought it to
Saint Mary's University with
his son Alex and Craig Tester,
they found out that it
upped the treasure ante.
CHRISTA:
Very nice.
- MARTY: Pretty, isn't it?
- Yeah.
Where did you guys find this?
MARTY: Kind of the
western end of the island.
It's in really good condition.
Have a look and we'll see
what your machine says.
Now is there any manganese
in what you're seeing there?
CHRISTA:
No, that's just copper.
Zinc. Typical brass.
MARTY:
What are the lighter spots?
So the dark area here
is pure copper.
That's interesting.
But...
- the bright area?
- Yeah?
- Gold.
- That's gold.
Well, how about that?
Gary can go do his gold dance.
He found some gold.
- You've definitely struck gold.
- (laughs)
We struck gold!
Yeah,
I guess I'd have to say
that's the first piece of
verified gold
found on the island.
- That's a first for us, right?
- The first for us,
for sure. I think this
would be considered
actual treasure.
- Yeah.
- All right.
Okay, yeah.
MARTY:
The brooch that was
found is motivating and exciting
'cause it's a real
piece of treasure.
You just can't deny that.
It's a piece of treasure,
in the elaborate setting
found on Oak Island. This is
just the tip of the iceberg.
There is more that awaits us.
Well, here's the deal.
- We found treasure on Oak Island!
- Yeah, we did.
- (whoops)
- And it's been...
(whoops)
And we've proven it right here
- in this lab today.
- Excellent.
- So that's pretty cool.
- That's not bad.
I mean, yeah.
That's a pretty good day.
Well, Jack, I'm glad to be
talking with you specifically
about these next
top Fellowship finds,
because not only
did you find them,
but they also suggest something
very intriguing
about what might be
in the Oak Island treasure,
right?
Yeah, originally, you know,
I'm washing
through the Money Pit spoils,
you're looking
for gold or silver coins,
maybe some jewels
or stones, but...
what I found on the table,
I feel,
- could be more profound.
- Wow.
JACK: Number six:
Bookbinding and Parchment.
Well, I need your eyes, Dan.
Yeah. Well, I got them today.
MATTY:
During Season Five,
Jack Begley and Dan Henskee
took on a special project to
carefully clean and sift
through the vast spoils
that had been
excavated from Borehole H-8.
It turned out to be more
than worthwhile as they made
two incredible discoveries
that may share
an important connection.
Oh, what do you think this is?
This, uh, seems to be cut here.
JACK: Mm-hmm.
So it's not natural, I'd say.
No, it's, it's about
the right thickness,
uh, for shoe leather actually.
It's got an interesting
surface pattern there.
JACK:
Yeah. Yeah, it does.
- Yeah.
- You can still see the imprint.
MATTY: A piece of
leather is what they found,
but not from a shoe
as the discovery they made next
would soon help to reveal.
What is this?
From this distance,
that looks a little different
from some of the stuff.
- It is.
- Hmm.
What do you think that is, Dan?
Looks like more plastic
to me, but...
No, it's not plastic.
It's almost paper-like.
And it kind of looks like
it could be some old parchment.
MATTY: When Rick, Marty
and Craig met once again
with Doctors Brosseau and Yang
at Saint Mary's University,
they were stunned to learn
that they had added
some physical evidence to one
of Oak Island's
most persistent theories...
CHRISTA: All right,
so this is a tiny sample.
That at least part
of the treasure
in the Money Pit could
be priceless documents.
CHRISTA:
So it's almost like the leather
and the textile were bound
together for some reason.
Traditionally one reason
would have been to create
a bookbinding.
MATTY: The idea that
precious documents were buried
in the Money Pit
first arose in 1897
after Frederick Blair
and William Chappell
drilled into what they believed
to be a vault
at a depth of 153 feet
and discovered the infamous
scrap of parchment
bearing the letters "V-I."
But now,
after discovering not only
more parchment,
but also bookbinding,
the possibility that
something truly historic
lies buried on Oak Island
is more tangible than ever.
I've always said,
or always believed,
that what's here on Oak Island
is not just temporal wealth.
That it's, there's something
other than that here, and,
you know,
is it ancient knowledge?
I mean, I don't know,
but what is bookbinding
material doing
at those depths
in the Money Pit?
I mean, I find that to be
more than intriguing...
It's fascinating.
And I think,
I'm hopeful that there are
documents down there.
Ah, it's a great day for finding
- treasure, right, Marty?
- Every day is a great day
- for finding treasure, Matty Blake.
- That's true.
You know, we've been
highlighting how the Fellowship
has renewed the world's faith
that the Oak Island mystery
is true, but for a time,
I think you were
the skeptical one, right?
Rick was the man of faith.
Fair to say, you needed proof?
Way more than fair to say.
I-I needed proof because
I was genuinely skeptical.
- And I needed to find that.
- Hmm.
Well, that's why
this next top find
was so crucial to you, right?
It was absolutely
crucial in the moment.
It was one of several that
started to move the dial for me.
Well, let's move the dial
to that find.
- How about that?
- Yes, sir.
MARTY:
Number five: The Slipway.
RICK: We're going to let
him just kind of peel this away.
And then we'll hopefully
expose it to some degree.
LAIRD:
Pull up. Billy!
That's a timber right there.
ALEX:
Wow.
There's another beam
right there.
Right here?
That's odd.
MATTY: In 2018, Rick, Marty
and Craig surrounded Smith's Cove
with a massive steel cofferdam
in the hopes of finding
important clues and also in
an attempt to shut off
the flood traps believed to feed
seawater into the Money Pit.
- There.
- There is another piece.
- There is another piece there?
- Yeah.
RICK:
Look at all of those logs.
This is quite different
from what we've
encountered down there.
Well, the logs are
basically rollers, if you will.
It's like a slipway.
That kind of signifies
there's quite a load.
Or quite a load expected.
This could be a wharf.
MATTY: What they had found
was indeed a wharf or slipway.
The questions that arose were:
who built it and when?
MARTY: Guys, this is the part
of the war room meetings
I really like. We've got
some information, some results.
MATTY: To answer at least one
of those burning questions,
the team sent a sample
to climate scientist
Dr. Colin Laroque to
perform dendrochronology on it.
This cutting-edge
testing method, also known
as tree-ring dating,
can precisely identify
when the wood was
originally cut down
for use in construction.
CRAIG: Sample number
seven is a slipway.
It's a north arm
on the east end.
COLIN: So, the slipway... it
was, we believe, red spruce...
It's reminiscent to some
of the samples we did in
other areas of Halifax.
We had a fairly strong date on...
And that's 1771.
- Wow.
- It is original features.
- Yep.
- Predates the Money Pit.
- Yes.
