Original subtitles

Tonight, on The Curse Of Oak Island...

The goal is to delineate

an area where a possible flood tunnel might be.

Got something here, guys.

This is the entrance.

-Let's dig it up, you know?

Look at that.

That is really, really unusual.

See the braiding around it?

To me, it has sort of a maritime look to it.

-Right there. -Oh, wow.

These are pieces, probably of beams.

It's probably a tunnel that we're in.

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,

mysterious fragments of human bone,

and a lead cross whose origin may stretch back

to the days of 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.

For brothers Rick and Marty Lagina

and their Oak Island team,

their efforts to locate and shut off

a legendary booby-trapped flood tunnel,

one that has prevented digging in the fabled Money Pit

for more than two centuries, may finally be paying off.

We went a little bit north and east,

about ten feet back from the last hole that we were in.

We all talked about it, so this seems to be

-the best path forward. -Yeah.

It's basically the same line right here;

it's just further back, what we did yesterday.

-It's one of the pieces, isn't it? -Yes, it is.

-As Rick says, one of the pieces of the puzzle. -Absolutely.

And I think we'll have a good chance of finding the...

the channel in this location.

Yeah. I hope we hit something in this hole.

Could be in this next string that he's pulling up here.

This could be the day.

Whoa, baby.

One day ago, while drilling

an exploratory borehole near an area known

as the Cave-In Pit...

That's a piece of dynamite right there.

...the team discovered evidence of dynamite,

at a depth of some 95 feet.

This validated earlier research about a blasting operation

conducted by members of the Oak Island Treasure Company

in 1897.

They were hoping that by exploding dynamite

in a series of holes that ran in a straight line

west of Smith's Cove, they could seal off

the ocean water that fueled the flood tunnels.

Although the plan didn't work, one of the explosives

did cause seawater to boil up and out of the Money Pit,

leading to speculation that they may have been very close

to hitting their target.

It's coming, like, right now.

Got something here, guys.

Nice.

Good grab.

Are you ready for this one, boys?

Excellent.

-What do you got there? -What do you got?

-Want to break this apart and see what it is. -Okay.

Oh, yeah. We got some good chunks in here.

Look at that.

These are pieces, probably of beams.

Top, and perhaps a bottom chunk over about two and a half feet.

That was trying to hold something up

and hold something out. This is very exciting.

It's probably a tunnel that, uh, that we're in.

A tunnel?

Could it be that the team has finally located their target?

And, you know, look at this.

This looks like, uh, kind of a shear angle.

Like somebody cut that off.

Might have been shaved down or chopped or cut.

Kind of a hand-hewn edge to it.

The fact that the wooden beams appear to be hand-cut

could be very significant

in helping the team date the construction,

as cutting wood with power saws didn't become widespread

until the early 20th century.

Okay. Wow. We have seen nothing like this.

And what's the depth?

We are at 51 feet.

We should get Rick down here to go see this.

So, let me give him a call real quick.

Absolutely.

He'd want to see this.

Hey, Rick, it's Paul.

We actually found something interesting down here.

You might want to come down and take a look at this.

Okay. We'll see you when you get here.

-Great stuff. -All right. Thanks.

When Paul called about they had made a find

as part of the sonic drill program down in Smith's Cove,

that's important.

It might be the flood tunnel.

Is there high hope? Absolutely.

-Hi, Rick. How you doing? -Hey, Rick.

I'm not sure. You tell me how I feel.

Well, we are down to 58 and a half feet,

and at 51 feet, we've pierced

two sections, two what I would say is probably two timbers.

You can see where the-the drill

chewed right through a fairly substantial beam.

And, similarly, directly below,

it pierced its friend down a little deeper,

about three or four feet down.

So it seems like it's solid wood all the way down.

There's no historical account of anything

-being hidden here at that depth. -Right.

And you can see the primary bedding structures

in this stuff above; it hasn't been disturbed.

