The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down (2016–…): Season 9, Episode 5 - Dawn of the Dig - full transcript
In just one hour,
the most epic chapter in
a 226-year-old
treasure mystery begins
with the Season Nine premiere
of The Curse of Oak Island.
Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with
the Fellowship of the Dig
are back.
And this year,
they're going bigger than ever
to find that "dump truck load"
of silver deep in the Money Pit.
If that doesn't get
your blood pumping,
I'm hearing there's even
more incredible revelations
beyond that still to come.
Not just in the Money Pit,
but all across the island.
It's time to get the
inside scoop once again.
This is Drilling Down.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
- Hey, Matty.
- Hey, look who's here.
- Matty Blake.
- Afternoon, everybody!
About time you get here.
Oh, man, it's great
to be back again.
Season Nine, fellas.
- Hard to believe.
- The Fellowship is back.
- Is it hard to believe?
- Yes, it is.
I mean, this is rarefied air.
This is new territory.
You guys have taken it
to a whole other level.
And that-that air
kind of, to me,
smells a little bit
like... silver.
No, that's the swamp you smell.
Well, I'm sorry,
I've been waiting the whole
offseason, the fans have been
waiting the whole offseason.
I just gotta come
right out and ask, are...
Are we going after this silver?
The COVID-19
pandemic may have prevented
large-scale excavations
in the Money Pit last year.
But by drilling down,
the team still managed
to make incredible finds
that included
18th-century spikes,
evidence of a tunnel
some 90 feet deep.
I say you've got a beam.
That's potentially a
support structure, right there.
And a leather
boot heel of French origin
that was carbon-dated to 1492.
And, uh, we'll get the sample.
However,
thanks to cutting-edge water
sampling tests conducted
in the boreholes
across the Money Pit area,
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
helped the Fellowship
make the biggest revelation
ever on Oak Island.
There is every reason to
believe down in those holes,
that there is something
close by that contains
a very large amount of silver.
- Aw, baby!
- Oh, no way!
I don't want to
beat around the bush,
you know, are we
slamming can this year?
Are we going to go after it
and find that treasure?
Yeah, Matty, we are.
The Money Pit is really
where the story started.
And, uh, of course,
we're going to
do something in the Money Pit.
But I think what you can gather
is that every year
there's been an incremental
significant approach
to the Money Pit, right?
We went from drilling,
to small cans, to larger cans...
I'll let you fill in the blank.
Larger cans, even?
Season Nine?
Everyone else can
talk about that.
All right,
all right, I like it, though,
the fact that
you're not answering
is a good sign, I think.
Marty, from skeptic,
to now, Season Nine.
Yeah?
How does it feel to be the team
that proved there is
precious metal on Oak Island,
there is treasure on Oak Island?
You guys did it.
We've proved
there's precious metal
in the water, have we not?
- Absolutely.
- Okay.
We've proved that.
We're still trying to
completely eliminate
a natural source of it.
But it seems unlikely,
I'll go that far.
Every season, it's like,
"Okay, I guess we're done here."
And then it gives you more.
Or it gives you just enough.
Just enough.
It's like it knows, it's eerie.
Dr. Spooner, if you guys
can find that silver,
I mean, that is the
defining moment... Jack, right?
I mean, how do you
feel about that?
When we got those samples back,
it was incredibly surprising
because we just don't
see silver in water
in just your average well.
And yet we saw,
I think it was three,
three samples
within the Money Pit area
and then we continued on.
And we did, I think it was 42,
43 more samples
with some outliers,
and we found more silver.
And then we follow
that up this year with
some more sampling and, um...
And what, why are you smiling?
Precious metals?
I'm smiling, mate,
because some of the metal
detecting finds this year,
we've had some colorful results.
We have seen a color
we've been waiting for,
for a very long time now.
- Really?
- That was subtle, Gary.
Are you doing a dance?
Let's just say there could be
a tango involved in that dance.
Wow, all right,
I want to go to Craig.
How do you feel about
chasing this silver and,
from what I'm hearing,
maybe other precious metals?
Great, I mean,
we have complications
as we always do on Oak Island.
There's so many communications
between different wells.
You know, it's gonna
be tough to find out
exactly where the silver
came from, but we're...
We're throwing
not only water samples,
but we're going
to expand that and, uh,
bring in some new technology
to the island
that might also find the silver.
- So, we've got a lot going on.
- Amazing.
Now, the billion-dollar
question is,
where is this precious metal,
where is this silver,
and where is this
other metal material?
Charles, does this
chasing of silver
and other precious metals
take us back to C-1?
It certainly takes us
back to the C-1 area.
Now, whether it was
the Money Pit or whether it was
an offset chamber,
there was certainly a lot
of activity around there,
and maybe the "C" in C-1
doesn't stand for Charles,
maybe it stands for "Ca-ching".
Oh...
- Wow!
- That's fantastic.
Well done, sir.
- Man...
- Just saying.
I love being back
in this room, everyone's here.
Obviously, we're still
in the pandemic,
we got some guys
in the research center.
Let's-let's talk
to them for a second.
Paul, Steve, and Scott.
- Hi, guys.
- Hey, Matty.
What've you got coming up
in Season Nine
from your perspective?
I think that with the data
and the science that
we've applied this year,
and that includes
everybody in that
war room and everybody here,
I think we're
starting to really box
in the precious
metals in the Money Pit.
So, I think that if we're
going to pull the treasure out,
outside of a big dig,
it's gonna happen this year
with the science and the data
we've collected.
So, I'll leave you with this:
I think the treasure's
in the Money Pit,
but I think the
story's in the swamp.
Ooh.
Amazing, every season
gets bigger and bigger.
That's gratifying.
And also,
it's funny, it gets bigger,
but yet, more focused.
And-and Steve had
mentioned the swamp.
If there was a secret star
that kind of took over
Season Eight last year,
it was the swamp.
- Wow.
- It's quite impressive.
It's incredibly impressive.
Stand right there and you'll get
- a real good perspective.
- Unbelievable.
Last year the
Fellowship also made history
in the triangle-shaped swamp
when they uncovered
a massive stone road.
But that was just the beginning.
They also discovered
a cobblestone pathway
running along the
bog's eastern border
and then inland,
possibly toward the Money Pit.
Check that out.
Top of a keg.
This is really unusual.
Along this stone path,
they also found
parts of 15th-century
keg barrels.
Wow.
Oh, wow, indeed.
That is incredible.
Iron ringbolts that may have
been used to move heavy cargo.
You think it's some kind
of a weight or something?
It's like nothing
I've ever seen before.
And a trade weight,
which is a tool designed
for measuring amounts
of treasure coins.
Is that going to
continue this year?
Let's talk about
operations there.
It wasn't even a secret MVP.
It was the MVP.
The stone road really
is quite spectacular.
I think everyone around here...
I remember when Marty
first laid eyes on it.
It's real. It's real.
You know, that work continues.
That, of course, is
an archaeological pursuit.
We're hopeful that the
artifacts that we do find
will tell us a story
of that road feature.
It's governed by
archaeological processes,
so I think Laird
is the person who
needs to weigh in on this.
Let's just say
the archaeology's become both
deeper and more complicated.
And so, fair to say now,
with the road
and maybe something
I don't know about,
that has continued
to get complicated?
It's grown into
an entity of its own, yes.
I tell you what would be best.
We'll take you back there,
we'll show you.
- You'll get a feel for it.
- Love it.
One more thing on the swamp,
I think of the ship
parts pulled from the swamp.
You know, are we
going to continue to try,
to try to follow up on that?
This year we're applying
a lot more, kind of,
breadth of expertise to
the artifacts that we do find.
More testing on the wooden
finds that we've made,
such as the, uh,
possible piece of a ship.
And we have a lot more
technology here on the island,
so we can get answers
to some questions
the same day that
we used to have
to wait weeks for,
or maybe never even get
on some of our finds
in previous years.
And we'll show you
how we're doing that.
Awesome. Any other areas,
Jack, that... that the island
seems to kind of yield new
areas every season almost?
Matty, there's actually
a couple of different
locations around
the island where
we hoped... well, we've
actually made a couple
different finds so far,
but we have indications
of new possible
zones of interest.
And I think Gary, and Alex,
and I should take you
out there and show you
what we've found.
Is this the part
where you guys tell me,
"Okay, you can go out on the
island now and see everything"?
'Cause I'm really
dying to get out there.
Enough talk then, Matty.
We got plenty to show you,
and I know you'll find some
stuff of your own
you want to see.
- It's all out there.
- Let's go!
As you can see,
big things are about
to happen in the Money Pit.
But just one year ago,
nothing beyond
six-inch core drilling
was possible
because of the pandemic.
But now, the team
is preparing for
their biggest dig yet,
to get to the bottom
of the fabled Money Pit.
Here to talk
about that operation are
Rick Lagina, Dr. Ian Spooner,
and Charles Barkhouse.
Guys, I mean, this is awesome.
I'm seeing equipment
that's bigger than
the big dig we called
that a few years ago.
What's going on here?
Two things, one is,
this is not the big dig
that Billy Gerhardt
anticipated, but to your point,
it is bigger than
any other year, right?
- Those are ten-foot cans.
- Yeah, those...
Those are the biggest
caissons I've ever seen.
- Absolutely, they are.
- Wow.