- RICK: This is quite impressive.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Hey, Colin, how accurate of, uh,
- a list do you have that you can compare it to?
- Right.
So, something like sample eight,
we're at probably 99.999% sure
that it sort of ends
in that 1770 time.
Wow.
For me, this is
the biggest thing
that's happened since
we started this quest.
It's amazing...
I was about to say to Rick,
turn to him and say, look,
it's time to turn this island
over from the archaeologist
to the psychiatrist because...
(both laugh)
- First time I've heard that.
- Because...
because this isn't
making any sense!
And then, at the eleventh hour,
we find out
something very significant
happened here
25 to 30 years
prior to the discovery
of the Money Pit.
And it's in Smith's Cove.
To me, that's gigantic.
MATTY: So, Alex, we're
here in this beautiful
tropical Smith's Cove
area again.
Yeah, it's a beautiful day.
Uh, we're here not only
because the next
top Fellowship find
was made here,
but also it might mean
something really special to
the Oak Island mystery, right?
Yeah, we all certainly
relish that possibility.
Uh, because we're not just
looking for the treasure...
Potentially vast treasure...
But we want to find out
who did it,
who put it here, and why?
So... finds like this
really make us wonder just how
incredible the Oak Island
story really could be.
And it really pushes us
to keep looking
and keep following the evidence
wherever it takes us.
That's great.
ALEX:
Number four: The Lead Cross.
- (beeping)
- That's worth digging, Rick.
MATTY: During Season Five,
the Brooch Brothers were trying
their luck at Smith's Cove,
which didn't get off
to the best of starts.
(groans)
Typical find on the beach.
Bottle cap.
MATTY:
But a moment later,
they made one
of the most important
finds in Oak Island history.
- (whining)
- Another one here, Rick.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa!
What?
- I don't see anything.
- I see something.
- Holy...
- Holy schmoly, all right.
- RICK: It's a cross.
- GARY: That's a cross.
When I first saw it, I thought
that looks like medieval.
A medieval cross.
I would say that is
somewhere in between 1200
and 1600.
I've seen that shape before,
I swear that'll
- tell the tale how old it is, that shape.
- Yeah.
Where do you think you've
seen it before?
When I was in France,
I saw a carving like that
in the Templar prison in Domme.
MATTY: One of the most
romantic theories
that preceded Rick, Marty and
Craig's tenure on Oak Island,
is that the medieval European
order of warrior monks
known as the Knights Templar
were behind
the Oak Island treasure mystery.
In fact, even the indigenous
Mi'kmaq people in Nova Scotia
have a legend that in 1398,
a Templar Knight
named Prince Henry Sinclair
arrived on their shores
with massive ships
and came to be
worshipped as a god,
known as Glooscap.
Well, how's this
for eerie coincidences?
Just one week
before he found the cross
on Oak Island with Gary,
Rick was in Domme, France,
with Alex and his other
nephew Peter
investigating the long-believed
Templar connection.
Wow.
MATTY: And while visiting
a 14th-century prison
where members of the order
were once held captive,
they were shown
genuine Templar carvings.
RICK:
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.
MATTY: One of the hundreds
of carvings they saw that day
was an identical match
to the lead cross
unearthed at Smith's Cove.
RICK:
So, Jack, if you can, uh,
ring Tobias up?
MATTY: Rick was already
confident that he and Gary
made a key find.
But he, along with his brother
and Craig,
also knew they needed
to apply some objective science
- to be sure.
- Hello, Tobias.
Hi, guys.
MATTY: For that,
they turned to geochemist
Tobias Skowronek,
who analyzed
the lead isotope composition
of the cross to find out
where and when it came from.
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.
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.
MARTY: But where the heck
did it come from?
The data of the cross is
very consistent
with the area
of Southern France.
Fantastic!
Look at him. Look at him.
(laughter, clamoring)
- Grinning like a Cheshire cat over there.
- I knew it.
That's fantastic.
So, Tom,
the finding of the lead cross
was like a lightning bolt
that just ignited the island.
I mean, for the first time,
you had tangible evidence
that there just might be
a connection between the
Knights Templar and Oak Island.
What could
possibly top that find?
That was an incredible find
for Rick and Gary.
And it puts us in
a certain time period that could
be bringing us closer
to what happened in the swamp.
So, maybe the swamp could really
tell us when this mystery began.
And who knows,
this next top-pocket find
in here could be the answer.
It could bring it all together.
Number three: The Paved Area.
MATTY: One year after
discovering the cross,
the team once again drained
the swamp and conducted
a massive excavation
to investigate the theory
long held by
the late Fred Nolan that
the swamp was man-made.
It resulted
in a discovery that not only
validated Fred,
but also once again pointed
to possible Templar activity.
- Look at that.
- Huh.
Isn't that remarkable?
TOM:
Yeah.
RICK:
Tell me that's natural.
Oh. There's no way
that's natural, Rick.
Look at it... it's just
layered right on top.
RICK:
And it's so uniform.
TOM: It's just perfect.
I've seen some strange
things in the swamp,
but this is...
I don't know. I don't know
how you explain this.
I don't, either.
This stick will tell me
when that stone was placed.
If you date the stick,
you know when that happened.
MATTY: Now the hard
part of finding stone features
on the island is
that you can't date stone.
However, you can
date organic materials
found within them,
which is exactly what
geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner did.
The results were
nothing short of astonishing.
IAN: So, do you remember
that squished stick?
There's the dates we're getting.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- What are they?
- Around...
1200 AD.
Medieval.
Medieval, baby.
So, Dr. Spooner,
you've had plenty of time now to
kind of contextualize the data
you've pulled from the swamp.
As a geoscientist,
what's your reaction to it?
Matty, I thought
I'd come out here,
uh, take a few cores, some
organic material, have some fun.
Uh, I had no idea
that this would be
the next top find
and basically, uh, prove that
this swamp has been
profoundly influenced by people.
I think you've
definitely shown that.
And-and where does this next
top find lead us, right?
Exactly.
MATTY:
Number two: The Stone Wharf.
Big drop-off.
Right here.
- It's like a wall. Yeah.
- That's fantastic.
MATTY: It began when Dr. Spooner
launched an investigation
of the southeastern
corner of the brackish bog.
That's great news.
I've-I've always
felt there's something
- weird about this swamp.
- Right.
MATTY: But what he first thought
might be a wall of some kind,
was soon revealed to be
something much more telling.
I didn't expect to see this.
(tapping)
- Do you hear that?
- Yeah.
There's rock here.
- That could be it.
- Yeah.
It is my belief, at least
my initial belief, that it is
a road or a pathway
or a platform.
So what is it doing
two or three feet down
in the swamp?
I don't, I don't know.
But that's
what makes this structure
incredibly interesting,
the why of it.