So, it's people did not come from above,

and below here as well, again, primary bedding structure.

Certainly an aberration.

The fact that there's virgin ground above

and virgin ground below, we know this is a tunnel.

Now, of course, that begs the question:

Is it original work or is it searcher work?

Finding evidence

of a wooden tunnel inland from Smith's Cove

and more than 50 feet deep

is a potentially huge breakthrough for the team.

It means it may very well be

the flood tunnel they've been looking for,

and, if verified, should lead them directly

to the Money Pit treasure vault.

It's the first big clue

-in Smith's Cove of the year. -I dare say, yes.

It's great.

Well, it's a step forward.

Following the team's exciting discovery

at Smith's Cove...

-Hey, guys. -Marty. -Hey, Marty.

...Rick and Marty Lagina

call a meeting in the war room.

So, we've got some artifacts we think you're gonna be

-interested in. -Fantastic.

Pieces of things.

All right, well, I'll-I'll wait for the explanation.

Okay. So, we started the drill program for Smith's Cove.

We drilled down until, about 51 feet,

we started seeing this wood.

Wow.

It's kind of curious that we've discovered wood.

This is the furthest down we've seen it on Smith's Cove.

-Yeah. - The wood

is very similar to the wood that was on the slipway.

-It's very similar to it. -Same techniques, same wood.

-Right? Isn't that... -Yeah.

Among the numerous man-made features

that the team uncovered at Smith's Cove last year,

like the mysterious U-shaped structure

and a portion of one of the stone box drains,

one of the most incredible was an ancient shipping wharf,

or slipway,

which was scientifically proven to have been constructed

more than two decades before the discovery of the Money Pit

in 1795.

The wood found in the borehole near Smith's Cove

looks like the wood that was utilized to make the slipway.

If they were the same age, then... then it's not searcher,

and that would be highly significant.

One thing I did notice,

I think this is in a line with all these structures we found.

-Can you spot these on a map? -Sure.

Here we go. Over here.

So, OITC-6 is the drill hole.

The importance of this is it runs through Wall 2,

Billy's wall, and the U-shaped structure.

When you keep following that line, where does it go through?

This way, Steve.

-This way as in the Money Pit? -Yes.

-Shift that picture that way. -Here we go.

So, if I push it right through Interesting.

So, it ends up in the Money Pit.

Wow.

A line?

One that leads directly from the U-shaped structure

and the stone box drain through a possible tunnel,

and all the way up to the Money Pit area?

Finding the flood tunnel, if it really exists,

would be huge to me.

It would absolutely reenergize me.

If it absolutely, positively,

with 100% certainty is the flood tunnel,

it might be the one thing.

-Then you'd have to say, "Wow, it's all true." -It could be the one thing. Yep.

If we want to, we did take a sample,

so we can get a C-14 testing. If we want to.

Well, I don't know why we wouldn't, just in case.

I don't think we should give over on this too quickly.

I think we need to test this.

I think C-14's great, Rick,

and I think if we can get a bigger piece,

we could try and run rings on it.

I think we should be able to get something off it, at least.

Maybe a determination of a year.

All right, well, I think we've come as far as we can here.

Let's get back at it.

The search continues.

As a new day begins on Oak Island,

Alex Lagina and Peter Fornetti arrive at Smith's Cove,

where island historian Charles Barkhouse and geologist

-Terry Matheson... Let's see where they're at.

...along with the team from Choice Drilling,

are hoping to find further evidence

of a possible wooden tunnel

located some 50 feet deep underground.

Well, this is a little different setup than yesterday.

Yeah. We're in the same alignment, so we're hopeful

of hitting that tunnel again.

-Mm-hmm. -Target depth would be about

somewhere between 50 and 60.

There's a tunnel that might be in

those sample bags right there.

Looking for, like, something in around 52, 50.

Here's 54.

It'd probably be this line, then, right?

- 58. -Yeah.

Yeah. We'll take a look.

Do-si-do.

