Tonight on the curse of oak island...
How does lot 5 connect to the money pit?
This may be that pathway.
This could be the connection we've been looking for.
- Wow. - I don't know what that is.
- This is very unusual. - Everything suggests
1600s to 1700s.
Here we go. Look at this.
That could easily be off a box or a chest.
I agree.
Where are we gonna find what fell out of those chests?
Ready to go diving.
- Let's go diving. - We want to see
if there's treasure within Aladdin's cave.
My god.
There is an island in the north Atlantic
where people have been looking for
an incredible treasure for more than 200 years.
So far, they have found a stone slab
with strange symbols carved into it,
man-made workings that date to medieval times,
and a lead cross whose origin may be connected
to the knights templar.
To date, six men have died
trying to solve the mystery.
And according to legend, one more will have to die
before the treasure can be found.
- Hey, Ken. Welcome back. - Thank you.
Good morning.
We hope you'll tell us if it's a good morning.
- That's right. - As a new day
begins on oak island,
brothers Rick and Marty lagina and members of their team
anxiously welcome
underwater imaging expert Ken deboer
to the fabled money pit area.
Right now, we have a caisson into a cave.
So, the cave is about 150 feet deep.
So the hope today is to get your r.O.V.
All the way to the bottom and just underneath the casing.
Okay.
And to run sonar first to see what's in it.
- Sure. - And to see if we can see a void
or a tunnel heading towards the money pit area.
Okay.
And you do have a camera as well on that, correct?
- That's right. Yeah. - Let's just take a look-see
- and see what happens. - Okay.
One week ago, while representatives
from roc equipment and sb Canada
were excavating a seven-foot diameter steel shaft
known as ac-1.
- I think we're breaking through the cave. - Agreed.
At a depth of some 150 feet,
a massive underground cavity was breached,
which the team had previously dubbed "Aladdin's cave."
It's almost like there's nothing there.
Like a void.
This mysterious cavern
was first discovered during a core-drilling operation
back in 2022.
Right now, we're looking into the cavity.
And since then, the team has been astonished
to obtain not only images
of possible man-made artifacts and tunnels within it
but also high traces of precious metals
in water samples.
We'll pick the r.O.V. Up
and then center it over the caisson
and we'll go down from there.
- All right. Copy that. - All right?
Now, after inserting
a water-clarifying compound known as flocculent
several days ago, the team is hoping
that Ken deboer's sonar-equipped
remote-operated vehicle, or r.O.V.,
will confirm if Aladdin's cave is a man-made chamber
and just what it might contain.
Josh.
Nice and easy?
- Got it? - Yep.
Beautiful.
Okay, Rick, this is our main r.O.V. Camera.
- Yeah. - This'll be our sonar screen.
- Hopefully, we'll see what we can do. - Okeydoke.
- Ready to go diving. - Let's go diving.
I hope that with the introduction of the r.O.V.,
that it will be able to tell us
if there's treasure within Aladdin's cave.
For it to have treasure in it,
or to prove that human beings were there,
there has to be to be an entry.
How many times have you seen this image,
- of a camera going down? - A lot.
And you know what?
Every time, we believe.
- Every time, we hope. - Yep.
Aladdin's cave shouldn't be there, geologically,
which means it likely is human-induced.
About 15 more feet.
It's extremely intriguing.
We have video of it.
It is well and truly an anomaly.
Touching water.
Ooh.
- That's murky, isn't it? - Yeah, really.
Ten centimeters into the water.
- Ouch. - Ooh.
- Nothing. - That's gone black now.
The flocculant... Maybe didn't do a good job.
I-I wouldn't have thought it would go that black
- that early. - No. Wow.
So, where we're at, Rick, is that we're in
floating in water, we're in the water column,
and the sonar is completely silted out.
So we can't see through the dirt, the mud.
I wouldn't have expected that.
We have the proper amount of flocculent in there.
It's seeing nothing but mud.
It's black.
It's as if there's something
completely blocking all the sonar signals.
Mysterious setbacks on oak island
have been a reoccurring nightmare for treasure hunters
ever since the discovery of the money pit in 1795.
So, today, having taken diligent measures
to improve the visibility in Aladdin's cave,
the failure to capture sonar images
through the heavy silt in the water
is hard for the team to fathom.
Especially since they have obtained camera images
within the cavity in the past.
I don't think this is gonna work.