MATTY:
The swamp was drained
and the Fellowship carefully
uncovered the feature,
leading to another moment
where any lingering skepticism
for Marty Lagina was vanquished.
MARTY:
Wow.
RICK:
It's quite impressive.
MARTY:
It's incredibly impressive.
Stand right there
and you'll get a real
- good perspective.
- Unbelievable.
MATTY: The fact that this
wharf... which Dr. Spooner
determined to be
at least 300 years old...
Was completely
contained within the swamp,
could only mean one thing... that
the swamp is a man-made feature.
- Hi, guys.
- Hey, Marty.
How do you
like your swamp expressway?
This is really cool.
- Yeah.
- I mean, this is mondo-cool.
- Yeah.
- It's impressive.
That looks exactly like
an old Roman road.
AARON:
It's possible, you know.
It indicates probably a loading
or unloading from a ship.
But the mystery
is where it's going.
- Yeah.
- And it's going there, rather than there.
I want to know where it's going.
Is a right angle occurring here?
- Do you think?
- AARON: Looks like a nice curve.
It means, to me, that something
rather massive
was occurring well
before the discovery
of the Money Pit on Oak Island.
Could it be an indirect
indicator of treasure? Yes.
Because why go to all this
expense and construct this
road that seems to have
been constructed to be hidden?
MATTY: Speaking of
indicators of treasure,
as the Fellowship slowly
uncovered more of the wharf,
it led to even more
amazing discoveries.
Wow.
(laughter)
GARY:
Oh, wow, indeed.
MATTY: These included
iron ringbolts, possibly used
for unloading and transporting
heavy cargo onto the island.
Oh, look at that.
Check that out.
Cask!
MATTY: Pieces of wooden keg
barrels dating back to as early
as the 15th century!
Definitely rocky.
Yeah, big stones here.
Something was built here
as far as I'm concerned.
MATTY: And amazingly,
a cobblestone pathway
leading away from the swamp
into the uplands
and potentially to the location
where the Oak Island mystery
began 226 years ago.
RICK: Please tell me
you've found the road.
I'm confident we found the road.
And what leads you to that?
Behind us here we have
what I'm fairly certain is
part of the road or pathway.
It's got definite boundaries.
It's cobblestone.
It's about nine feet in width,
which is close to what
the swamp path road has been.
It's heading up this way and...
towards the Money Pit.
It is giving a sense that it's
going in that general direction.
The road may be heading
towards the Money Pit.
Of course, that's-that's...
that's important!
It's critical to try
to connect these areas
that are significant
in terms of solving the mystery.
That is the real aha moment.
Rick, Charles, you know I
was thinking, if the Fellowship
has established anything
and it's established a lot,
but one thing for sure
is that all roads, especially
cobblestone ones lead right
here to the Money Pit area.
It's quite incredible.
- No question.
- That's right.
But it was right here
that you made your top find.
Charles, you marked this
back in 2015, Borehole C-1.
What made you believe that
something incredible
might be found here?
As you know, because of searcher
activity, the Money Pit
has been lost for over 100
years, but based on historical
research and my belief
that the Money Pit has always
been farther to the north,
hence we have C-1.
So, all we can do is try.
You know, Matty,
kudos to Charles for picking
this location but it is
certainly well and truly
a fine example of how
the Fellowship operates.
Different people,
different skill sets,
different perspectives.
And I think
this is the top find.
And, hopefully,
it will lead to many more.
Well, it is
the top find in our list.
So, congratulations, Charles,
and congratulations, Rick.
CHARLES: Number one:
Silver in the Money Pit.
MATTY: Now according
to the historical record,
over the generations,
different searcher companies
have made a number
of finds that suggest
there could be treasure
deep in the Money Pit.
For instance, in 1849,
members of the Truro Company
drilled down
into what they believed were
two stacked wooden chests
at a depth of nearly 100 feet.
They also described
that the drill seems to be
penetrating through pieces
of metal in both containers.
However,
constant flooding during
the follow-up digs
to retrieve them
caused a catastrophic collapse
of the Money Pit in 1861.
Then, as we know,
nearly three decades later,
treasure hunters Frederick Blair
and William Chappell
drilled into a believed
seven-foot-tall vault,
encased in concrete
and discovered the mysterious
scrap of parchment and remnants
of gold on their drill bit.
But more flooding
from the legendary booby traps
drowned those efforts
and hopes, as well.
Here we are,
digging in the Money Pit.
MATTY: Enter Rick,
Marty, Craig and the other
members
of the Fellowship of the Dig.
That is wood... we're probably
at the edge of a tunnel.
There's a chunk there.
And we've done this
consistently over six holes.
MATTY: Over the past
decade, this team has drilled
more than 100 boreholes...
- MARTY: It's time to dig!
- And dug nine massive
steel-cased shafts attempting
to verify
those incredible historic
tales of treasure
in the Money Pit.
We saw them find
more pieces of parchment,
a gold-plated button...
and even video footage
of numerous gold-colored objects
more than 170 feet underground.
But up until the fall of 2021,
any verifiable evidence
of treasure
had eluded them, as well.
TERRY: Not really any wood
that we were hoping to run into.
CHARLES:
The clock is ticking.
- We're running out of time.
- Exactly.
MARTY:
Hey, guys.
- Hello!
- MATTY: That's when geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner came up
with a revolutionary plan.
So, the idea is to look at water
down drill holes that exist.
- Okay.
- 'Cause the water in those wells
should reflect the chemistry
- of the ground that they interact with.
- Mm-hmm.
Well, how would we identify
whether or not
there was treasure?
I absolutely love
this idea of Dr. Spooner's.
If there's a massive amount
of metal down there somewhere,
it should be leaching
into the waters.
Let's test it for the very
things which we seek.
- Are we ready?
- We are ready.
So, we'll get our equipment
and we'll head over.
- And then we'll go and get our sample. Good.
- Okay.
MATTY:
Working with team members,
as well as chemist
Dr. Matt Lukeman,
Dr. Spooner took samples
from numerous boreholes
and shafts that
the team had previously dug.
It would lead to the greatest
scientific discovery
in Oak Island history.
IAN: So I-I've got
one question to ask.
Do you think there is
treasure in the Money Pit?
Ooh, I like that lead-in.
(laughter)
No, you know, I'm serious.
- Do I?
- Yeah.
Small chance.
I do. I absolutely do.
I believe that what they
drilled into in 1897 is real.
- Right.
- And I think it's still there.
Right. So, Doug,
can you bring, uh,
bring up the presentation?
I can.
Great.
There is
every reason to believe,
down in those holes
that there is something
close by that contains
a very large amount of
silver.
I guess I'm still trying to get
a mental picture of how much
silver it would take
to give these levels.