But, there's a reason for it.
What transpires when we do
attempt digs such as this,
partly based on hope,
and obviously partly
based on facts,
but it's probably
50% hope and faith and belief,
and 50% data-driven, right?
But now, it's like this.
The data has taken
a very preferential role,
a reason to do... to conduct
an enterprise such as this.
And I'm going to turn it over to
Dr. Ian Spooner and Charles
as to the why of it.
Last season, you left us
with a huge cliffhanger.
This silver in the Money Pit,
are we chasing...
Is this the result
of chasing the silver?
Is that what we're doing?
Though I think the silver was,
was really important
and it helped us understand
that water could tell us
a story here.
We expanded that testing
to look for other metals,
and I'll just say that,
we... we haven't
been disappointed.
Would that metal also be shiny?
Uh... It's metallic.
All right!
Well, put it this way,
the testing you've done
that we haven't
seen yet resulted in
this massive equipment
and that's a great sign, right?
Charles, at the end of the day,
do you see C-1, your spot,
as the original Money Pit,
the fabled Money Pit?
A lot of people
believe that based on what
that hole has yielded.
Last year, we did a lot
of drilling on the east side
of the C-1 caisson,
and this year, we did a lot
of drilling on the
west side of the C-1 caisson.
So, let's just say that C-1 has
become more of an important
area, I'll put it that way.
Oh, I like to hear that.
It's an unfortunate reality,
that the location
of the original Money Pit
has been lost for over a century
due to constant digging
by previous searchers
and disastrous cave-ins
caused by the
legendary flood tunnels.
However, last year,
Rick, Marty, Craig and the team
conducted a strategic
drilling program to find it,
which, incredibly, led
to them hitting a believed
man-made tunnel,
some 90 feet deep
in six different
boreholes that pointed
toward the C-1 shaft
from the east.
This is the top
of the tunnel, not maybe.
So, it comes from somewhere
and it goes to somewhere.
So, if the team is
also making telling finds by
drilling on the west side as
they chase the source of all
that silver and the
other valuable clues they
keep torturing me with,
it makes you wonder.
Could C, or should
I say "Ca-ching-1"
be the original Money Pit?
I guess we'll just have to
watch Season Nine to find out.
Rick, last winter in Michigan,
I turned to you
and Marty and I said,
"After the results
of what Dr. Spooner said
"about the silver
in the Money Pit,
how is this going
to disappoint us?"
Because I'm so used
to Oak Island
showing us things
and then taking it away.
And now I stand here,
months and months later,
and I see this
massive equipment.
So, that leads me to
believe that you weren't
disappointed by
following up that data.
Has Oak Island taken us
on a roller-coaster ride?
Yes, every year,
and it still could.
But like I told you,
this is being data-driven.
You know, there's still the
hope, faith, belief component.
It'll never go away,
at least not for me.
But data is real data
and based on that,
- this is what you see before you.
- Yeah.
And it is going to unfold.
And I will say this,
I think this year...
And we say it every year...
This year is
the potential of a real find.
The one thing, for me,
it exists here,
in the here, in the now.
I have every
appendage crossed, right?
But it's more than
that, I do believe
that this year
might indeed be a year
where we walk away
at the end of the year
and we have
something in our hands.
Ooh, I got the chills again.
And, Dr. Spooner,
to that end, is your testing
still in process
in terms of that...
Where we're going
to put caissons?
Some of the testing
we've done this year has
shown us that there's
something very exclusive
happening in a very small area
here in the Money Pit,
and that's very encouraging.
If you guys pull out some
precious metal from this spot,
that becomes the moment.
Maybe not.
For this reason,
I have never believed that
gold and silver
are the one thing.
Right.
I think there's
something else here.
And I think if we retrieve
special, precious metals
from this area,
as Dr. Spooner describes it,
very unique area,
I think that's
just the beginning.
Yeah, I know what you're saying.
It's not... it's not the end.
I love that.
It's all exciting,
this is all massive.
This is the biggest dig ever
for this team.
For this team, yes.
Is there anything else
you can tell me
about the operations here
as part of this
most massive dig?
I did notice on my way up
that Jack and Billy
are working on
something I've
never seen before.
Is that something I'm allowed
to talk about or look at or...
Absolutely, lead on.
We'll catch up with you later.
- Thank you, guys.
- Take care, guys.
This is an area
I've never seen you
searching before.
This is Money Pit spoils
from as far back as
the search goes.
I'm excited to find out
what they're working on.
Hey, Billy!
- Hey, Jack!
- Hi, Matty. Hi, Rick.
I want to find out
what you're doing.
- Come on down here.
- Yeah.
Hey, buddy, what are we
working on here, Billy?
Can you tell me?
It's one of our early
projects of the year.
We have some different
archaeological rules to follow,
so basically, one of the things
that we're...
That we're allowed to do
is we're allowed to search
through old Money Pit spoils.
Wow.
In 1965, California geologist
Robert Dunfield went all in
to find the original Money Pit
by digging a
massive 100-foot-wide
by 140-foot-deep crater.
Of course, the flooding
drowned his effort,
and as far as he knew,
nothing of value was recovered.
However, unlike this
Oak Island team,
Mr. Dunfield never
sifted through his spoils
to find out for sure.
We've found some
pretty good stuff already.
Yeah, some really big,
old-looking timbers
and some old iron artifacts.
But we're missing
a bunch of stuff,
I'm sure, because these
are Money Pit spoils,
which means they've been dug,
deposited,
probably filled back in
the shaft and re-dug again,
so a lot of the
Money Pit's actually
marbled because it's
a mixture of different
clay materials that were
all bulldozed together.
So, you have to start
looking for, you know,
a needle in the
haystack somewhere.
So, we know that...
You know, the stone road is just
maybe a hundred yards
away from here, right?
We were all fascinated by
that structure last year.
Well, there are some
possible indications based on
aerial photography that
was done in 1929 that
there may be possibly
a connection from that stone
road through this area
to the Money Pit.
- Right.
- And if we do find that road, who knows,
that could have
been a road that was
put down by the depositors
and maybe there's some
artifacts on top that
have been encapsulated
by the Money Pit spoils
for, well, since
the beginning of the search.
Yeah and it kind of makes sense,
that's where your mind goes
with that road as, you know...
You say, well, did it...
Did it lead to
the Money Pit, right?
Yeah, and in
the Money Pit spoils
is material that came right out
of the Money Pit,
and we're gonna have it tested.
And if we keep
collecting iron artifacts,
wood, and anything
else that pops up,
we might actually get some dates
that can help us relate
the Money Pit
to the swamp activity.
You mention the swamp.
I'd actually like to
get down there if I could
and take a look at
what's going on there.
Let these guys get back to it.
Should we let them?
- Yeah...
- I don't know if we have a choice.
Come on, Matty, let's go.
Sorry to interrupt you guys.
- Thanks for the time.
- Thanks, guys.
Last year, the Oak Island
team proved once and for all
that the swamp
contains man-made works.
This year in Season Nine,
they intend to prove why.
Here with the salient details
on that are Alex Lagina,
brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,
archaeologist Laird Niven,
and Dr. Ian Spooner.
Guys, thanks for meeting me here
in Marty's favorite place...
The swamp.
I hate this stinky thing, okay?
- I know.
- It's never changed.
It doesn't smell anymore.
Oh, yes, it does.
No, it doesn't.
I've never seen it this green,
I must say.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, it's been very wet.
First of all,
we're standing
on this stone road.
You guys have unveiled
an incredible feature here.
I want to just make one comment.
I am sort of the skeptic
and I have
often said,
"Eh, maybe, maybe not."
Matty, I think you'll agree,
there's no doubt
as to what this is.
I mean, this is a road
constructed in a swamp.
There's just no
doubt about this.
And then Dr. Spooner
points out it was an Archean
road in the sense
that it was hidden
under mud, under water,
and in a very, very odd spot
because right
behind you is upland.
So, if somebody needed a road,
it would have been way easier
right over there.
From my point of view,
one thing about roads
like this is there's
a date of construction
and then there's
a period of use.
So, it's really
important to understand that
this could have been
constructed a long time ago.
We're trying to figure that out.
But it could have also been used
for quite a time
after it was abandoned by the,
you know,
the original constructors.
So, it's a complex
narrative to unravel.
Got it.
Imagine
a discovery on Oak Island
being complicated to unravel,
but in the swamp,
the team has made
a number of them over
the past eight years
that show a confounding
range of possibilities
for when the treasure
mystery actually began.
Whoa!
Some of these finds include
the Spanish maravedi coin
found in 2013
that dated to 1652,
the massive paved area
found in 2019
in the middle of the bog
that Dr. Spooner dated
back to 1200 AD.
- Look at that.
- And finally, a ship's railing
found last year at
the base of the swamp
that carbon testing dated
to as early as 660 AD.
So at this point,
figuring out when the stone road
got made is going to
require a lot more digging.
The kind of elephant
in the room, or I guess,
the elephant in the swamp
right now is that
there's this huge, you know,
reach excavator going on,
working behind you,
and yet this looks like
the road as I saw it last year.
So, can you kind of
just contextualize to me
what is going on in the swamp,
'cause there's activity here,
doesn't seem to be much here.
Who wants to take that question?
Not it.
Well, basically,
every bit of work we do,
except for a small
section around the Money Pit,
has to have a permit with it.