Oh, yeah. Let's see.

All right. What do we have here, Charles?

-We're down to... -54.

54, was it?

So, this could be it here, gentlemen.

Somewhere in here.

We're hopeful of seeing that tunnel.

We're looking for wood, gentlemen.

Looking for tunnel wood.

And the answer is...

No...

Negatory.

Oh. Okay. Doesn't look good.

And that looks like just good old-fashioned maroon till,

doesn't it?

I don't see any evidence of a tunnel.

No. - That's...

That's the slough. ...slough.

I don't see any wood.

- No wood. And no tunnel.

You got a unending supply of mud and clay.

The lack of any wood is disappointing,

but not altogether surprising, as the team is still uncertain

as to the actual angle at which the flood tunnel

would have been directed between Smith's Cove

and the Oak Island Money Pit.

Okay, guys. We may get it in the next six feet.

We still may have a chance to get it.

-Let's go get some more. - To the next one.

Later that day, as the drilling operation

continues at Smith's Cove...

So, Tom, Craig and I just wanted to talk to you.

...Rick Lagina and Craig Tester meet in the war room

with fellow Oak Island landowner Tom Nolan.

You know, the drilling in the swamp is done,

and the end result of that drilling program

is that we feel like we have to dig in the swamp.

So there's some hard targets?

-Yep. -Okay.

After finding compelling evidence

of man-made workings in the triangle-shaped swamp,

including a 200-foot-long ship-shaped anomaly,

a possible stone wharf,

and a circular rock and metal formation

at the swamp's northernmost point,

the Laginas and their partners are eager

to secure the necessary permits

that will allow them to drain and excavate

a large portion of the area.

Okay. I brought a good luck charm, right here.

-Yeah, good luck. I hope so.

Although Tom has been cooperating with Rick, Marty,

and Craig's efforts since Fred's death in 2016...

Quite a sight.

-I wish Dad could see this. Yep.

...this year, he has joined them

as a full-time team member, in the hopes of realizing

his father's dream of solving the Oak Island mystery.

You've always said if there's anything

to the Oak Island mystery, at least some of the answers

are in that swamp.

I think it played a big part in what happened on this island.

We found enough evidence in there to know

somebody worked in that swamp for some reason.

Various things we pulled out of that bog

lead you to believe something happened in there.

But, you know, what?

We just have never been able to figure out.

But, you know, whatever's in there is well hidden.

It's a perfect hiding spot, and it gets worse every year

because, as the swamp grows up, it gets harder and harder

to get in there and see what's going on.

But you've said recently that you think

there's about three feet,

maybe even as much as six feet of organic plant material

over the top of that.

The way the overgrowth has grown, and, uh, you know,

the vegetation of that swamp over 30-some years,

it's really grown up, so what you're walking on today

isn't what we were walking on back then.

You almost got to take that layer off

if you want to really get back

-to what we were working off of there. -Yeah.

I think that's your best chance

at finding something like that in there.

You've-you've got to take a bit of that cover material off.

We have no idea what we're going to encounter.

Craig has a thought about how to proceed.

Well, the two main systems we're looking at would be

the bladder system, like-like we used out in the ocean...

-Yep. -...to-to form a barrier

to keep the water that's-that's still in there

from draining into where we're doing an excavation.

-Yeah. -Um, and then there's another method

where, um, they basically

put a fabric down, and then, as they're digging,

they put the material on the fabric

to give it a weight and to keep it centered,

so you can continue excavating in a given area.

You're almost damming the, damming the site.

-Yeah, you're making your dam as you go along. -Yeah.

But, uh, any ideas that you have from your experience,

we'd love to hear and try to incorporate anything we can

in-in making a final decision here, so...

Well, anything you can get in there that's gonna

require the least amount of work to try to get in there

to accomplish what you want to do,

to me, is the best idea.

I don't know that you know of the full and complete extent

of what we want to do this year, but I think

the hope would be that you can really,

uh, give us a hand here.