I think as far as getting visual,
- we're-we're done. - Yeah.
Without sonar data, we have to move on.
We had high expectations of what Aladdin's cave might represent.
Unfortunately, given the water quality,
we're not gonna be able to get the data that we had hoped for.
We've given the water enough time to settle out.
There's no value in reintroducing camera or sonar.
It's just not gonna work.
We have certainly not found an explanation
for the high metals originally detected,
so something could still be down there.
But you only have so much time.
We have to move on.
I need to call my brother and Craig
and see what their opinion is.
- Yeah. - We've got to pick
another caisson location, so I think all of us
will meet in the war room.
Ken, thank you for your time.
- Pleasure. Anytime. - Appreciate it.
Okay, so let's get back to work.
Later that afternoon...
So, I just want to bring you guys up to speed.
Unfortunately, the water
in Aladdin's cave is too cloudy for sonar,
too cloudy for camera
the laginas, their partner Craig tester
and members of their team gather
for a critical strategy meeting in the war room.
We tried everything and...
U-Unless you have a, the genie in the bottle
that we weren't able to retrieve,
there's nothing else we can do.
I think we have to make a decision
to terminate the hole, as unseemly as that sounds.
- Yeah. - Okay, so, then-then,
we move on to picking another caisson location.
Vanessa and her team need to know exactly
where we need to go next.
So, I have an idea where I would like to go.
I've never left the idea that shaft six treasure.
Despite the fact that the team is currently unable to pursue
two potential treasure locations in the money pit area,
incredibly, there is one more
that they have yet to fully investigate.
In the summer of 1861,
members of the oak island association
drilled through what were thought to be
two stacked wooden treasure chests
at a depth of approximately 100 feet
in the original money pit shaft.
In an attempt to retrieve them,
while avoiding a believed man-made flood tunnel,
they moved 18 feet to the west
and dug an adjacent shaft, known as shaft six,
down to a depth of 118 feet.
From there, they began tunneling laterally toward the money pit
with the hope of retrieving the treasure from below.
Unfortunately, just one foot from their target,
a flood of seawater rushed in,
forcing the workers to flee
and causing tons of lumber inside the money pit,
and the believed treasure chests,
to collapse into the tunnel connected to shaft six.
You've been trying to find this thing in shaft six forever.
- Where would you put this? - I would move to the sump area,
the-the lower end of the shaft.
- That's down here, right? - Right down there.
- Okay. - Are we absolutely certain
that's shaft six? To the best of our ability, yes.
So that's where I would go.
We know that there was a-a massive collapse.
It makes you think there has to be some treasure.
Who knows? We have to go dig it up.
- Yeah. - If that shaft was never fully cleaned out
a-and gone through, then there's potential there,
and that's a great place for a caisson.
We should name it "Rick lagina"
and we go to the bottom.
I agree with everything except it should be.
"Rick pick one."
There.
Shaft six always read real to me.
I could picture myself running for my life,
as the, as the-the money pit collapses.
If there was a treasure in the original money pit,
some of that is in shaft six
and in the tunnel associated with shaft six.
That is my firm belief.
I appreciate all the kind words.
Incredibly humbling.
But we wouldn't be here without each other.
So, look to your right, look to your left.
You're all an inspiration,
And let's get out there and find it.
Agreed.
Well said.
- Keep going. - As representatives
from roc equipment and sb Canada
begin the potentially historic excavation
of the rp-1 shaft in the money pit area,
nearly half a mile to the west on lot 5...
There's still stuff coming out in the middle.
Yeah.
I'll just keep troweling.
Archaeologists Helen Sheldon
and moya MacDonald,
along with their assistant Todd langseth,
are exploring an area just outside
of a mysterious rounded stone foundation.
We still have hope of finding some more stuff.
- Perfect. - Shouldn't take too much longer.
While the team has been amazed
to find evidence of numerous treasure deposits
in the money pit area,
this rounded feature on lot 5,
which was first investigated in 2022,
has produced evidence that it may have been used
as a campsite over different time periods
ranging from as late as the mid-18th century
to as early as, and perhaps even prior to, the 17th century.
The most telling discoveries
include a 14th-century barter token
that, just like the lead cross
that was uncovered at Smith's cove in 2017,
may be connected to the knights templar,
and also, multiple 17th-century iron tools
and a barrel strap,
which have been scientifically linked
to the birthplace of sir William phips,
an English politician and privateer
who some believe buried a vast cache of silver and gold
on oak island back in 1687.