And so, this is a sub-project,
that's a sub-project.
And this area became of special
interest to Community,
Culture, and Heritage.
Oh...
And we're working with
a 120-foot buffer zone
around the area of interest.
That you can't touch right now.
Right.
Something happened here,
and you alluded
to this in the war room,
and now I'm starting
to get the picture here.
Something happened here that
put this zone up,
Culture and Heritage...
But I do want
to clarify something,
Matty, though, and that is that
we were only asked to do this,
there was no mandate
that we do it.
And that speaks to what
Marty always says is that
we... we honor the regs,
we honor the spirit of the law,
we want to make sure
that we are...
a participant in the process.
It's not something,
I'll just speak for myself,
it's not something I want to see
because we are
making discoveries,
and we do want to
push this forward.
But again, it's not mandated.
We're simply trying
to be good partners.
And, you know,
we're not Nova Scotians.
We've been trying
to be really...
as if we are Nova Scotians,
that's how we conduct
ourselves, but we're not.
And so, we have to be,
probably, even more careful.
So, respectful...
Let me ask this.
Could something like that
end the search at some point?
Do you guys carry that around,
that-that pressure?
I can't see anything...
that would end the search,
to be very honest.
It impedes the search,
it narrows the search,
perhaps, in some areas.
But there's work
we can do to, uh,
to mitigate this whole thing.
If I may speak for every
fan around the world... whew.
How about this for an ending?
On a positive note,
we're still digging.
That's right.
That's going full force.
What can you tell me
about that, what's going on?
There might be something there.
It's more than that, though.
- We have found things there.
- Yes.
Dr. Spooner found
that piece of wood
- in that initial dig we made.
- Yes...
We're not just hoping
and poking, we're not...
Although, Rick, I would.
I mean, I would right now
if you said, "Let's dig,
"you know... see that
white rock over there...
Let's dig this side of that,"
I'd say sure.
Who are you, and what have
you done with Marty Lagina?
Well, if I may quote you, Marty.
Let me say what
everyone's thinking,
S-H-I-P, ship, let's find one.
Well, yeah, remnants, you know,
there's already some indication.
Well, activity's going on.
We can't wait to see
what else the swamp
will reveal in Season Nine.
I'm invigorated in seeing
even what you're
doing now, already.
That is a big
piece of machinery.
And I know that since
what you've already found
in the swamp is so
compelling, I can't wait
to see what this thing
comes up with.
One last comment on that.
Yes, that's a giant machine.
It's got a 80- or 90-foot reach,
but... and this isn't
by anybody's standards
a very big swamp... but look,
look at the tiny little piece
we've been able to dig there.
I mean, it's a massive...
It's a massive task,
which just goes to show,
if somebody hid
something in here,
used it as a hiding place,
- it was really a good job.
- Ingenious, ingenious.
Yes, thank you, guys.
For 226 years,
most treasure hunters have
focused their efforts
on the eastern side
of the island in the Money Pit.
And sure, it's for good reason,
as Rick, Marty, Craig, and
the Fellowship have proven.
But they've also made
the wise choice to search
on the western side
of the island for valuables.
Here with more on that,
Jack Begley,
Alex Lagina, and my mate from
another state, Gary Drayton.
How you doing, guys?
- Hey, Matty. - Great.
- Hello, mate.
So, I'm hearing very exciting
things about Lot 4. Jack?
Well, actually,
we've come to Lot 4 for years
and, heck, we made a lot
of different discoveries...
Buttons, coins, ox shoes.
We found a couple different
things that show that people
could have been tunneling
or were doing work around here.
Yep, and things like
the Zena Halpern map, uh,
the potential hatch,
have kind of piqued our interest
out here and made us say, hey,
let's bring some
high-tech stuff.
Let's scan this area
of the island.
Let's see if we can
find any evidence
that those theories are correct.
I love it.
In 2016, author
and researcher Zena Halpern
presented the Fellowship with
two maps featuring Oak Island
and a coded cipher
that she believed to have
been created by members
of the Knights Templar.
One of the maps, which
references the year 1347 AD,
highlights a number of
locations labeled in French.
And of particular interest to
Rick, Marty, Craig and the team,
was one that
appeared to be on Lot 4,
which, when translated
to English, reads, "The Hatch."
You know, I hear Zena Halpern,
I get really excited
because I'm a Templar guy.
I love that theory
and so that's very, very
compelling that you
guys are mentioning
her name and her maps again.
Yeah, we ran a VLF survey
over the island,
like the Barringer Survey
many years ago,
and we got some hits
here on Lot 4.
VLF, which stands for
very low frequency radio wave,
is a scanning technology
designed to identify
buried features,
such as large objects, shafts,
or even tunnels as much
as 180 feet deep underground.
And the VLF hit.
I mean, I'm not saying,
but it's got all the hallmarks
of an underground cavity.
Wow.
And that's what
kind of made us...
Rekindled our interest in Lot 4.
It made us say, hey,
we need to go out there.
Is there any other
technology we can use to
investigate this hit,
to try to figure out what it is?
And in the meantime, let's focus
our metal detecting
efforts out here.
So, low frequency scan,
you get hits,
you set this guy loose...
Any hits? I gotta ask.
And now I can swing a metal
detector around in this area,
mate, it's paying off big time.
Really?
Some really, really nice,
top-pocket finds, mate.
Colorful top-pocket finds, mate.
Do you want to see one
of those top-pocket finds?
Do we have to go
through this every year?
You know what I want.
All right, mate.
Check this bobby-dazzler out.
Hey, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, mate.
No camera?
No, no cameras, mate.
Oh, wow.
Is that spectacular or what?
Sorry, acorns, you're gonna
have to wait on this, I guess.
This is incredible.
My friend, you are the gift
that keeps on giving.
Hey, and that's a colorful find.
Yeah, that's a...
That's a very lovely color.
I mean, may I be so bold
as to inquire,
is this what I think it is?
Um, well, let's
just put it this way, Matty...
My leg's shaking already.
Stay tuned, trust me.
- Brilliant, innit?
- Brilliant.
And actually, this year,
we have the ability
to do X-ray fluorescence
- on the island.
- Wow.
So, a find like that?
In real time,
we can scan it, we can
determine the composition
and we can decide
whether it needs
to go out for further testing.
So, that's gonna be
a game changer for us this year.
Right.
We've already had a few finds
where we've learned...
more than meets
the eye about them,
and that has kind
of guided the search, um,
more in a direction we never
would have gone before.
So, it's more
high-tech than ever out here,
but, as always, it's a balance
of the high-tech metal detecting
and other scanning equipment,
and the low-tech of the
shoveling and the digging.
That's it, man.
Eyes and boots at
the end of the day, right?
At the end of the day,
it's eyes and boots,
- as Rick always says.
- Humans working, yep.
They fill top pockets.
Yeah, they do.
And my top pocket's
been very busy this year.
Well, thank you
for letting me see that.
I mean, this is just
yet another example of me
coming onto the island,
the season's beginning,
and you guys are already at
it making incredible finds.
I'm sure that's not
the last one, right?
No, no, actually,
we have another
possible potential
big find down on
the northern Boulderless Beach
and I think we
should go over there now.
Oh, let's do it, yeah.
All right.
- I'll show you.
- After you, man.
Thank you, guys.
Of the many
potentially critical discoveries
that legendary treasure hunter
Dan Blankenship made
in the more than 50 years
he spent working
to solve the mystery,
one jumped out at him
on the very first day
he came to Oak Island
back in 1965.
An approximately
100-foot-wide stretch of beach
along the island's
rocky northern shore
that looked to have been cleared
of all rocks and boulders.
Although Dan was never
able to prove his theory
that the so-called
"Boulderless Beach"
was used long ago
to bring something
of value onto the island,
the Fellowship has made a number
of intriguing finds there,
including a possible
ship's spike
that archaeologist
Laird Niven believes
to pre-date the discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795.
It really is true
when you get here
or when you look at
this boulderless beach
from the water,
you can go back in time
and see what
Dan Blankenship saw, right?
Oh, you can see
how it got its name.
Yeah, it's just striking how
clearly this is different
than the rest of the beach,
Whether you're looking
at it from a boat
or when you come
here and stand here.
It is... I mean, just, look...
It looks like it
was cleared out.
Yep.
And now, why...
Season Nine,
why is this back in play?
Looks can be deceiving.
You don't see any boulders
in this area,
but we have recovered
some really nice
artifacts in this
area over the years.
We always suspected there
was wharfs in this area,
and we have found wharf pins
and ship spikes on the beach.
Nice.
We've found coins,
buttons, buckles,
so many finds inland
and on the beach.
Beach erosion flushes
artifacts out of the banks.
We could find something
any day we come here.
All right, so, Alex,
what has the team done
this year, here on
the Boulderless Beach?
This year,
we ran side-scan sonar,
sub-bottom profiling,
and a magnetometer
all around the island
and we took it here because one
of the most interesting hits,
on multiple surveys,
is right out there.
Right out here under water?
This is a weird
part of the island.
We have the Boulderless
Beach right here.
Just up over the bank is
what we call the bald spot.
And then now a new
anomaly just offshore.
I think there's
something going on here.
And we're going to dive on it
this year, actually, quite soon.
So, we'll figure
out exactly what it is.