Any resources we can bring to the table here,

I will gladly give you guys a hand with.

Okay. -Okay. I-I couldn't ask for anything more than that.

-Nope. Appreciate it. -Let's get to the bottom of it.

-Let's get to the bottom of it. -Sounds great.

Following his meeting with Tom Nolan,

Rick Lagina joins his brother Marty

and surveyor Steve Guptill at the swamp.

They have arranged to meet with cofferdam manufacturer

Jack Nichols, in their continuing effort

to determine which method is the most viable

for digging through several feet of mud and muck.

Hey, Jack. Hello, Jack. -Hello.

-Good to see you again. -Good to be back here.

With over 30 years' experience in construction,

Jack Nichols is an industry leader

for innovative water solutions.

Three years ago, his patented inflatable dam system

played a key role in the Oak Island team's

excavation of Smith's Cove.

-Hey, guys. How's it going? -It's really cool.

This looks like it'll work.

What you guys got in mind?

Well, we're we got a job for you,

or a potential job,

and the easiest way, I think, to view the job

is for us to walk back through here.

It is slippery. Be careful.

-Okay, let's go see. -Yep.

Looks like you've been busy back here.

We are applying every technology

-known to man, and a couple that aren't.

Jack Nichols

he is our go-to guy to try and figure out

how we could excavate in the swamp.

Not only to dig the swamp, but dig it in-in such a way

that it keeps the organic material

from invading the dig site.

There we are. There it is, Jack.

The bladder system could be a way

of creating a temporary barrier to hold back

all of that fetid junk with a dam.

What's your plan here, Rick?

So the plan is...

Steve has a, has it mapped out, essentially.

So I tried to encompass everything that we have out here

that we know of.

It's hard to see here, but the brown would be

your dam, okay?

-We go that way... -By the fallen tree.

...and then we twist around.

We'd run the-the line, basically,

where the water meets the grass.

- Parallel to the shrubs. That's right,

right along the shrubs, and then we'd come in

basically to that big tree over there.

We'd come in right around the property line.

So, that encompasses everything that we'd want to investigate

out here or dig up.

So, we got about an acre square footage

and almost exactly 500 feet of frontage.

This is really brand-new to say

we'll dam it off and we'll put this portable dam in.

All sounds good.

You then try to implement it in, uh, in that environment;

I don't know whether or not it's feasible.

This is roughly what you did in Smith's Cove.

I think we got a good shot. I don't think it's gonna be

-very deep out there, is it? -No.

Here's the issues that might trouble you.

There's a lot of muck, and in that muck in places,

'cause we've all been in it,

is a bunch of "intertwangled" twigs.

You know, that may be two feet of that.

Most of that stuff, we do a lot of swamps,

and we just roll right over the top of that.

Is this the right application? That's all I want to ask.

Oh, yeah. We go through swamps every week.

-All the time? -All the time.

-Mm-hmm. - We do want to take in consideration

having it set back far enough from your work area

to contain any groundwater that's coming through,

so that it don't come on your work area.

You know, we were worried that you'd come up here and say,

"You know what, guys, this isn't the right application,"

and we'd have to go back to square one,

but I hear just the opposite. Think you can do it?

I think we've got a real good chance

of drying off pretty good.

Okay. Well, I love that.

-I think it's real doable. -I like the I like to hear that.

"Real doable."

- Yeah, I think we'd be okay. -Okay.

If this is what you guys want to pursue.

I think using the inflatable dam

has a really good chance of working that's feasible.

What we need to do next, though, is look at

all the specific methodologies, and then we're gonna decide.

-Exactly. -Yeah.

-Okay. -I think that'll do it.

I think that'll do it. I love it!

Let's head out, then, guys. Our work here is done.

Just here's good, mate.

Meanwhile, Charles Barkhouse

and metal detection expert Gary Drayton

continue their search for artifacts at Lot 21,

on the western side of the island.