Now the team is meticulously excavating
a 15-by-15-foot test pit
just outside of the rounded foundation
in the hopes of finding more clues
that will help prove who created this feature
and identify who else may have used it
prior to the discovery of the money pit.
Hey, Helen. I don't know what that is.
Wow, let me see. That looks different.
It looks like a nail to me.
My heavens.
There's hardly any corrosion on that at all.
That's in as good of shape as a copper nail,
but I don't think it's copper.
Moya, do you have your magnet here?
- Yeah, I do. - Could we use it to test
- and see if this is iron or not? - Yeah, for sure.
- Square, so it's hand-forged? - Hand-forged,
yeah.
Okay.
- Oy. - So, it's definitely iron.
Yeah.
You found a nail earlier, right, Todd? Like,
- regular ones? - Yeah, almost in the same spot.
Doesn't look anything like that.
And that's typically what we're pulling out for nails here.
Yeah.
So, this is what we're normally getting,
these corroded chunks of iron.
And this one looks pristine.
Isn't that weird?
This is very unusual.
This was probably just made for building a structure.
This one could be from something else.
- Wow. - And it's missing its head.
I wonder if maybe it isn't even a nail.
It could be something else. It's very unusual.
Well, we've found some strapping,
so maybe it's part of, like, some sort of
- chest or barrel or something. - Barrel, or something like that, yeah.
A hand-forged iron artifact,
possibly from a barrel or chest?
If so, could it be an important clue
that helps link this structure on lot 5
to a possible treasure deposition in the money pit?
I think there's decent amount of evidence
that whatever happened on lot 5
had something to do with the money pit.
Think about that.
The rather large group of people it takes to do it.
So, where'd they go?
We haven't found one like this before here.
- It could be quite old. - -Lot 5 is a very good place
for an encampment.
There was a lot of human activity there.
Emma can xrf it,
and that will tell us a lot more.
But that is very interesting.
Todd, good find. Excellent.
As the investigation on lot 5 continues...
That's interesting, Jack.
- So, you've got that. - Ooh, yeah.
This is redeposited soil.
Jack begley, Gary drayton,
Tom Nolan and geoscientist Dr. Ian spooner
are continuing another critical investigation
in the northern region of the triangle-shaped swamp.
This soil, this type of Clay,
should not be this high up.
- Okay. - We're still on the edge
of this cobblestone path,
but they redeposited this soil.
Somebody did something here.
- Yeah. - Do you want to scrape
- the top over here a bit? - Sure. Yeah, absolutely.
Take that corner there, al.
During the past decade,
the team has uncovered a number of man-made structures
all across the swamp,
such as a potentially 500-year-old stone road,
or ship's wharf, in the southeastern corner
as well as a massive paved area near the center of the bog,
which Dr. Spooner believes could date back to 1200 ad.
And just this year,
they have unearthed numerous sections
of a cobblestone pathway
that led them to an empty brick-and-slate vault
in the northern region,
which may have been constructed in the 18th century or earlier.
These are just a few of the discoveries
that may validate the theory of Tom's late father Fred Nolan,
who believed that the swamp was artificially created
to hide numerous caches of treasure.
And I'm starting to see rocks pop up over here, too.
Now the team is working to track and uncover
more sections of the cobblestone path
in the hopes that it might lead
to another important and perhaps valuable discovery.
These are completely abnormal.
- No... - They were just stacked
in the swamp material.
To me, it's kind of impressive.
It's very similar, this feature, to the stone road,
just a different scale.
- I think it's just human-placed. - Yeah.
On the other side of that bigger Boulder right there...
- Right. - There was more redeposited clays.
Jack, can you show me where that soil was? That'd be great.
Yeah, it's on the other side of this rock.
- This right here. - Yep.
This material, you can see, it's on top of these cobbles.
- Right. - And it even comes over right underneath.
Yeah, there's a lot of hand-laid rock in here, too, right?
Definitely.
You don't get cobbles all like this
in swamp material.
It doesn't blow in with a storm.
No, and it seems to be in linear formation.
Yeah.
To me, what's exciting about it is that
if it does go to the west drumlin,
then it most certainly goes to the east drumlin.
So, this was a primary pathway
to some kind of activity.
You'd need something constructed
to get from one side of the swamp to the other.