And the great part is,
for the first time ever,
we might be able to apply
and get permission for an
underwater archaeology permit,
which means we can
investigate and possibly dig up
and recover
whatever this hit is.
That's amazing,
that's next-level Oak Island,
recovering stuff from
underwater, I love it.
Yeah, we might finally
be able to understand why
the Boulderless Beach has such
a conspicuous lack of boulders.
That's awesome.
This has been great and I think
what you guys have
in store for Season Nine
is gonna be even better.
So, thank you for the time.
I can't wait to find out
more about this potential dive.
Yeah, of course.
Stay tuned 'cause
there's more coming.
I love it, all right,
let's get you guys back to work.
- Sounds good.
- Okay.
For the past eight years,
we've seen Rick, Marty, Craig,
and the team apply the
most cutting-edge technology
available in their quest
to solve the Oak Island mystery.
This year, I'm hearing
they're about to try a new one
that just might be
their ace in the hole.
Here to explain that technology
to me today are Rick Lagina...
- Hey.
- Steve Guptill,
- Howdy.
- Scott Barlow and Doug Crowell.
Guys, I see the drills
are very active right now.
What's happening?
Matty, you've all heard,
you know, we're all
really excited about
what's about to
happen in the Money Pit,
but I will say this,
if those cans can't find it,
maybe muon technology can.
This muon technology,
tell me about that.
You had mentioned
it last season,
at the end of the season
as a possibility.
We talk about possible
technologies all the time,
but it seems like this one,
you've brought
to bear this year.
That is correct.
Muon tomography is a technology
that detects cosmic rays,
known as muons,
which actually originate
outside the atmosphere in space,
but then penetrate the earth.
By drilling holes,
and placing muon-detecting
devices deep underground,
this state-of-the-art
scanning method can
identify possible voids,
structures, and anything
resembling the fabled
Money Pit treasure vault.
In 2017, muon tomography
was used to successfully
identify a previously
unknown chamber in
the Great Pyramid of Giza.
It's possible that
for the first time ever,
we'll be able
to look underground,
not only in the Money Pit area,
but other areas of interest,
including the whole island.
And I think if Dan were here,
he would describe this
as his breakthrough.
Wow.
How does this technology work,
to the best of your ability,
from what you've
learned about it?
The data is like a flashlight.
So, we're going
to put the technology in
the ground, and it's like
a flashlight and it reads up.
So, all the technology
to date, we're looking down.
This is the first time
we're going to look up.
So, we're going to get
deeper than the targets,
and we're going to
flash that technology up
and have enough overlap that
we can hopefully find tunnels.
You know, go to the swamp,
we want to see walls.
In the Money Pit,
we want to see shafts,
chambers, and treasure.
So, we're going to place these
very strategically,
and it's incredible.
The longer these
things are in the ground,
the more muons they collect,
the clearer the
picture they get.
What does it kind of look like,
the picture you'll see?
Or is it purely data?
To them, it's data
and then from that,
they extract an image.
Some of the images
they have shown us,
it's... a layperson can
look at it and understand.
And that's what we're
really hoping for here.
Where are you going to apply
this technology,
Rick, on the island?
Do you have targets in mind?
Steve, you want
to explain, you know,
- exactly, you know...
- Sure.
Where these have been placed?
Yeah, so right now,
we're in Phase One.
We have a multi-phase process.
So, our targets right now
are the swamp,
south shore pit,
and the Money Pit,
we've thrown every bit of data
and science and just everything,
everything you can imagine
into the work this year.
And all of that has
led to what you see,
not the small rig,
but the big one.
This is really awesome.
We know what a jumbled mess
the Money Pit is,
but we also have knowns,
so they can task
the software and say,
here's the Hedden Shaft,
here's the Chappell shaft,
here's all the boreholes...
How many, Steve, now?
400.
And they can task
the software with...
These are all knowns.
Remove them from your analytics
and tell us what
the rest of it means.
And to me, that... that was
the fascinating part of this.
Yeah.
Doug, are you hopeful
with this technology?
What do you think?
What's ultra-cool
to me is the guys
have applied every
technology on earth
that's pertinent trying
to solve this mystery.
And now, Rick's
reaching out into space
for help from the universe.
I think that's ultra-cool.
It's so incredible to
think you could have an image
of the Money Pit underground.
You mentioned "one thing,"
so that makes me
think of the silver.
Now, let's say there's
a huge cache of silver
and gold down there,
would this technology reveal it?
A layman can look
at this and say,
there's something
we need to... to investigate.
So, yes.
And the accuracy that they claim
to be able to see
is within a couple of feet.
Every time I think
you guys are as close
as you can possibly be,
you get a little closer
and this type of
technology seems like it
could be the thing
that really shows us,
literally and figuratively,
the picture of what
happened here on Oak Island.
So, congratulations
to you for noticing that,
following up on it,
and to the team for applying it.
I can't wait to
see these images, guys.
- This is awesome.
- Neither can we.
Let's go get it.
We are just minutes away
from the world premiere
of Season Nine
of The Curse of Oak Island.
But before we see how
this is all going to unfold,
I'm sitting down in the
Money Pit area one last time
with brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina.
Guys, thanks for this,
first of all.
Welcome again, Matty.
Everyone's been waiting
a long time for Season Nine.
There was doubt if there
was going to be a Season Nine
after this horrible pandemic
the world has suffered.
But the reality is,
here we sit again,
and there's the biggest
equipment that's ever
been in the Money Pit,
the biggest dig
you have done yet,
and that's exciting.
Yeah, I mean, Matty,
you know, I mean,
what does this island
do to everybody?
It brings you back, and it
brings you back bigger, right?
Take a look at the size
of these cannisters back here.
That's what's going
down in the Money Pit.
Each one of them
is bigger than 10-X.
Each one of them
is bigger than what Dan,
and Dan Henskee, and Dave
dug over a 20-year period.
We're going to do more
with each one of these.
We've got enough
time and material
to do four, we got four
good places to look.
How can you not be
excited about that?
I mean, we're going to
do some for-real searching.
I feel like we're sort of
close to the endgame here.
We're just not going to quit
until there's a reason to quit.
It's an exciting year,
there's no question
about it, you know.
I don't think all of us,
the whole Fellowship,
I don't think
we've ever been so...
committed to a specific area,
in terms of search agenda,
but in the here and now,
- we're pretty much all...
- We're united.
United, that's a very good word.
We're united about what
we intend to do this year.
I've said to pretty
much to every team member,
yourself included,
yourself included,
I've never seen you this
excited about one spot.
The spot behind me.
Are you closer than ever
to explaining what's down there,
and also the story
of what's down there?
When Rick says, "the one thing,"
he's not talking about
a nondescript gold bar.
- You aren't, are you?
- No.
When he says, "the one thing,"
by definition,
it answers your question.
In other words, he wants to
hold the thing in his hand that
tells the story, or at least
has some definitive links.
Say, "Ah, I see now,
this is who was here.
This is what happened,
this is..."
He wants to hold
that in his hand.
- I'm more mercenary.
- Yeah.
It would be irrefutable
proof to the most
hardened skeptic that
something happened here
long ago that is
remarkable and interesting.
And that it's a storied thing
that happened here, right?
So, I have high hopes
that the one thing actually...
I don't want to
just put it in my hand,
I want to put
it in Marty's hand,
I want to put
it in everyone's hand.
That being said, here we sit
and we've talked about
this muon tomography
and some other technology
you have brought to bear.
So, do you think,
at the end of the day,
that it could be
science and technology
- that finally pulls out some treasure?
- Oh, it will be,
it will be.
Maybe the muon technology
won't give us a...
like an X-ray of the island,
but we think right now it might.
And if you could see
an X-ray of this island,
well, then that should
pretty much put it to bed.
But we have a lot
of stuff that's...
That could put it
to bed right now,
right behind you.
That's going to be successful.
I'm calling it now.
- Okay.
- All right.
Something else I've learned here
going into this Season Nine,
that there were
some serious obstacles
that you guys
haven't faced before
in terms of the authorities.
Talk to me how that
might play out this season,
how it might
play out in the future.
What are your thoughts on
some of those unexpected
obstacles you guys encountered?
As we come up with
more and more things that
appear to make Rick
correct that something
very significant
happened here, well,
then it becomes
an archaeological site, right?
I mean, you can't
separate those two.
If something historically
significant happened here,
then the archaeologists
are gonna sit up
and want to be a part of that.
It's a consequence that
the powers that be are
taking this place seriously now,
which is great, that's exciting.
It's also burdensome.
So, it's a mark of success then?
- It is.
- Yeah, it is.
This is an important thing,
we think, to Nova Scotia.
Really and truthfully,
the regulators
want us to succeed, too.
They do,
they don't want us to fail.
So, we'll get through it.
The other thing I've
noticed from everyone here
on the island this season
is that every time I mention
the silver, everybody smiles
at me like a Cheshire Cat grin.
Should I be excited
by more than just silver,
say another precious, precious
metal in this spot behind me?
You know, Matty,
I'll just say this.
You may find what
you're looking for
in the Periodic Table.
Ooh, okay.
It's all I'm saying.
All right, thank you, guys.
Well, you heard it from
the brothers themselves.
Let's find out
what's in that pit.
Acorns, we finally made it.