It was on this same lot, earlier this year,

that the team found the two iron swages,

which were estimated to be as much as 600 years old.

Today's the day, mate.

Rainy days like this is always my favorite days...

-Yeah? -...'cause the metal in the ground's more conductive.

-Oh. -And this place now, Lot 21,

has always been good to us.

We've just got to find some more hot spots.

Lead on.

You find them, I'll dig them!

-Good deep reading.

There we go.

Two-way repeatable signal here, mate.

-Right there? -Yep.

That sounded like a really good target, mate.

You say that every time.

-Yeah. I'm always optimistic.

-Let's see if I can pinpoint it.

You're right on it, Gary.

-It's a coin!

I knew it was!

Look at this.

Another coin. But how old is it?

Uh, this is probably an half penny.

By the size of it, though, and the condition,

-I'd put it in the 1800s. - Yeah.

Yeah, that's a young Victoria.

-Okay, so that's... -So, yeah.

- 1840s, probably? - Yeah.

We know it's an old coin,

-old, copper coin. -Yeah.

Which is another good sign.

-We're finding coins, mate. -Yeah.

- I want to see if there's any more in this area. -Okay, yeah.

I wonder if we can get around here, mate.

-Good one? -Yeah.

Yeah, I'm getting two-way repeatable, mate.

-Just made a divot here. - Okay.

And I think the best place to dump it is here.

-Okay. -At least I know it's clean here.

Didn't take any prisoners with that one, mate, did you?

-Still in there. - Yup.

Let me try and pinpoint it for you.

I'm gonna dig this out just in case it's something good.

Okay.

It's a coin or a button, I'm hoping.

- You're right on it, anyway. -Yeah.

Look at that.

That is really, really unusual.

Look at that. That's sweet.

While searching for metal artifacts

on Lot 21, Charles Barkhouse

and Gary Drayton have just made

what could be a significant find.

That is spectacular, mate.

Look, see the braiding around it? The rope?

And with this leaf on the top? That's gorgeous.

That is an old piece of jewelry, mate.

-Yeah. -I think that is like a...

s-some kind of brooch.

Yeah.

-That is fantastic. -That-that is nice.

-What a find. That is a killer find. -That-that is gorgeous.

A decorative brooch?

Could Gary and Charles have found

an actual piece of Oak Island treasure,

similar to the gold-plated brooch Gary found

on this same lot last year,

and which was estimated to be some 700 years old?

I mean, look at the work that went into that.

Rick would want to see this.

-Want me to give him a call? -Yeah, please.

Unbelievable, mate.

That is fancy.

That would've been high-end jewelry back in the day.

Hey, Rick. Yeah, I'm just down here with Gary.

We're just, uh, down on the shore

just west of the McGinnis Foundation.

Just wondering if you could come down

and take a look at something we found.

I think you're gonna be quite surprised.

It's pretty sweet.

-It's bobby-dazzler time.

Okay. Okay, see you soon. Yup.

Wow. What a sweet find, mate.

That is gorgeous.

You know, when he makes a significant find,

Gary's been spot-on, all the time.

Whenever you get a call, right,

you know you'd better hustle down there

because you're gonna see something pretty impressive.

Wait till you guys see this.

He hasn't been dancing, has he?

No, not dancing, but, uh, it's a bobby-dazzler,

-that's for sure. -My toes are still tingling.

-I definitely see the smiles. -This is fantastic.

You ready for this? Stick your hand out, mate.

Look at that.

Wow.

I think that's a brooch.

-You see the two raised areas the pin would've gone across? -Yeah.

-There's some heft to it, too. -Yes, exactly.

And you imagine back in the day how much

something like that would've cost.

That'd been a real good status symbol.

I've never seen anything like this.

It's quite a unique piece.

The leaf, its shape, how it's formed.

I would be very interested in what it might represent.

I think it needs to be

completely and thoroughly checked out.

It's not degraded, really, so you should be able to find out

some information about that.