And I was so excited by lot 5,
but how does lot 5 connect to the money pit?
And this may be that thread that connects the two.
This could be the connection we've been looking for.
Yep.
A pathway connecting the western drumlin,
or section of oak island, to the eastern drumlin?
I think when it does get cleared a little bit more,
it'll start to show itself better.
If so, might this pathway
have been used to transport valuables from lot 5
to the money pit area?
And also to be hidden in the swamp?
- I'm off. - Okay.
See you.
We'll see if there is anything else.
Yeah, let's go for it.
See if we got any hits.
Ooh, look at what we've got here,
- poking out of the mud. - What do you see, Gary?
Look at what we got.
- Look at what we got. - Looks like old leather.!
In the oak island swamp,
metal detection expert Gary drayton
has just made a potentially significant discovery.
It is, I bet.
Look at the holes in it.
- It looks like it's a heel, doesn't it? - Yeah.
And the holes were from the pegs
- that would hold the sole down, right? - Yeah.
So, they use little, square-shanked nails
called hobnails, and that's how you know it's an older shoe.
I think this is a heel to an adult's boot.
And look, there's three layers to it.
That's gonna help the shoe expert
to tell us how old this is.
It looks old to me.
I mean, that-that's no modern... heel.
- No, that's old. - I mean, that's a shoo-in,
to help us find out who made these structures.
Could Gary drayton be correct
that the team may have found a critical clue
as to who may have constructed the cobblestone pathway
in the swamp?
And perhaps, also, who may have buried treasure
in the money pit area?
- And should we have... - Yes.
A-a little dig around here and see
if there's any more parts to it?
- Ooh. - Nice one, Tom.
- Some more of your shoe, Gary. - Nice.
Front end of the shoe.
- Fantastic. - Bag that with the other stuff.
- Nice one, Tom. Look at that. - Let's see if we can find some more.
As my mate Rick would say, "eyes and boots."
Well, we have maybe recovered
a piece of the boot or a shoe.
Hey, we got another piece here. Look.
Now, it's not the type of Booty we was hoping to find,
but it could be very old.
And maybe we can tell who was here.
There's more.
Yeah.
That's fantastic. Wow.
Ye olde shoe store, right here in the swamp.
I think the whole shoe's still here.
This could be one of the biggest clues
that we've found in the swamp in total.
Wow.
Here comes the guys.
Well, you've certainly made some progress.
You know me, mate. My twin optical scanners
are always on the ground,
and I saw two pieces of leather sticking up,
which turned into a lot more pieces.
These are really old.
Look at all this old leather here.
And it's all got the, square hobnails in it.
- I mean, look... - now, this is no stitching.
- This is old. - Where was this? Here?
Just here.
When you say "old..."?
I'd say 1600s.
I'll go straight to 1600s with this.
- Really? - Or even older.
I remember a shoe we found in the swamp
and Joe Landry dated that back to the 1600s.
This is absolutely stunning, mate.
That is either a shoe or a boot.
Last year, while investigating the stone road
in the southeast corner of the swamp,
the team found part of a deteriorated shoe,
which leather expert Joe Landry believed may have belonged
to a 17th-century European soldier.
This would have been more likely done in Europe.
Could Gary, Tom and Jack
have found additional clues that may help identify
who created some of the features in the swamp?
All the more reason to carbon-date it,
because we always try to corroborate data.
Let's pull the top off and then look for
- whatever else might be here. - Yeah,
'cause we know something's afoot here.
Something's afoot here.
Elementary, Watson.
The following morning...
Keep your eyes peeled, because just yesterday,
your dad saw leather popping out of the swamp muck.
Well, hawk eyes definitely run in the family.
- We'll find it. - All right.
Alan, let 'er rip.
As the investigation continues
in the northern region of the swamp...
Anything unusual, Terry?
- Just back fill. - Okay.
In the money pit area,
Gary drayton and geologist Terry Matheson
are monitoring the excavation of the rp-1 shaft,
a shaft where they hope to encounter a tunnel
some 118 feet deep that may contain a debris field
of timbers and, potentially, valuables.
- Morning. - Hi, Vanessa. - Hey, Vanessa.
- How you doing? - Good. We just got a reading for you.
- Super. - The hole right now is at 69 and a half.
- Well, that's great news. - Yep. - All right.
Well, I'll let you guys get to it.
- Thanks. - Thank you.
We've got another load, mate.