The Season Nine premiere
of The Curse of
Oak Island starts now.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
the most epic chapter in
a 226-year-old
treasure mystery begins
with the Season Nine premiere
of The Curse of Oak Island.
Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with
the Fellowship of the Dig
are back.
And this year,
they're going bigger than ever
to find that "dump truck load"
of silver deep in the Money Pit.
If that doesn't get
your blood pumping,
I'm hearing there's even
more incredible revelations
beyond that still to come.
Not just in the Money Pit,
but all across the island.
It's time to get the
inside scoop once again.
This is Drilling Down.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
- Hey, Matty.
- Hey, look who's here.
- Matty Blake.
- Afternoon, everybody!
About time you get here.
Oh, man, it's great
to be back again.
Season Nine, fellas.
- Hard to believe.
- The Fellowship is back.
- Is it hard to believe?
- Yes, it is.
I mean, this is rarefied air.
This is new territory.
You guys have taken it
to a whole other level.
And that-that air
kind of, to me,
smells a little bit
like... silver.
No, that's the swamp you smell.
Well, I'm sorry,
I've been waiting the whole
offseason, the fans have been
waiting the whole offseason.
I just gotta come
right out and ask, are...
Are we going after this silver?
The COVID-19
pandemic may have prevented
large-scale excavations
in the Money Pit last year.
But by drilling down,
the team still managed
to make incredible finds
that included
18th-century spikes,
evidence of a tunnel
some 90 feet deep.
I say you've got a beam.
That's potentially a
support structure, right there.
And a leather
boot heel of French origin
that was carbon-dated to 1492.
And, uh, we'll get the sample.
However,
thanks to cutting-edge water
sampling tests conducted
in the boreholes
across the Money Pit area,
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
helped the Fellowship
make the biggest revelation
ever on Oak Island.
There is every reason to
believe down in those holes,
that there is something
close by that contains
a very large amount of silver.
- Aw, baby!
- Oh, no way!
I don't want to
beat around the bush,
you know, are we
slamming can this year?
Are we going to go after it
and find that treasure?
Yeah, Matty, we are.
The Money Pit is really
where the story started.
And, uh, of course,
we're going to
do something in the Money Pit.
But I think what you can gather
is that every year
there's been an incremental
significant approach
to the Money Pit, right?
We went from drilling,
to small cans, to larger cans...
I'll let you fill in the blank.
Larger cans, even?
Season Nine?
Everyone else can
talk about that.
All right,
all right, I like it, though,
the fact that
you're not answering
is a good sign, I think.
Marty, from skeptic,
to now, Season Nine.
Yeah?
How does it feel to be the team
that proved there is
precious metal on Oak Island,
there is treasure on Oak Island?
You guys did it.
We've proved
there's precious metal
in the water, have we not?
- Absolutely.
- Okay.
We've proved that.
We're still trying to
completely eliminate
a natural source of it.
But it seems unlikely,
I'll go that far.
Every season, it's like,
"Okay, I guess we're done here."
And then it gives you more.
Or it gives you just enough.
Just enough.
It's like it knows, it's eerie.
Dr. Spooner, if you guys
can find that silver,
I mean, that is the
defining moment... Jack, right?
I mean, how do you
feel about that?
When we got those samples back,
it was incredibly surprising
because we just don't
see silver in water
in just your average well.
And yet we saw,
I think it was three,
three samples
within the Money Pit area
and then we continued on.
And we did, I think it was 42,
43 more samples
with some outliers,
and we found more silver.
And then we follow
that up this year with
some more sampling and, um...
And what, why are you smiling?
Precious metals?
I'm smiling, mate,
because some of the metal
detecting finds this year,
we've had some colorful results.
We have seen a color
we've been waiting for,
for a very long time now.
- Really?
- That was subtle, Gary.
Are you doing a dance?
Let's just say there could be
a tango involved in that dance.
Wow, all right,
I want to go to Craig.
How do you feel about
chasing this silver and,
from what I'm hearing,
maybe other precious metals?
Great, I mean,
we have complications
as we always do on Oak Island.
There's so many communications
between different wells.
You know, it's gonna
be tough to find out
exactly where the silver
came from, but we're...
We're throwing
not only water samples,
but we're going
to expand that and, uh,
bring in some new technology
to the island
that might also find the silver.
- So, we've got a lot going on.
- Amazing.
Now, the billion-dollar
question is,
where is this precious metal,
where is this silver,
and where is this
other metal material?
Charles, does this
chasing of silver
and other precious metals
take us back to C-1?
It certainly takes us
back to the C-1 area.
Now, whether it was
the Money Pit or whether it was
an offset chamber,
there was certainly a lot
of activity around there,
and maybe the "C" in C-1
doesn't stand for Charles,
maybe it stands for "Ca-ching".
Oh...
- Wow!
- That's fantastic.
Well done, sir.
- Man...
- Just saying.
I love being back
in this room, everyone's here.
Obviously, we're still
in the pandemic,
we got some guys
in the research center.
Let's-let's talk
to them for a second.
Paul, Steve, and Scott.
- Hi, guys.
- Hey, Matty.
What've you got coming up
in Season Nine
from your perspective?
I think that with the data
and the science that
we've applied this year,
and that includes
everybody in that
war room and everybody here,
I think we're
starting to really box
in the precious
metals in the Money Pit.
So, I think that if we're
going to pull the treasure out,
outside of a big dig,
it's gonna happen this year
with the science and the data
we've collected.
So, I'll leave you with this:
I think the treasure's
in the Money Pit,
but I think the
story's in the swamp.
Ooh.
Amazing, every season
gets bigger and bigger.
That's gratifying.
And also,
it's funny, it gets bigger,
but yet, more focused.
And-and Steve had
mentioned the swamp.
If there was a secret star
that kind of took over
Season Eight last year,
it was the swamp.
- Wow.
- It's quite impressive.
It's incredibly impressive.
Stand right there and you'll get
- a real good perspective.
- Unbelievable.
Last year the
Fellowship also made history
in the triangle-shaped swamp
when they uncovered
a massive stone road.
But that was just the beginning.
They also discovered
a cobblestone pathway
running along the
bog's eastern border
and then inland,
possibly toward the Money Pit.
Check that out.
Top of a keg.
This is really unusual.
Along this stone path,
they also found
parts of 15th-century
keg barrels.
Wow.
Oh, wow, indeed.
That is incredible.
Iron ringbolts that may have
been used to move heavy cargo.
You think it's some kind
of a weight or something?
It's like nothing
I've ever seen before.
And a trade weight,
which is a tool designed
for measuring amounts
of treasure coins.
Is that going to
continue this year?
Let's talk about
operations there.
It wasn't even a secret MVP.
It was the MVP.
The stone road really
is quite spectacular.
I think everyone around here...
I remember when Marty
first laid eyes on it.
It's real. It's real.
You know, that work continues.
That, of course, is
an archaeological pursuit.
We're hopeful that the
artifacts that we do find
will tell us a story
of that road feature.
It's governed by
archaeological processes,
so I think Laird
is the person who
needs to weigh in on this.
Let's just say
the archaeology's become both
deeper and more complicated.
And so, fair to say now,
with the road
and maybe something
I don't know about,
that has continued
to get complicated?
It's grown into
an entity of its own, yes.
I tell you what would be best.
We'll take you back there,
we'll show you.
- You'll get a feel for it.
- Love it.
One more thing on the swamp,
I think of the ship
parts pulled from the swamp.
You know, are we
going to continue to try,
to try to follow up on that?
This year we're applying
a lot more, kind of,
breadth of expertise to
the artifacts that we do find.
More testing on the wooden
finds that we've made,
such as the, uh,
possible piece of a ship.
And we have a lot more
technology here on the island,
so we can get answers
to some questions
the same day that
we used to have
to wait weeks for,
or maybe never even get
on some of our finds
in previous years.
And we'll show you
how we're doing that.
Awesome. Any other areas,
Jack, that... that the island
seems to kind of yield new
areas every season almost?
Matty, there's actually
a couple of different
locations around
the island where
we hoped... well, we've
actually made a couple
different finds so far,
but we have indications
of new possible
zones of interest.
And I think Gary, and Alex,
and I should take you
out there and show you
what we've found.
Is this the part
where you guys tell me,
"Okay, you can go out on the
island now and see everything"?
'Cause I'm really
dying to get out there.
Enough talk then, Matty.
We got plenty to show you,
and I know you'll find some
stuff of your own
you want to see.
- It's all out there.
- Let's go!
As you can see,
big things are about
to happen in the Money Pit.
But just one year ago,
nothing beyond
six-inch core drilling
was possible
because of the pandemic.
But now, the team
is preparing for
their biggest dig yet,
to get to the bottom
of the fabled Money Pit.
Here to talk
about that operation are
Rick Lagina, Dr. Ian Spooner,
and Charles Barkhouse.
Guys, I mean, this is awesome.
I'm seeing equipment
that's bigger than
the big dig we called
that a few years ago.
What's going on here?
Two things, one is,
this is not the big dig
that Billy Gerhardt
anticipated, but to your point,
it is bigger than
any other year, right?
- Those are ten-foot cans.
- Yeah, those...
Those are the biggest
caissons I've ever seen.
- Absolutely, they are.
- Wow.
But, there's a reason for it.