Like, is it a handful of silver,
or is it a Gerhardt
dump truck load of silver?
It's a Gerhardt dump truck.
MARTY:
Oh, baby!
(laughter, clamoring)
Excellent. Excellent data
and, honestly, really exciting.
You know,
first direct indication
of the metals we seek and-and
the story they might tell.
RICK: I've said it
before... I think the story
of what happened here
is the real treasure.
And I think we've made
significant progress.
Are we closer to finding
an actual, physical treasure?
TERRY: We got a shaft here
and maybe it's the Money Pit!
RICK: I think the clues are
adding up that ultimately,
we'll get either ourselves there
or someone there.
All of these finds
made by the Fellowship
have not only reinvigorated
a worldwide intrigue
for the Oak Island mystery.
They've also provided a "silver
lining" that an extraordinary
treasure is here,
just waiting to be revealed.
We hope you've enjoyed
our countdown, but from what
I'm hearing, when Season Nine
begins in just one short week,
we're gonna have
to update this list.
Thanks for watching.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
Oak Island has been home
to a fascinating
treasure mystery.
And although many compelling
reports have surfaced
over the generations
about evidence of treasure,
booby-trapped flood tunnels
and even a large stone bearing
a carved message saying
"Forty feet below,
two million pounds are buried."
Most of that is all anecdotal,
with no hard evidence
to verify any of it.
- Look at that, that's a beauty!
- Oh, wow. Look at that.
GARY:
That is a bobby-dazzler.
MATTY: Well, over
the last eight seasons of
- The Curse of Oak Island...
- It might be actually gold.
- The world has seen for itself...
- Whoa!
As Rick and Marty Lagina
and their team have made
- discovery after discovery...
- I believe this is a coin.
Suggesting that something of
incredible importance happened
on Oak Island that may rewrite
North American history...
Holy schmoly, all right.
- It's a cross.
- That's a cross.
And that there is
something of great value
still hidden deep
in the Money Pit.
- Look at that.
- Yes!
So tonight, with just one week
left before
the highly anticipated
premiere of Season Nine
of The Curse of Oak Island,
we'll be counting down
the top ten finds
the Fellowship has made
so far...
that indicate Rick,
Marty and the team
are closer than ever
to the ultimate answers.
♪ ♪
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
When Daniel McGinnis, John
Smith, and Anthony Vaughan
discovered the Money Pit
back in 1795,
they had no idea that they had
uncovered a worldwide phenomenon
that would impact millions
of people from that day forward.
The generations of searchers
that followed over
the next two centuries
would keep Oak Island on the map
as an attraction
and mysterious destination
where something of value
may have once been hidden.
But over the years, with
no major discovery of treasure...
Despite numerous large-scale
digging and drilling operations,
skepticism began to grow.
It seemed quite
fantastical growing up.
And, um, it was alluring,
the idea
that there
was treasure so nearby.
And people who made
the quest were considered
somewhat eccentric
and, uh, out of the ordinary.
Perhaps a little out there.
At first, I think locally
we thought it was a big joke.
You know, that type of thing.
There was a lot
of skepticism before,
and that, that's
kind of ingrained
in the, in the families.
They didn't find anything
in the past.
They're not gonna
find anything now.
But with the fact
that they're seeing
on the show,
the artifacts we're finding,
the structures
that we're finding.
We're bringing in these experts.
That has changed completely.
It's done a complete 180
in the local belief
about this island.
I think that people are much
more openminded as to
what actually is there anymore.
What it is we're looking for
and what significance it is,
has-has grown
over the course of time.
Now it could be there.
Like, it just could be.
Well, Rick, there you have it.
You and Marty and the team
must be pretty gratified to hear
just how much faith
you're restoring in people.
It's more than gratifying,
it's humbling.
The people of Nova Scotia
and indeed
the people of the world continue
to encourage us to search
for answers to the mystery.
But for me, what's
really the most gratifying
is that they
have actually bought into
the story of Oak Island
every bit as much
as the treasure cache.
Well, you know what?
Treasure cache.
That's actually a perfect segue
to our first sign of treasure
on our countdown,
so well done, buddy.
- I thought you might like that.
- I did.
RICK: Number ten:
The Chinese Cash Coin.
Okay. Let's keep going then.
MATTY: Just last year in Season
Eight, while detecting on Lot 15
between the swamp
and the Money Pit,
metal-detection expert
Gary Drayton and Jack Begley
made a find that made all
the medieval things
the team has uncovered...
look modern.
- (beeping)
- It just sounds so good.
- (whining)
- Just there.
(beeping)
Come to papa. Where you hiding?
- I see it!
- Ooh!
Oh! No way!
GARY: That's a little
beauty, look at that.
- That's an old coin, mate.
- Oh, yeah!
That is an old coin!
MATTY: As usual,
Gary's intuition was correct,
but even he
was stunned by the analysis
conducted by rare
and ancient coins expert
Sandy Campbell.
- Let's see what we have.
- Okay.
It clearly is
a Chinese cash coin.
OK.
Wow.
You know, it could be
11, 12, 1,300
years old or even older.
RICK:
Wow.
Billy, as a key member
of the Fellowship,
I wanted to get your
take on this.
Sure, Matty.
You know, I think when
the Oak Island mystery first
began in 1795,
most people assumed it was just
17th or 18th century pirates
that buried treasure here.
Matty, what would explain
a coin... a Chinese coin
that dates over 1,300 years ago?
Totally, right. And that
sets us up perfectly for our
next top Fellowship find
that you made,
and that also provided
some incredible clues.
- We have a boatload of them.
- (laughs)
I see what you did there.
Well done, Billy!
Number nine: The Ship's Railing.
Billy, can you do
right about there?
- Yup. Yup.
- Okay.
MATTY: While digging near
the southern border
of the triangle-shaped swamp
also during Season Eight,
Billy, Doug Crowell
and other members of the team
made a discovery that they
knew right away was curious
but had no idea how significant
it would prove to be.
DOUG: Is that a piece
of cut wood there?
Or is that the corner of a rock?
Is that cut wood or not?
Or just did I split it
with the bucket?
It might be. I'll go get it.
Oh, look, they got something.
Oh, look at that.
What have you got?
It looks like
a piece of finished wood.
It seems like
a pretty solid piece of wood.
That's beautiful actually.
MATTY:
Beautiful, indeed.
In fact, it's the first
piece of wood the team has
found that could qualify
as a bobby-dazzler.
- Hey, guys.
- BOTH: Hey.
So, this came up
from quite a depth.
I mean, it looks to be quite a-a
uniquely finished piece of wood.
You put your hand
around it, Rick,
it has that feel, you know?
What do you think?
You're the guy to ask.