- I'm off back in. - Better get there, yeah.
See you in a minute.
I got an hit here.
A hit?
Need a hand, Gary?
Yeah, just there.
It's deep.
Right. Let's have a little recheck.
It's iron.
Bit of iron plate,
- like a broken strap, possibly. - Right.
Actually, it's rounded edges... it's, like, decorative.
- That could... - Finished edge, for sure.
That could easily be off a-a box or a chest.
- We're getting there. - Yeah.
Where are we gonna find what fell out of those chests?
Has Gary actually found a strap
from one of the two treasure chests
that are believed to have broken apart
during the 1861 collapse of the money pit?
If so, does that mean
the team might soon unearth valuables
from within the shaft six tunnel?
The old finds are coming up right now.
- I agree. - All right, mate.
If you hang on to that and put that on the table,
I'll finish searching the spoils.
- We'll get it off to the lab. - Okay, mate.
Got a signal.
Got a signal, Terry!
Hang on. One more fish.
Here we go. Look at this.
My lordy.
- Here we go. Look at this. - Wow.
- That looks like a strap, doesn't it? - Yeah, that's
- yeah, that is a strap. - My lordy.
It is a critical moment for the oak island team.
At a depth of more than 70 feet in the rp-1 shaft,
they are finding clues that suggest
part of the fabled money pit treasure
may soon be within their reach.
- That's sweet, mate. - Absolutely.
We're on a treasure hunt,
we're looking for treasure chests,
and we sure know they used to have iron straps around them.
This is a great sign.
Now, this is really cool, mate.
That is an old-looking strap.
It looks like it's wrought iron,
and we don't find many pieces like this
that have got two straps put together.
Overlapping, and there seems to be a rivet in there. Wow.
You're right, mate. That's for reinforcement.
If you found an old treasure chest
or, like, a-a lock box...
- Yep. - You would have something like this,
this strap around it.
For sure. A large box has to be reinforced.
- Yeah. - Imagine the weight of gold.
Yeah. Love it, mate.
Now, I remember a piece of iron strap that was found on lot 5.
Maybe we have found another connection
between the money pit and lot 5.
We won't know that until we have this tested,
but I wouldn't be surprised.
- It's tantalizing, my friend. - Yep.
I'm hoping Rick's right, mate,
this Rick pick one turns out to be the treasure.
- Hear, hear. - All right, mate. I'll put it in the bag.
Okay.
You get a minute on your upstroke?
Can you raise up the bottom deck?
- Yep. - Perfect. Thank you.
- Hi, Vanessa. - Hey, guys.
- Hi, Rick. - Hey. -Hey, guys.
- How are you doing today? - I'm feeling a little anxious,
to be honest with you.
- How deep are we? - We're at 78.
I really believe we're gonna find something.
- That'd be awesome. - Yeah.
Let's see what this one does.
As the can approaches the area of interest,
I'm excited, stressed.
I have always believed
that shaft six is the key to answering,
the question of, "is there a treasure in the money pit?"
A-And I hope we prove that today.
I mean, look at all the artifacts coming up now.
We're getting some really old-looking iron straps.
And how many times have we shown Carmen legge straps?
And you know where he goes straight to.
Treasure chests and boxes.
These are very cool.
Yeah, so this could be a good sign.
You've got to find the iron
before you find the gold and the silver.
- I'm looking forward to it. - I love it.
I'm talking about treasure, mate.
We've got another load here, which means another chance.
- Okay. - Perfect.
Everything is rounding to a very good day.
I 100% agree.
While the excavation continues in rp-1
later that afternoon...
Okay. We're here to talk about this item found
- on lot 5, right? - Yes.
Rick and Marty lagina
join other members of the team in the lab
to receive a report on the believed nail
that was found one day ago on lot 5.
This one is different
because most of the ones we find are, like,
corroded bits of nail, very corroded.
This one popped out of the ground
- looking almost perfect. - Yeah.
So, I brought it in for Emma to test
and run her analysis on it.
And?
And it is older. I will concur.
Earlier today, archaeometallurgist Emma culligan
scanned the artifact using the sky scan 1273 ct scanner,
a device which emits X-ray radiation
to produce a three-dimensional image of its finer details.
In addition, she also examined it
with the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, or xrf,
which uses gamma rays to determine
an object's elemental composition.
It's not entirely a nail.
I'd call it more of like a pin?