What transpires when we do
attempt digs such as this,
partly based on hope,
and obviously partly
based on facts,
but it's probably
50% hope and faith and belief,
and 50% data-driven, right?
But now, it's like this.
The data has taken
a very preferential role,
a reason to do... to conduct
an enterprise such as this.
And I'm going to turn it over to
Dr. Ian Spooner and Charles
as to the why of it.
Last season, you left us
with a huge cliffhanger.
This silver in the Money Pit,
are we chasing...
Is this the result
of chasing the silver?
Is that what we're doing?
Though I think the silver was,
was really important
and it helped us understand
that water could tell us
a story here.
We expanded that testing
to look for other metals,
and I'll just say that,
we... we haven't
been disappointed.
Would that metal also be shiny?
Uh... It's metallic.
All right!
Well, put it this way,
the testing you've done
that we haven't
seen yet resulted in
this massive equipment
and that's a great sign, right?
Charles, at the end of the day,
do you see C-1, your spot,
as the original Money Pit,
the fabled Money Pit?
A lot of people
believe that based on what
that hole has yielded.
Last year, we did a lot
of drilling on the east side
of the C-1 caisson,
and this year, we did a lot
of drilling on the
west side of the C-1 caisson.
So, let's just say that C-1 has
become more of an important
area, I'll put it that way.
Oh, I like to hear that.
It's an unfortunate reality,
that the location
of the original Money Pit
has been lost for over a century
due to constant digging
by previous searchers
and disastrous cave-ins
caused by the
legendary flood tunnels.
However, last year,
Rick, Marty, Craig and the team
conducted a strategic
drilling program to find it,
which, incredibly, led
to them hitting a believed
man-made tunnel,
some 90 feet deep
in six different
boreholes that pointed
toward the C-1 shaft
from the east.
This is the top
of the tunnel, not maybe.
So, it comes from somewhere
and it goes to somewhere.
So, if the team is
also making telling finds by
drilling on the west side as
they chase the source of all
that silver and the
other valuable clues they
keep torturing me with,
it makes you wonder.
Could C, or should
I say "Ca-ching-1"
be the original Money Pit?
I guess we'll just have to
watch Season Nine to find out.
Rick, last winter in Michigan,
I turned to you
and Marty and I said,
"After the results
of what Dr. Spooner said
"about the silver
in the Money Pit,
how is this going
to disappoint us?"
Because I'm so used
to Oak Island
showing us things
and then taking it away.
And now I stand here,
months and months later,
and I see this
massive equipment.
So, that leads me to
believe that you weren't
disappointed by
following up that data.
Has Oak Island taken us
on a roller-coaster ride?
Yes, every year,
and it still could.
But like I told you,
this is being data-driven.
You know, there's still the
hope, faith, belief component.
It'll never go away,
at least not for me.
But data is real data
and based on that,
- this is what you see before you.
- Yeah.
And it is going to unfold.
And I will say this,
I think this year...
And we say it every year...
This year is
the potential of a real find.
The one thing, for me,
it exists here,
in the here, in the now.
I have every
appendage crossed, right?
But it's more than
that, I do believe
that this year
might indeed be a year
where we walk away
at the end of the year
and we have
something in our hands.
Ooh, I got the chills again.
And, Dr. Spooner,
to that end, is your testing
still in process
in terms of that...
Where we're going
to put caissons?
Some of the testing
we've done this year has
shown us that there's
something very exclusive
happening in a very small area
here in the Money Pit,
and that's very encouraging.
If you guys pull out some
precious metal from this spot,
that becomes the moment.
Maybe not.
For this reason,
I have never believed that
gold and silver
are the one thing.
Right.
I think there's
something else here.
And I think if we retrieve
special, precious metals
from this area,
as Dr. Spooner describes it,
very unique area,
I think that's
just the beginning.
Yeah, I know what you're saying.
It's not... it's not the end.
I love that.
It's all exciting,
this is all massive.
This is the biggest dig ever
for this team.
For this team, yes.
Is there anything else
you can tell me
about the operations here
as part of this
most massive dig?
I did notice on my way up
that Jack and Billy
are working on
something I've
never seen before.
Is that something I'm allowed
to talk about or look at or...
Absolutely, lead on.
We'll catch up with you later.
- Thank you, guys.
- Take care, guys.
This is an area
I've never seen you
searching before.
This is Money Pit spoils
from as far back as
the search goes.
I'm excited to find out
what they're working on.
Hey, Billy!
- Hey, Jack!
- Hi, Matty. Hi, Rick.
I want to find out
what you're doing.
- Come on down here.
- Yeah.
Hey, buddy, what are we
working on here, Billy?
Can you tell me?
It's one of our early
projects of the year.
We have some different
archaeological rules to follow,
so basically, one of the things
that we're...
That we're allowed to do
is we're allowed to search
through old Money Pit spoils.
Wow.
In 1965, California geologist
Robert Dunfield went all in
to find the original Money Pit
by digging a
massive 100-foot-wide
by 140-foot-deep crater.
Of course, the flooding
drowned his effort,
and as far as he knew,
nothing of value was recovered.
However, unlike this
Oak Island team,
Mr. Dunfield never
sifted through his spoils
to find out for sure.
We've found some
pretty good stuff already.
Yeah, some really big,
old-looking timbers
and some old iron artifacts.
But we're missing
a bunch of stuff,
I'm sure, because these
are Money Pit spoils,
which means they've been dug,
deposited,
probably filled back in
the shaft and re-dug again,
so a lot of the
Money Pit's actually
marbled because it's
a mixture of different
clay materials that were
all bulldozed together.
So, you have to start
looking for, you know,
a needle in the
haystack somewhere.
So, we know that...
You know, the stone road is just
maybe a hundred yards
away from here, right?
We were all fascinated by
that structure last year.
Well, there are some
possible indications based on
aerial photography that
was done in 1929 that
there may be possibly
a connection from that stone
road through this area
to the Money Pit.
- Right.
- And if we do find that road, who knows,
that could have
been a road that was
put down by the depositors
and maybe there's some
artifacts on top that
have been encapsulated
by the Money Pit spoils
for, well, since
the beginning of the search.
Yeah and it kind of makes sense,
that's where your mind goes
with that road as, you know...
You say, well, did it...
Did it lead to
the Money Pit, right?
Yeah, and in
the Money Pit spoils
is material that came right out
of the Money Pit,
and we're gonna have it tested.
And if we keep
collecting iron artifacts,
wood, and anything
else that pops up,
we might actually get some dates
that can help us relate
the Money Pit
to the swamp activity.
You mention the swamp.
I'd actually like to
get down there if I could
and take a look at
what's going on there.
Let these guys get back to it.
Should we let them?
- Yeah...
- I don't know if we have a choice.
Come on, Matty, let's go.
Sorry to interrupt you guys.
- Thanks for the time.
- Thanks, guys.
Last year, the Oak Island
team proved once and for all
that the swamp
contains man-made works.
This year in Season Nine,
they intend to prove why.
Here with the salient details
on that are Alex Lagina,
brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,
archaeologist Laird Niven,
and Dr. Ian Spooner.
Guys, thanks for meeting me here
in Marty's favorite place...
The swamp.
I hate this stinky thing, okay?
- I know.
- It's never changed.
It doesn't smell anymore.
Oh, yes, it does.
No, it doesn't.
I've never seen it this green,
I must say.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, it's been very wet.
First of all,
we're standing
on this stone road.
You guys have unveiled
an incredible feature here.
I want to just make one comment.
I am sort of the skeptic
and I have
often said,
"Eh, maybe, maybe not."
Matty, I think you'll agree,
there's no doubt
as to what this is.
I mean, this is a road
constructed in a swamp.
There's just no
doubt about this.
And then Dr. Spooner
points out it was an Archean
road in the sense
that it was hidden
under mud, under water,
and in a very, very odd spot
because right
behind you is upland.
So, if somebody needed a road,
it would have been way easier
right over there.
From my point of view,
one thing about roads
like this is there's
a date of construction
and then there's
a period of use.
So, it's really
important to understand that
this could have been
constructed a long time ago.
We're trying to figure that out.
But it could have also been used
for quite a time
after it was abandoned by the,
you know,
the original constructors.
So, it's a complex
narrative to unravel.
Got it.
Imagine
a discovery on Oak Island
being complicated to unravel,
but in the swamp,
the team has made
a number of them over
the past eight years
that show a confounding
range of possibilities
for when the treasure
mystery actually began.
Whoa!
Some of these finds include
the Spanish maravedi coin
found in 2013
that dated to 1652,
the massive paved area
found in 2019
in the middle of the bog
that Dr. Spooner dated
back to 1200 AD.
- Look at that.
- And finally, a ship's railing
found last year at
the base of the swamp
that carbon testing dated
to as early as 660 AD.
So at this point,
figuring out when the stone road
got made is going to
require a lot more digging.
The kind of elephant
in the room, or I guess,
the elephant in the swamp
right now is that
there's this huge, you know,
reach excavator going on,
working behind you,
and yet this looks like
the road as I saw it last year.
So, can you kind of
just contextualize to me
what is going on in the swamp,
'cause there's activity here,
doesn't seem to be much here.
Who wants to take that question?
Not it.
Well, basically,
every bit of work we do,
except for a small
section around the Money Pit,
has to have a permit with it.