This looks like
a finished piece of wood.
This is out of place down there
for sure.
It looks like railing.
It looks like ship's railing.
And it looks...
kind of a square hole there
as well, which is a good sign.
So there would have been
a square fastener there,
making it old,
if it's an old iron fastener.
- RICK: Very cool. Very cool.
- GARY: Yup.
The swamp has been, probably,
the most interesting
physical feature on the island.
The swamp is proving to be
an interesting part
of the Oak Island mystery.
In fact, it may be
a mystery unto itself.
I am certainly glad
that we stayed the course.
Good eyes.
Top-pocket find.
(laughter)
MATTY:
One of the greatest attributes
that Rick, Marty, Craig,
and the Fellowship have
brought to the search is
the application of science.
And I got to be there
in person with the team
when Craig delivered
the carbon testing analysis
that proved just how
meaningful this piece
of ship's railing could be
to solving the mystery.
You know, right
towards the end of the year,
they came up
with a piece of wood
that-that we thought was
a ship's railing.
And it was down
about ten feet deep,
about the deepest thing
we found in the swamp.
So we tested it and retested it.
The date was 660 to 770 AD.
(laughs)
I'm sorry.
I'm almost speechless.
We have a railing that's
fluted from the six to 800s.
Like, that's amazing!
There's no post-770 number?
- No.
- Even a small percentage after that?
No, this is the earliest thing
we've found.
What the hell happened
on this island?
What the hell
happened on this island?
You know, Gary, when you look at
the kind of totality of all
the team's finds, it's hard
for me not to believe there are
multiple operations happening
here over a long period of time.
- What's-what's your take on that?
- I agree, Matty.
I think people have been
depositing treasure
on this island for centuries.
And our finds tell us that.
And, I think
it's still here, mate.
Wow, really?
That-That's actually perfect.
Do you, do you want to queue up
our next top Fellowship find?
You "red" my mind, Matty.
"Red." Oh, that's good.
That's really good.
(beeping, blipping)
GARY: Number eight:
The Garnet Brooch.
'Cause I've got
a good digger with me.
MATTY: While searching
on Lot 8 during Season Five,
Gary Drayton and Rick Lagina
uncovered an object
that suggested they just might
be close to hitting the jackpot.
(metal detector whining)
I was going slow enough
to detect
a good target next to the iron.
(beeping)
That was weird... look.
Look at this, Rick.
We've got it!
We got it... there was
a bit of metal in the thingy.
- Look at that, that's a beauty!
- Oh, wow. Look at that.
- That's beautiful.
- That bloody well is, isn't it?
Wow.
Look at how many facets on that.
GARY:
That is a bobby-dazzler.
- That's gorgeous.
- Now we know
why we always recheck
the hole, don't we?
- Look at that.
- Oh, man.
We just found a jewel.
MATTY:
For Rick, who had dreamt
of finding treasure on
Oak Island since his childhood,
it was something he had
to share right away
- with Marty and the others.
- All right, all right.
He's grinning
like a Cheshire cat.
What have you got?
GARY:
We found a jewel.
- MARTY: Wow.
- JACK: Oh, man.
CHARLES:
Way to go, Gary.
It's not every day you find
a jewel on Oak Island.
CHARLES:
Absolutely.
- Now you can't do the gold dance, can you?
- No.
Let's see the ruby dance.
(laughter)
In the moment,
I was very excited about it.
That would be
the first real treasure
found on Oak Island.
A gemstone, a significant...
He thought three-carat gemstone.
Might-might open
all kinds of doors up.
I don't know what to say, Gary.
Well done, for sure,
very well done.
Yeah, pretty cool.
Well, this needs to get
to a jeweler, ASAP.
MATTY: And the following spring,
that's exactly what they did
when they visited renowned
gemologist, Charles Lewton-Brain
at the Alberta College
of Art and Design.
LEWTON-BRAIN:
We have a large red gem.
Okay, so I placed the, uh, gem
into the video microscope.
You can see the facets...
They don't meet perfectly.
- Yeah. - Mm-hmm.
- And, so, definitely hand-cut.
Not machine-cut. And...
definitive handmade...
Not modern.
When you say "not modern"?
At least... um, 500 years.
We do have a lot
of surface damage.
Perhaps we should look
at the other microscope.
And there's cracks, and grooves.
But they're sharp cracks
and grooves.
- Is that good or bad?
- It's good.
Well, if you want it to be
a gemstone, it's good.
But I would say
so far consistent
with garnet.
It's a pretty stone.
Good.
We've got us a gemstone.
- Yes, you do.
- (laughter)
MATTY: A gemstone
brooch found on Oak Island,
dating back 500 years or more.
It may not be as old
as the Chinese coin
or the ship's railing
found in the swamp,
but it is something
even more compelling.
It's a piece of treasure.
Just like the next
find that made our list.
- RICK: Let's see what we find.
- GARY: Right.
Let's go, lucky digger.
MATTY: Right before they made
their trip to Alberta to have
the garnet stone analyzed,
Gary and Rick were back at it
making another historic
and valuable discovery.
You never,
ever know what's gonna
come out of your next hole.
What do I always say?
Just win, baby,
change your whole day.
- Here we go.
- (whining)
Still sounding good,
still looking good.
Number seven:
The Gold-Plated Brooch.
Oh, my gosh!
It's another bobby-dazzler!
Look!
- That's a stone!
- It's a brooch.
It's a bloody brooch,
look at that.
That's a gem.
RICK:
That's red, too.
We did it again!
MATTY: Finding another
bobby-dazzler was obviously
a huge moment for Gary and Rick.
In fact, it began
their new shared moniker
as "The Brooch Brothers."
But when Rick's brother
Marty brought it to
Saint Mary's University with
his son Alex and Craig Tester,
they found out that it
upped the treasure ante.
CHRISTA:
Very nice.
- MARTY: Pretty, isn't it?
- Yeah.
Where did you guys find this?
MARTY: Kind of the
western end of the island.
It's in really good condition.
Have a look and we'll see
what your machine says.
Now is there any manganese
in what you're seeing there?
CHRISTA:
No, that's just copper.
Zinc. Typical brass.
MARTY:
What are the lighter spots?
So the dark area here
is pure copper.
That's interesting.
But...
- the bright area?
- Yeah?
- Gold.
- That's gold.
Well, how about that?
Gary can go do his gold dance.
He found some gold.
- You've definitely struck gold.
- (laughs)
We struck gold!
Yeah,
I guess I'd have to say
that's the first piece of
verified gold
found on the island.
- That's a first for us, right?
- The first for us,
for sure. I think this
would be considered
actual treasure.
- Yeah.
- All right.
Okay, yeah.