- They're iron pins. - Yeah. -Okay.
But the cross section is square,
so it is hand-wrought, not machine-made.
Compositionally, it's very clean.
There's minimal impurities.
Yeah.
Everything suggests an earlier date.
But in general, the purer the iron,
- the more it lasts? - Yeah.
- Generally. - Generally speaking. -Yeah.
I think the big indicator was
the aluminum-silicon ratio.
I've seen that characteristic in colonial American metals.
So, yeah, late 1600s to mid-1700s.
All right. That date range fits with William phips,
and the date range that would fit
with him possibly being on oak island.
- Yeah. - In 1687,
sir William phips made two historic salvages
of the concepción,
a Spanish galleon that sank off the coast
of the Dominican Republic in 1641
while carrying 100 tons of silver, gold and jewels.
After delivering 34 tons of recovered valuables
to the English crown from his first mission,
curiously, phips claimed that he only found five tons more
on his second trip.
This has led many to speculate that he
and a masonic associate named captain Andrew belcher
may have hidden the missing riches on oak island,
based on their secret knowledge of an ancient vault
that had been buried in the money pit
more than three centuries earlier by members
of the knights templar.
I mean, Emma, I would suggest,
when you get time with everything else you're doing,
to compare the metallurgy there to the phips collection.
Let us know if that matches.
- Absolutely. - Okay.
Is it possible that this artifact
might be related to the numerous iron tools
previously found on lot 5
that were scientifically linked to the birthplace
of sir William phips?
But more importantly, might these discoveries,
and older ones that have been dated
to as early as the 14th century,
help explain why the team has found evidence
that multiple treasures could be buried in the money pit area
and even in the swamp?
We refer to the historical narrative of the island
all the time, right?
Well, let's follow the possible phips connection.
- Okay. - Anyway, we've got work to do.
- Let's all get out there. - All right.
- Thank you. - See you later.
As a new day begins on oak island... In she goes.
And while the excavation
continues in the money pit area...
All right, al, let's get going.
You're at the bottom over there, but it looks like you got
still, like, a foot over here.
In the northern end of the swamp,
Jack begley, Steve guptill and Katya drayton
continue searching for additional sections
of the cobblestone path
and, potentially, valuable clues.
Hey, Jack.
I'm finding axe-chopped wood.
- You're finding axe-cut wood? - Axe-chopped wood.
Whoa.
Yeah, so, we're finding
square logs that are not natural.
It was found in the deeper piles.
What's weird about this wood, they're roughly cut
to where they could be quite old.
It seems to me like it's remains of a structure.
And we're also finding logs that are burnt.
It's burnt.
But that looks cut, too.
That's really strange.
Maybe someone burnt it when they were done
to hide the evidence.
Each of these tells a story,
and they all come together at some point.
Evidence of a burned, man-made feature?
Great job saving them.
But if so, could it be related
to the mysterious cobblestone pathway
and the nearby structures,
such as the brick and slate vault?
It's strange that we're finding
so many different cut pieces of wood
that are also burned.
But it definitely means someone was doing work in the swamp,
and then at the end, there was a fire.
- Exactly. - And maybe that's why
we're not finding that many pieces.
I mean, it's definitely worth setting aside
and see what dates come back from this wood.
Yep.
- Great job, Katya. - Perfect.
We'll keep looking.
Definitely got the eagle eyes.
Let's get back to it.
Finding wood that is axe-cut
but also is burnt is something that I've never seen,
especially in wetlands.
It's really not natural to have.
What else are we going to find?
Al, it seems like someone had pre-dug.
This already has the feel like it's,
redeposited soils.
So just be sure to take your time going through here,
'cause I want to analyze it.
While the investigation in the swamp continues...
We've got to be getting close.
- We are getting close, I think. - Later that afternoon
in the money pit area, Rick lagina
and other members of the team monitor
the excavation in rp-1
as it closes in on the legendary shaft six tunnel
some 118 feet underground.
How deep are we?
The dig is at, like, 96, 97?
So, I am getting a little nervous, I admit it.
There is a lot of material here.
- Just need that one thing. - I'm just
surprised we don't have a lot more wood.
- Yeah. - With a catastrophic collapse like that,
things are gonna spread out.
We're still above your target area,
so we're gonna keep going.
And we'll keep you informed.
- We're going to keep looking. - Okay.
We're all hoping to find something.