And so, this is a sub-project,
that's a sub-project.
And this area became of special
interest to Community,
Culture, and Heritage.
Oh...
And we're working with
a 120-foot buffer zone
around the area of interest.
That you can't touch right now.
Right.
Something happened here,
and you alluded
to this in the war room,
and now I'm starting
to get the picture here.
Something happened here that
put this zone up,
Culture and Heritage...
But I do want
to clarify something,
Matty, though, and that is that
we were only asked to do this,
there was no mandate
that we do it.
And that speaks to what
Marty always says is that
we... we honor the regs,
we honor the spirit of the law,
we want to make sure
that we are...
a participant in the process.
It's not something,
I'll just speak for myself,
it's not something I want to see
because we are
making discoveries,
and we do want to
push this forward.
But again, it's not mandated.
We're simply trying
to be good partners.
And, you know,
we're not Nova Scotians.
We've been trying
to be really...
as if we are Nova Scotians,
that's how we conduct
ourselves, but we're not.
And so, we have to be,
probably, even more careful.
So, respectful...
Let me ask this.
Could something like that
end the search at some point?
Do you guys carry that around,
that-that pressure?
I can't see anything...
that would end the search,
to be very honest.
It impedes the search,
it narrows the search,
perhaps, in some areas.
But there's work
we can do to, uh,
to mitigate this whole thing.
If I may speak for every
fan around the world... whew.
How about this for an ending?
On a positive note,
we're still digging.
That's right.
That's going full force.
What can you tell me
about that, what's going on?
There might be something there.
It's more than that, though.
- We have found things there.
- Yes.
Dr. Spooner found
that piece of wood
- in that initial dig we made.
- Yes...
We're not just hoping
and poking, we're not...
Although, Rick, I would.
I mean, I would right now
if you said, "Let's dig,
"you know... see that
white rock over there...
Let's dig this side of that,"
I'd say sure.
Who are you, and what have
you done with Marty Lagina?
Well, if I may quote you, Marty.
Let me say what
everyone's thinking,
S-H-I-P, ship, let's find one.
Well, yeah, remnants, you know,
there's already some indication.
Well, activity's going on.
We can't wait to see
what else the swamp
will reveal in Season Nine.
I'm invigorated in seeing
even what you're
doing now, already.
That is a big
piece of machinery.
And I know that since
what you've already found
in the swamp is so
compelling, I can't wait
to see what this thing
comes up with.
One last comment on that.
Yes, that's a giant machine.
It's got a 80- or 90-foot reach,
but... and this isn't
by anybody's standards
a very big swamp... but look,
look at the tiny little piece
we've been able to dig there.
I mean, it's a massive...
It's a massive task,
which just goes to show,
if somebody hid
something in here,
used it as a hiding place,
- it was really a good job.
- Ingenious, ingenious.
Yes, thank you, guys.
For 226 years,
most treasure hunters have
focused their efforts
on the eastern side
of the island in the Money Pit.
And sure, it's for good reason,
as Rick, Marty, Craig, and
the Fellowship have proven.
But they've also made
the wise choice to search
on the western side
of the island for valuables.
Here with more on that,
Jack Begley,
Alex Lagina, and my mate from
another state, Gary Drayton.
How you doing, guys?
- Hey, Matty. - Great.
- Hello, mate.
So, I'm hearing very exciting
things about Lot 4. Jack?
Well, actually,
we've come to Lot 4 for years
and, heck, we made a lot
of different discoveries...
Buttons, coins, ox shoes.
We found a couple different
things that show that people
could have been tunneling
or were doing work around here.
Yep, and things like
the Zena Halpern map, uh,
the potential hatch,
have kind of piqued our interest
out here and made us say, hey,
let's bring some
high-tech stuff.
Let's scan this area
of the island.
Let's see if we can
find any evidence
that those theories are correct.
I love it.
In 2016, author
and researcher Zena Halpern
presented the Fellowship with
two maps featuring Oak Island
and a coded cipher
that she believed to have
been created by members
of the Knights Templar.
One of the maps, which
references the year 1347 AD,
highlights a number of
locations labeled in French.
And of particular interest to
Rick, Marty, Craig and the team,
was one that
appeared to be on Lot 4,
which, when translated
to English, reads, "The Hatch."
You know, I hear Zena Halpern,
I get really excited
because I'm a Templar guy.
I love that theory
and so that's very, very
compelling that you
guys are mentioning
her name and her maps again.
Yeah, we ran a VLF survey
over the island,
like the Barringer Survey
many years ago,
and we got some hits
here on Lot 4.
VLF, which stands for
very low frequency radio wave,
is a scanning technology
designed to identify
buried features,
such as large objects, shafts,
or even tunnels as much
as 180 feet deep underground.
And the VLF hit.
I mean, I'm not saying,
but it's got all the hallmarks
of an underground cavity.
Wow.
And that's what
kind of made us...
Rekindled our interest in Lot 4.
It made us say, hey,
we need to go out there.
Is there any other
technology we can use to
investigate this hit,
to try to figure out what it is?
And in the meantime, let's focus
our metal detecting
efforts out here.
So, low frequency scan,
you get hits,
you set this guy loose...
Any hits? I gotta ask.
And now I can swing a metal
detector around in this area,
mate, it's paying off big time.
Really?
Some really, really nice,
top-pocket finds, mate.
Colorful top-pocket finds, mate.
Do you want to see one
of those top-pocket finds?
Do we have to go
through this every year?
You know what I want.
All right, mate.
Check this bobby-dazzler out.
Hey, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, mate.
No camera?
No, no cameras, mate.
Oh, wow.
Is that spectacular or what?
Sorry, acorns, you're gonna
have to wait on this, I guess.
This is incredible.
My friend, you are the gift
that keeps on giving.
Hey, and that's a colorful find.
Yeah, that's a...
That's a very lovely color.
I mean, may I be so bold
as to inquire,
is this what I think it is?
Um, well, let's
just put it this way, Matty...
My leg's shaking already.
Stay tuned, trust me.
- Brilliant, innit?
- Brilliant.
And actually, this year,
we have the ability
to do X-ray fluorescence
- on the island.
- Wow.
So, a find like that?
In real time,
we can scan it, we can
determine the composition
and we can decide
whether it needs
to go out for further testing.
So, that's gonna be
a game changer for us this year.
Right.
We've already had a few finds
where we've learned...
more than meets
the eye about them,
and that has kind
of guided the search, um,
more in a direction we never
would have gone before.
So, it's more
high-tech than ever out here,
but, as always, it's a balance
of the high-tech metal detecting
and other scanning equipment,
and the low-tech of the
shoveling and the digging.
That's it, man.
Eyes and boots at
the end of the day, right?
At the end of the day,
it's eyes and boots,
- as Rick always says.
- Humans working, yep.
They fill top pockets.
Yeah, they do.
And my top pocket's
been very busy this year.
Well, thank you
for letting me see that.
I mean, this is just
yet another example of me
coming onto the island,
the season's beginning,
and you guys are already at
it making incredible finds.
I'm sure that's not
the last one, right?
No, no, actually,
we have another
possible potential
big find down on
the northern Boulderless Beach
and I think we
should go over there now.
Oh, let's do it, yeah.
All right.
- I'll show you.
- After you, man.
Thank you, guys.
Of the many
potentially critical discoveries
that legendary treasure hunter
Dan Blankenship made
in the more than 50 years
he spent working
to solve the mystery,
one jumped out at him
on the very first day
he came to Oak Island
back in 1965.
An approximately
100-foot-wide stretch of beach
along the island's
rocky northern shore
that looked to have been cleared
of all rocks and boulders.
Although Dan was never
able to prove his theory
that the so-called
"Boulderless Beach"
was used long ago
to bring something
of value onto the island,
the Fellowship has made a number
of intriguing finds there,
including a possible
ship's spike
that archaeologist
Laird Niven believes
to pre-date the discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795.
It really is true
when you get here
or when you look at
this boulderless beach
from the water,
you can go back in time
and see what
Dan Blankenship saw, right?
Oh, you can see
how it got its name.
Yeah, it's just striking how
clearly this is different
than the rest of the beach,
Whether you're looking
at it from a boat
or when you come
here and stand here.
It is... I mean, just, look...
It looks like it
was cleared out.
Yep.
And now, why...
Season Nine,
why is this back in play?
Looks can be deceiving.
You don't see any boulders
in this area,
but we have recovered
some really nice
artifacts in this
area over the years.
We always suspected there
was wharfs in this area,
and we have found wharf pins
and ship spikes on the beach.
Nice.
We've found coins,
buttons, buckles,
so many finds inland
and on the beach.
Beach erosion flushes
artifacts out of the banks.
We could find something
any day we come here.
All right, so, Alex,
what has the team done
this year, here on
the Boulderless Beach?
This year,
we ran side-scan sonar,
sub-bottom profiling,
and a magnetometer
all around the island
and we took it here because one
of the most interesting hits,
on multiple surveys,
is right out there.
Right out here under water?
This is a weird
part of the island.
We have the Boulderless
Beach right here.
Just up over the bank is
what we call the bald spot.
And then now a new
anomaly just offshore.
I think there's
something going on here.
And we're going to dive on it
this year, actually, quite soon.
So, we'll figure
out exactly what it is.