MARTY:
The brooch that was
found is motivating and exciting
'cause it's a real
piece of treasure.
You just can't deny that.
It's a piece of treasure,
in the elaborate setting
found on Oak Island. This is
just the tip of the iceberg.
There is more that awaits us.
Well, here's the deal.
- We found treasure on Oak Island!
- Yeah, we did.
- (whoops)
- And it's been...
(whoops)
And we've proven it right here
- in this lab today.
- Excellent.
- So that's pretty cool.
- That's not bad.
I mean, yeah.
That's a pretty good day.
Well, Jack, I'm glad to be
talking with you specifically
about these next
top Fellowship finds,
because not only
did you find them,
but they also suggest something
very intriguing
about what might be
in the Oak Island treasure,
right?
Yeah, originally, you know,
I'm washing
through the Money Pit spoils,
you're looking
for gold or silver coins,
maybe some jewels
or stones, but...
what I found on the table,
I feel,
- could be more profound.
- Wow.
JACK: Number six:
Bookbinding and Parchment.
Well, I need your eyes, Dan.
Yeah. Well, I got them today.
MATTY:
During Season Five,
Jack Begley and Dan Henskee
took on a special project to
carefully clean and sift
through the vast spoils
that had been
excavated from Borehole H-8.
It turned out to be more
than worthwhile as they made
two incredible discoveries
that may share
an important connection.
Oh, what do you think this is?
This, uh, seems to be cut here.
JACK: Mm-hmm.
So it's not natural, I'd say.
No, it's, it's about
the right thickness,
uh, for shoe leather actually.
It's got an interesting
surface pattern there.
JACK:
Yeah. Yeah, it does.
- Yeah.
- You can still see the imprint.
MATTY: A piece of
leather is what they found,
but not from a shoe
as the discovery they made next
would soon help to reveal.
What is this?
From this distance,
that looks a little different
from some of the stuff.
- It is.
- Hmm.
What do you think that is, Dan?
Looks like more plastic
to me, but...
No, it's not plastic.
It's almost paper-like.
And it kind of looks like
it could be some old parchment.
MATTY: When Rick, Marty
and Craig met once again
with Doctors Brosseau and Yang
at Saint Mary's University,
they were stunned to learn
that they had added
some physical evidence to one
of Oak Island's
most persistent theories...
CHRISTA: All right,
so this is a tiny sample.
That at least part
of the treasure
in the Money Pit could
be priceless documents.
CHRISTA:
So it's almost like the leather
and the textile were bound
together for some reason.
Traditionally one reason
would have been to create
a bookbinding.
MATTY: The idea that
precious documents were buried
in the Money Pit
first arose in 1897
after Frederick Blair
and William Chappell
drilled into what they believed
to be a vault
at a depth of 153 feet
and discovered the infamous
scrap of parchment
bearing the letters "V-I."
But now,
after discovering not only
more parchment,
but also bookbinding,
the possibility that
something truly historic
lies buried on Oak Island
is more tangible than ever.
I've always said,
or always believed,
that what's here on Oak Island
is not just temporal wealth.
That it's, there's something
other than that here, and,
you know,
is it ancient knowledge?
I mean, I don't know,
but what is bookbinding
material doing
at those depths
in the Money Pit?
I mean, I find that to be
more than intriguing...
It's fascinating.
And I think,
I'm hopeful that there are
documents down there.
Ah, it's a great day for finding
- treasure, right, Marty?
- Every day is a great day
- for finding treasure, Matty Blake.
- That's true.
You know, we've been
highlighting how the Fellowship
has renewed the world's faith
that the Oak Island mystery
is true, but for a time,
I think you were
the skeptical one, right?
Rick was the man of faith.
Fair to say, you needed proof?
Way more than fair to say.
I-I needed proof because
I was genuinely skeptical.
- And I needed to find that.
- Hmm.
Well, that's why
this next top find
was so crucial to you, right?
It was absolutely
crucial in the moment.
It was one of several that
started to move the dial for me.
Well, let's move the dial
to that find.
- How about that?
- Yes, sir.
MARTY:
Number five: The Slipway.
RICK: We're going to let
him just kind of peel this away.
And then we'll hopefully
expose it to some degree.
LAIRD:
Pull up. Billy!
That's a timber right there.
ALEX:
Wow.
There's another beam
right there.
Right here?
That's odd.
MATTY: In 2018, Rick, Marty
and Craig surrounded Smith's Cove
with a massive steel cofferdam
in the hopes of finding
important clues and also in
an attempt to shut off
the flood traps believed to feed
seawater into the Money Pit.
- There.
- There is another piece.
- There is another piece there?
- Yeah.
RICK:
Look at all of those logs.
This is quite different
from what we've
encountered down there.
Well, the logs are
basically rollers, if you will.
It's like a slipway.
That kind of signifies
there's quite a load.
Or quite a load expected.
This could be a wharf.
MATTY: What they had found
was indeed a wharf or slipway.
The questions that arose were:
who built it and when?
MARTY: Guys, this is the part
of the war room meetings
I really like. We've got
some information, some results.
MATTY: To answer at least one
of those burning questions,
the team sent a sample
to climate scientist
Dr. Colin Laroque to
perform dendrochronology on it.
This cutting-edge
testing method, also known
as tree-ring dating,
can precisely identify
when the wood was
originally cut down
for use in construction.
CRAIG: Sample number
seven is a slipway.
It's a north arm
on the east end.
COLIN: So, the slipway... it
was, we believe, red spruce...
It's reminiscent to some
of the samples we did in
other areas of Halifax.
We had a fairly strong date on...
And that's 1771.
- Wow.
- It is original features.
- Yep.
- Predates the Money Pit.
- Yes.
- RICK: This is quite impressive.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Hey, Colin, how accurate of, uh,
- a list do you have that you can compare it to?
- Right.
So, something like sample eight,
we're at probably 99.999% sure
that it sort of ends
in that 1770 time.
Wow.
For me, this is
the biggest thing
that's happened since
we started this quest.
It's amazing...
I was about to say to Rick,
turn to him and say, look,
it's time to turn this island
over from the archaeologist
to the psychiatrist because...
(both laugh)
- First time I've heard that.
- Because...
because this isn't
making any sense!
And then, at the eleventh hour,
we find out
something very significant
happened here
25 to 30 years
prior to the discovery
of the Money Pit.
And it's in Smith's Cove.
To me, that's gigantic.
MATTY: So, Alex, we're
here in this beautiful
tropical Smith's Cove
area again.
Yeah, it's a beautiful day.
Uh, we're here not only
because the next
top Fellowship find
was made here,
but also it might mean
something really special to
the Oak Island mystery, right?
Yeah, we all certainly
relish that possibility.
Uh, because we're not just
looking for the treasure...