I remember how everyone spoke so eloquently
about that these should be my picks, and I've always
felt strongly about shaft six, but
I want to find something for them, too.
I want to prove the story real.
Craig, there's some timber in there.
Timber?
What's that, Terry? Is that anything?
It's a highly-shaped chunk of wood, my friend.
Looks like somebody took an axe to it.
Axe-cut wood?
Could it be part of shaft six,
and offer evidence that they are on track
to soon encounter a tunnel full of debris
and possible treasure?
I think this is the edge of the shaft.
Look at how dark this wood is.
- It's adze-cut. - Pretty dark, yeah.
Save that piece.
We should be at the level
where the money pit collapsed in and up.
Every scoop now is below 100.
So, from here to the bottom could be part of the collapse.
- Yeah. - Yeah, that's right.
- There's the wood. Look at it. - We got a lot of wood.
Look.
- This is what we've been waiting for. - -Amazing.
This is what we've been waiting for.
- Yeah. - That is a lot of wood.
It is a potentially historic moment
in the money pit area for Rick lagina
and other members of the oak island team.
- So this is probably shaft six. - Yeah.
- It's mostly likely shaft six. - Yep.
At a depth of some 105 feet in the rp-1 caisson,
they have just recovered evidence
of the 1861 structure known as shaft six...
Could these wedges be tunnel wood?
- It's possible. - And the possible remains
of an adjacent tunnel containing wooden debris
and potential treasure.
When the collapse happens, it probably tore...
- Yes. Agreed. - Some of the tunnel apart,
and that would come first.
Yeah.
The wood I'm seeing is fractured in itself,
two distinctly different types.
And so, I feel it represents a collapse feature,
and that is exactly what we're looking for.
Now, every time the hammer grab drops the material,
your excitement goes up.
And the hope continues
to persist that you will find the treasure.
There you go. Look at that.
Adze-cut wood.
This is early on.
This-this could represent the first cribbing
in the money pit.
- That's cool. - Certainly does not fit
with that dimensional lumber.
No, it doesn't.
- No. - Although the team
was expecting to encounter the shaft six tunnel
several feet below the current depth of rp-1...
Let's see what this is.
Yeah, that's a lot of wood.
Is it possible that they are closing in
on the legendary riches that treasure hunters
have been seeking for more than two centuries?
Hey, guys.
These ones just came out of 108 feet.
So, Rick, what's that telling us?
Vanessa, if I knew, I'd tell you.
Well, you're smiling.
- This is something. - Yeah, it's cool.
It's-it's, you know, it's... yeah, it's all a good sign.
It's cool. Okay.
So, this wood, we believe, could be original money pit wood
or re-cribbed money pit wood that traveled 18 feet
through a tunnel into shaft six after the collapse.
Wow.
The only thing we're missing
- is the treasure. - Yeah.
Okay, well, we are losing sunlight.
- All right. - But the good news is,
we do have the shaft down quite far.
The dig is at 111, but I think we got to go deeper tomorrow
to get that one thing for Rick.
- One thing for all of us. - Yep.
For all of us.
It's getting later in the year.
The light diminishes rather rapidly.
There are safety concerns.
So you just have to call halt for the day.
I hope everyone knows
that I really appreciate everybody's hard work.
To me, this is one really good book,
we just need an ending.
And with your help, we'll get there.
Yeah, 'cause it's a treasure story.
You bet, Gary.
- All right. - Good luck to everyone.
Let's start tomorrow off with a bang.
- Sounds great. - Let's find that one thing.
All right. Let's do it.
For Rick, Marty, Craig and the team,
the dedication to build upon the efforts
of the faithful searchers who came before them
may now be on the verge of paying off.
But as they reach further
into the dark and mysterious depths of the money pit,
just what might await them?
A vast cache of Spanish silver?
Gold and jewels?
Or might they unearth something
much more profound and priceless?
After 230 years, perhaps the ultimate revelation
will take just one more day.
Next time on the curse of oak island...
Whoa, there's something here.
Sounds pretty good.
- Ooh! - Wow.
Is that normal?
- It's cryptic to me. - Ooh.
So this could be something new.
I had, like, an aha moment.
It's 85 years before the discovery of the money pit.
- Yeah. - Wow.
- Here we go. - Come on, baby.
Trying to find the one thing.
- Whoa. - Ooh, that's fantastic!
That could be a piece of the original money pit.
- I think, for sure. - Yes!
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