And the great part is,
for the first time ever,
we might be able to apply
and get permission for an
underwater archaeology permit,
which means we can
investigate and possibly dig up
and recover
whatever this hit is.
That's amazing,
that's next-level Oak Island,
recovering stuff from
underwater, I love it.
Yeah, we might finally
be able to understand why
the Boulderless Beach has such
a conspicuous lack of boulders.
That's awesome.
This has been great and I think
what you guys have
in store for Season Nine
is gonna be even better.
So, thank you for the time.
I can't wait to find out
more about this potential dive.
Yeah, of course.
Stay tuned 'cause
there's more coming.
I love it, all right,
let's get you guys back to work.
- Sounds good.
- Okay.
For the past eight years,
we've seen Rick, Marty, Craig,
and the team apply the
most cutting-edge technology
available in their quest
to solve the Oak Island mystery.
This year, I'm hearing
they're about to try a new one
that just might be
their ace in the hole.
Here to explain that technology
to me today are Rick Lagina...
- Hey.
- Steve Guptill,
- Howdy.
- Scott Barlow and Doug Crowell.
Guys, I see the drills
are very active right now.
What's happening?
Matty, you've all heard,
you know, we're all
really excited about
what's about to
happen in the Money Pit,
but I will say this,
if those cans can't find it,
maybe muon technology can.
This muon technology,
tell me about that.
You had mentioned
it last season,
at the end of the season
as a possibility.
We talk about possible
technologies all the time,
but it seems like this one,
you've brought
to bear this year.
That is correct.
Muon tomography is a technology
that detects cosmic rays,
known as muons,
which actually originate
outside the atmosphere in space,
but then penetrate the earth.
By drilling holes,
and placing muon-detecting
devices deep underground,
this state-of-the-art
scanning method can
identify possible voids,
structures, and anything
resembling the fabled
Money Pit treasure vault.
In 2017, muon tomography
was used to successfully
identify a previously
unknown chamber in
the Great Pyramid of Giza.
It's possible that
for the first time ever,
we'll be able
to look underground,
not only in the Money Pit area,
but other areas of interest,
including the whole island.
And I think if Dan were here,
he would describe this
as his breakthrough.
Wow.
How does this technology work,
to the best of your ability,
from what you've
learned about it?
The data is like a flashlight.
So, we're going
to put the technology in
the ground, and it's like
a flashlight and it reads up.
So, all the technology
to date, we're looking down.
This is the first time
we're going to look up.
So, we're going to get
deeper than the targets,
and we're going to
flash that technology up
and have enough overlap that
we can hopefully find tunnels.
You know, go to the swamp,
we want to see walls.
In the Money Pit,
we want to see shafts,
chambers, and treasure.
So, we're going to place these
very strategically,
and it's incredible.
The longer these
things are in the ground,
the more muons they collect,
the clearer the
picture they get.
What does it kind of look like,
the picture you'll see?
Or is it purely data?
To them, it's data
and then from that,
they extract an image.
Some of the images
they have shown us,
it's... a layperson can
look at it and understand.
And that's what we're
really hoping for here.
Where are you going to apply
this technology,
Rick, on the island?
Do you have targets in mind?
Steve, you want
to explain, you know,
- exactly, you know...
- Sure.
Where these have been placed?
Yeah, so right now,
we're in Phase One.
We have a multi-phase process.
So, our targets right now
are the swamp,
south shore pit,
and the Money Pit,
we've thrown every bit of data
and science and just everything,
everything you can imagine
into the work this year.
And all of that has
led to what you see,
not the small rig,
but the big one.
This is really awesome.
We know what a jumbled mess
the Money Pit is,
but we also have knowns,
so they can task
the software and say,
here's the Hedden Shaft,
here's the Chappell shaft,
here's all the boreholes...
How many, Steve, now?
400.
And they can task
the software with...
These are all knowns.
Remove them from your analytics
and tell us what
the rest of it means.
And to me, that... that was
the fascinating part of this.
Yeah.
Doug, are you hopeful
with this technology?
What do you think?
What's ultra-cool
to me is the guys
have applied every
technology on earth
that's pertinent trying
to solve this mystery.
And now, Rick's
reaching out into space
for help from the universe.
I think that's ultra-cool.
It's so incredible to
think you could have an image
of the Money Pit underground.
You mentioned "one thing,"
so that makes me
think of the silver.
Now, let's say there's
a huge cache of silver
and gold down there,
would this technology reveal it?
A layman can look
at this and say,
there's something
we need to... to investigate.
So, yes.
And the accuracy that they claim
to be able to see
is within a couple of feet.
Every time I think
you guys are as close
as you can possibly be,
you get a little closer
and this type of
technology seems like it
could be the thing
that really shows us,
literally and figuratively,
the picture of what
happened here on Oak Island.
So, congratulations
to you for noticing that,
following up on it,
and to the team for applying it.
I can't wait to
see these images, guys.
- This is awesome.
- Neither can we.
Let's go get it.
We are just minutes away
from the world premiere
of Season Nine
of The Curse of Oak Island.
But before we see how
this is all going to unfold,
I'm sitting down in the
Money Pit area one last time
with brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina.
Guys, thanks for this,
first of all.
Welcome again, Matty.
Everyone's been waiting
a long time for Season Nine.
There was doubt if there
was going to be a Season Nine
after this horrible pandemic
the world has suffered.
But the reality is,
here we sit again,
and there's the biggest
equipment that's ever
been in the Money Pit,
the biggest dig
you have done yet,
and that's exciting.
Yeah, I mean, Matty,
you know, I mean,
what does this island
do to everybody?
It brings you back, and it
brings you back bigger, right?
Take a look at the size
of these cannisters back here.
That's what's going
down in the Money Pit.
Each one of them
is bigger than 10-X.
Each one of them
is bigger than what Dan,
and Dan Henskee, and Dave
dug over a 20-year period.
We're going to do more
with each one of these.
We've got enough
time and material
to do four, we got four
good places to look.
How can you not be
excited about that?
I mean, we're going to
do some for-real searching.
I feel like we're sort of
close to the endgame here.
We're just not going to quit
until there's a reason to quit.
It's an exciting year,
there's no question
about it, you know.
I don't think all of us,
the whole Fellowship,
I don't think
we've ever been so...
committed to a specific area,
in terms of search agenda,
but in the here and now,
- we're pretty much all...
- We're united.
United, that's a very good word.
We're united about what
we intend to do this year.
I've said to pretty
much to every team member,
yourself included,
yourself included,
I've never seen you this
excited about one spot.
The spot behind me.
Are you closer than ever
to explaining what's down there,
and also the story
of what's down there?
When Rick says, "the one thing,"
he's not talking about
a nondescript gold bar.
- You aren't, are you?
- No.
When he says, "the one thing,"
by definition,
it answers your question.
In other words, he wants to
hold the thing in his hand that
tells the story, or at least
has some definitive links.
Say, "Ah, I see now,
this is who was here.
This is what happened,
this is..."
He wants to hold
that in his hand.
- I'm more mercenary.
- Yeah.
It would be irrefutable
proof to the most
hardened skeptic that
something happened here
long ago that is
remarkable and interesting.
And that it's a storied thing
that happened here, right?
So, I have high hopes
that the one thing actually...
I don't want to
just put it in my hand,
I want to put
it in Marty's hand,
I want to put
it in everyone's hand.
That being said, here we sit
and we've talked about
this muon tomography
and some other technology
you have brought to bear.
So, do you think,
at the end of the day,
that it could be
science and technology
- that finally pulls out some treasure?
- Oh, it will be,
it will be.
Maybe the muon technology
won't give us a...
like an X-ray of the island,
but we think right now it might.
And if you could see
an X-ray of this island,
well, then that should
pretty much put it to bed.
But we have a lot
of stuff that's...
That could put it
to bed right now,
right behind you.
That's going to be successful.
I'm calling it now.
- Okay.
- All right.
Something else I've learned here
going into this Season Nine,
that there were
some serious obstacles
that you guys
haven't faced before
in terms of the authorities.
Talk to me how that
might play out this season,
how it might
play out in the future.
What are your thoughts on
some of those unexpected
obstacles you guys encountered?
As we come up with
more and more things that
appear to make Rick
correct that something
very significant
happened here, well,
then it becomes
an archaeological site, right?
I mean, you can't
separate those two.
If something historically
significant happened here,
then the archaeologists
are gonna sit up
and want to be a part of that.
It's a consequence that
the powers that be are
taking this place seriously now,
which is great, that's exciting.
It's also burdensome.
So, it's a mark of success then?
- It is.
- Yeah, it is.
This is an important thing,
we think, to Nova Scotia.
Really and truthfully,
the regulators
want us to succeed, too.
They do,
they don't want us to fail.
So, we'll get through it.
The other thing I've
noticed from everyone here
on the island this season
is that every time I mention
the silver, everybody smiles
at me like a Cheshire Cat grin.
Should I be excited
by more than just silver,
say another precious, precious
metal in this spot behind me?
You know, Matty,
I'll just say this.
You may find what
you're looking for
in the Periodic Table.
Ooh, okay.
It's all I'm saying.
All right, thank you, guys.
Well, you heard it from
the brothers themselves.
Let's find out
what's in that pit.
Acorns, we finally made it.
The Season Nine premiere
of The Curse of
Oak Island starts now.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.