Potentially vast treasure...
But we want to find out
who did it,
who put it here, and why?
So... finds like this
really make us wonder just how
incredible the Oak Island
story really could be.
And it really pushes us
to keep looking
and keep following the evidence
wherever it takes us.
That's great.
ALEX:
Number four: The Lead Cross.
- (beeping)
- That's worth digging, Rick.
MATTY: During Season Five,
the Brooch Brothers were trying
their luck at Smith's Cove,
which didn't get off
to the best of starts.
(groans)
Typical find on the beach.
Bottle cap.
MATTY:
But a moment later,
they made one
of the most important
finds in Oak Island history.
- (whining)
- Another one here, Rick.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa!
What?
- I don't see anything.
- I see something.
- Holy...
- Holy schmoly, all right.
- RICK: It's a cross.
- GARY: That's a cross.
When I first saw it, I thought
that looks like medieval.
A medieval cross.
I would say that is
somewhere in between 1200
and 1600.
I've seen that shape before,
I swear that'll
- tell the tale how old it is, that shape.
- Yeah.
Where do you think you've
seen it before?
When I was in France,
I saw a carving like that
in the Templar prison in Domme.
MATTY: One of the most
romantic theories
that preceded Rick, Marty and
Craig's tenure on Oak Island,
is that the medieval European
order of warrior monks
known as the Knights Templar
were behind
the Oak Island treasure mystery.
In fact, even the indigenous
Mi'kmaq people in Nova Scotia
have a legend that in 1398,
a Templar Knight
named Prince Henry Sinclair
arrived on their shores
with massive ships
and came to be
worshipped as a god,
known as Glooscap.
Well, how's this
for eerie coincidences?
Just one week
before he found the cross
on Oak Island with Gary,
Rick was in Domme, France,
with Alex and his other
nephew Peter
investigating the long-believed
Templar connection.
Wow.
MATTY: And while visiting
a 14th-century prison
where members of the order
were once held captive,
they were shown
genuine Templar carvings.
RICK:
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.
MATTY: One of the hundreds
of carvings they saw that day
was an identical match
to the lead cross
unearthed at Smith's Cove.
RICK:
So, Jack, if you can, uh,
ring Tobias up?
MATTY: Rick was already
confident that he and Gary
made a key find.
But he, along with his brother
and Craig,
also knew they needed
to apply some objective science
- to be sure.
- Hello, Tobias.
Hi, guys.
MATTY: For that,
they turned to geochemist
Tobias Skowronek,
who analyzed
the lead isotope composition
of the cross to find out
where and when it came from.
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.
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.
MARTY: But where the heck
did it come from?
The data of the cross is
very consistent
with the area
of Southern France.
Fantastic!
Look at him. Look at him.
(laughter, clamoring)
- Grinning like a Cheshire cat over there.
- I knew it.
That's fantastic.
So, Tom,
the finding of the lead cross
was like a lightning bolt
that just ignited the island.
I mean, for the first time,
you had tangible evidence
that there just might be
a connection between the
Knights Templar and Oak Island.
What could
possibly top that find?
That was an incredible find
for Rick and Gary.
And it puts us in
a certain time period that could
be bringing us closer
to what happened in the swamp.
So, maybe the swamp could really
tell us when this mystery began.
And who knows,
this next top-pocket find
in here could be the answer.
It could bring it all together.
Number three: The Paved Area.
MATTY: One year after
discovering the cross,
the team once again drained
the swamp and conducted
a massive excavation
to investigate the theory
long held by
the late Fred Nolan that
the swamp was man-made.
It resulted
in a discovery that not only
validated Fred,
but also once again pointed
to possible Templar activity.
- Look at that.
- Huh.
Isn't that remarkable?
TOM:
Yeah.
RICK:
Tell me that's natural.
Oh. There's no way
that's natural, Rick.
Look at it... it's just
layered right on top.
RICK:
And it's so uniform.
TOM: It's just perfect.
I've seen some strange
things in the swamp,
but this is...
I don't know. I don't know
how you explain this.
I don't, either.
This stick will tell me
when that stone was placed.
If you date the stick,
you know when that happened.
MATTY: Now the hard
part of finding stone features
on the island is
that you can't date stone.
However, you can
date organic materials
found within them,
which is exactly what
geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner did.
The results were
nothing short of astonishing.
IAN: So, do you remember
that squished stick?
There's the dates we're getting.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- What are they?
- Around...
1200 AD.
Medieval.
Medieval, baby.
So, Dr. Spooner,
you've had plenty of time now to
kind of contextualize the data
you've pulled from the swamp.
As a geoscientist,
what's your reaction to it?
Matty, I thought
I'd come out here,
uh, take a few cores, some
organic material, have some fun.
Uh, I had no idea
that this would be
the next top find
and basically, uh, prove that
this swamp has been
profoundly influenced by people.
I think you've
definitely shown that.
And-and where does this next
top find lead us, right?
Exactly.
MATTY:
Number two: The Stone Wharf.
Big drop-off.
Right here.
- It's like a wall. Yeah.
- That's fantastic.
MATTY: It began when Dr. Spooner
launched an investigation
of the southeastern
corner of the brackish bog.
That's great news.
I've-I've always
felt there's something
- weird about this swamp.
- Right.
MATTY: But what he first thought
might be a wall of some kind,
was soon revealed to be
something much more telling.
I didn't expect to see this.
(tapping)
- Do you hear that?
- Yeah.
There's rock here.
- That could be it.
- Yeah.
It is my belief, at least
my initial belief, that it is
a road or a pathway
or a platform.
So what is it doing
two or three feet down
in the swamp?
I don't, I don't know.
But that's
what makes this structure
incredibly interesting,
the why of it.
MATTY:
The swamp was drained
and the Fellowship carefully
uncovered the feature,
leading to another moment
where any lingering skepticism
for Marty Lagina was vanquished.
MARTY:
Wow.
RICK:
It's quite impressive.
MARTY:
It's incredibly impressive.
Stand right there
and you'll get a real
- good perspective.
- Unbelievable.
MATTY: The fact that this
wharf... which Dr. Spooner
determined to be
at least 300 years old...
Was completely
contained within the swamp,
could only mean one thing... that
the swamp is a man-made feature.
- Hi, guys.
- Hey, Marty.
How do you
like your swamp expressway?
This is really cool.
- Yeah.
- I mean, this is mondo-cool.
- Yeah.
- It's impressive.
That looks exactly like
an old Roman road.
AARON:
It's possible, you know.
It indicates probably a loading
or unloading from a ship.
But the mystery
is where it's going.
- Yeah.
- And it's going there, rather than there.
I want to know where it's going.
Is a right angle occurring here?
- Do you think?
- AARON: Looks like a nice curve.
It means, to me, that something
rather massive
was occurring well
before the discovery
of the Money Pit on Oak Island.
Could it be an indirect
indicator of treasure? Yes.
Because why go to all this
expense and construct this
road that seems to have
been constructed to be hidden?
MATTY: Speaking of
indicators of treasure,
as the Fellowship slowly
uncovered more of the wharf,
it led to even more
amazing discoveries.
Wow.
(laughter)
GARY:
Oh, wow, indeed.
MATTY: These included
iron ringbolts, possibly used
for unloading and transporting
heavy cargo onto the island.
Oh, look at that.
Check that out.
Cask!
MATTY: Pieces of wooden keg
barrels dating back to as early
as the 15th century!
Definitely rocky.
Yeah, big stones here.
Something was built here
as far as I'm concerned.
MATTY: And amazingly,
a cobblestone pathway
leading away from the swamp
into the uplands
and potentially to the location
where the Oak Island mystery
began 226 years ago.
RICK: Please tell me
you've found the road.
I'm confident we found the road.
And what leads you to that?
Behind us here we have
what I'm fairly certain is
part of the road or pathway.
It's got definite boundaries.
It's cobblestone.
It's about nine feet in width,
which is close to what
the swamp path road has been.
It's heading up this way and...
towards the Money Pit.
It is giving a sense that it's
going in that general direction.
The road may be heading
towards the Money Pit.
Of course, that's-that's...
that's important!
It's critical to try
to connect these areas
that are significant
in terms of solving the mystery.
That is the real aha moment.
Rick, Charles, you know I
was thinking, if the Fellowship
has established anything
and it's established a lot,
but one thing for sure
is that all roads, especially
cobblestone ones lead right
here to the Money Pit area.
It's quite incredible.
- No question.
- That's right.
But it was right here
that you made your top find.
Charles, you marked this
back in 2015, Borehole C-1.
What made you believe that
something incredible
might be found here?
As you know, because of searcher
activity, the Money Pit
has been lost for over 100
years, but based on historical
research and my belief
that the Money Pit has always
been farther to the north,
hence we have C-1.
So, all we can do is try.
You know, Matty,
kudos to Charles for picking
this location but it is
certainly well and truly
a fine example of how
the Fellowship operates.
Different people,
different skill sets,
different perspectives.
And I think
this is the top find.
And, hopefully,
it will lead to many more.
Well, it is
the top find in our list.
So, congratulations, Charles,
and congratulations, Rick.
CHARLES: Number one:
Silver in the Money Pit.
MATTY: Now according
to the historical record,
over the generations,
different searcher companies
have made a number
of finds that suggest
there could be treasure
deep in the Money Pit.
For instance, in 1849,
members of the Truro Company
drilled down
into what they believed were
two stacked wooden chests
at a depth of nearly 100 feet.
They also described
that the drill seems to be
penetrating through pieces
of metal in both containers.
However,
constant flooding during
the follow-up digs
to retrieve them
caused a catastrophic collapse
of the Money Pit in 1861.
Then, as we know,
nearly three decades later,
treasure hunters Frederick Blair
and William Chappell
drilled into a believed
seven-foot-tall vault,
encased in concrete
and discovered the mysterious
scrap of parchment and remnants
of gold on their drill bit.
But more flooding
from the legendary booby traps
drowned those efforts
and hopes, as well.
Here we are,
digging in the Money Pit.
MATTY: Enter Rick,
Marty, Craig and the other
members
of the Fellowship of the Dig.
That is wood... we're probably
at the edge of a tunnel.
There's a chunk there.
And we've done this
consistently over six holes.
MATTY: Over the past
decade, this team has drilled
more than 100 boreholes...
- MARTY: It's time to dig!
- And dug nine massive
steel-cased shafts attempting
to verify
those incredible historic
tales of treasure
in the Money Pit.
We saw them find
more pieces of parchment,
a gold-plated button...
and even video footage
of numerous gold-colored objects
more than 170 feet underground.
But up until the fall of 2021,
any verifiable evidence
of treasure
had eluded them, as well.
TERRY: Not really any wood
that we were hoping to run into.
CHARLES:
The clock is ticking.
- We're running out of time.
- Exactly.
MARTY:
Hey, guys.
- Hello!
- MATTY: That's when geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner came up
with a revolutionary plan.
So, the idea is to look at water
down drill holes that exist.
- Okay.
- 'Cause the water in those wells
should reflect the chemistry
- of the ground that they interact with.
- Mm-hmm.
Well, how would we identify
whether or not
there was treasure?
I absolutely love
this idea of Dr. Spooner's.
If there's a massive amount
of metal down there somewhere,
it should be leaching
into the waters.
Let's test it for the very
things which we seek.
- Are we ready?
- We are ready.
So, we'll get our equipment
and we'll head over.
- And then we'll go and get our sample. Good.
- Okay.
MATTY:
Working with team members,
as well as chemist
Dr. Matt Lukeman,
Dr. Spooner took samples
from numerous boreholes
and shafts that
the team had previously dug.
It would lead to the greatest
scientific discovery
in Oak Island history.
IAN: So I-I've got
one question to ask.
Do you think there is
treasure in the Money Pit?
Ooh, I like that lead-in.
(laughter)
No, you know, I'm serious.
- Do I?
- Yeah.
Small chance.
I do. I absolutely do.
I believe that what they
drilled into in 1897 is real.
- Right.
- And I think it's still there.
Right. So, Doug,
can you bring, uh,
bring up the presentation?
I can.
Great.
There is
every reason to believe,
down in those holes
that there is something
close by that contains
a very large amount of
silver.
I guess I'm still trying to get
a mental picture of how much
silver it would take
to give these levels.
Like, is it a handful of silver,
or is it a Gerhardt
dump truck load of silver?
It's a Gerhardt dump truck.
MARTY:
Oh, baby!
(laughter, clamoring)
Excellent. Excellent data
and, honestly, really exciting.
You know,
first direct indication
of the metals we seek and-and
the story they might tell.
RICK: I've said it
before... I think the story
of what happened here
is the real treasure.
And I think we've made
significant progress.
Are we closer to finding
an actual, physical treasure?
TERRY: We got a shaft here
and maybe it's the Money Pit!
RICK: I think the clues are
adding up that ultimately,
we'll get either ourselves there
or someone there.
All of these finds
made by the Fellowship
have not only reinvigorated
a worldwide intrigue
for the Oak Island mystery.
They've also provided a "silver
lining" that an extraordinary
treasure is here,
just waiting to be revealed.
We hope you've enjoyed
our countdown, but from what
I'm hearing, when Season Nine
begins in just one short week,
we're gonna have
to update this list.
Thanks for watching.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.