But what will it tell us? That's the question.

What will it tell us?

I believe this is really, really old.

What is "really, really old"?

I think that's hundreds of years old.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is

anywhere in between 1500 and 1700.

Wow.

You don't think it could be a military cap badge

-of some type? - It could be.

Possible.

But if it is, it's an old one.

Remember we found that French cap badge

along the ridge there, and you know what?

You know who famous was in this area?

The Duc d'Anville with the French fleet.

-Yes. 1746. -Yup.

-That's right. -That would be within your estimate of-of the dating.

The Duc d'Anville?

I found eight pages of a ship what looks like a ship's log.

Two years ago, Doug Crowell presented Rick,

Marty, and the team with a handwritten transcript

of an 18th century ship's log.

It had been authored by a crew member

of a 1746 French naval expedition to Nova Scotia

led by Jean-Baptiste Louis Fr�d�ric de la Rochefoucald,

also known as the Duc d'Anville,

an admiral from a noble family with ties to the medieval order

of the Knights Templar.

Incredibly, this log detailed the construction

of a massive treasure shaft on an uninhabited island

in Mahone Bay, strikingly similar in description

to the Oak Island Money Pit.

"It has been agreed that a deep pit be dug, the pit to have

a secret entrance by a tunnel from the shore."

I mean, a great quantity

of treasure, and they-they appear to be in this bay.

What troubles me is how perfect this is.

Could this ornate brooch,

which Gary believes might date back to the 1700s,

be proof that the French military

and the Duc d'Anville are connected

to the Oak Island mystery?

It's certainly quite unique.

Never seen anything like it.

My hope is that there'll be some relevance to determining

what happened on Oak Island. That's why we're here.

We've got to get it cleaned. We've got to get it tested.

What are the answers gonna be

and how might it affect the search?

If this turns out to be a really old

French uniform decoration or a fancy brooch,

either way, it's a spectacular find.

That is indeed a top pocket find.

We've found a lot of cool old stuff along this ridge,

and I believe we're gonna find a lot more cool stuff,

-as well.

Okay, well, I'll make sure it gets in the proper hands.

And, uh, you guys, congratulations.

Hopefully you'll find some more things, you know.

The day is still young.

-Oh, yeah. -But...

Don't wander too far, mate.

We're having a good day.

Kelly will be pretty excited to get his hands

-on this and start. Yeah. -Right.

Alex Lagina and archaeologist Laird Niven

have traveled some 50 miles

north of Oak Island to the University of Acadia,

located in the city of Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

-Hey, Kelly. -Hi, Alex.

They have arranged for professional conservator

Kelly Bourassa

to clean and examine the decorative brooch

found one day ago on Lot 21.

We're hoping that this is a meaningful find,

and in the process of cleaning it off,

we're going to get a little bit more information from it.

We brought you the brooch.

Fantastic.

That will be great to take a look at this.

-Just gonna put the gloves on. - Cool.

So, typically, I would use

something that's not gonna scratch, right?

So a little bit of wooden skewers.

-There's a lot of nooks and crannies here. -Mm-hmm.

If this has any cracks or anything in it,

then we want to be extremely careful

-in terms of using tools, and so on, on it. -Mm-hmm.

And as you can see on my sheet of paper here,

we're already getting bits and pieces of the dirt

coming off already.

Using a number of mildly-abrasive tools,

including a glass fiber brush,

Kelly will delicately scrape away dirt

and corrosion buildup on the surface of the artifact.

See if that brings off a little bit more.

Have you seen anything like this before?

No, no. This is completely new to me.

Wow.

-It's pretty intricate. Could be a commissioned piece,

which would be really interesting.

Oh, sure. Absolutely.

And somebody would've paid a little extra probably

just to have something like this made, for instance.

-It really, to me, has a sort of a maritime... -Mm-hmm.

...look to it, you know, with coils of rope.

So it's like a double coil of rope?

It is.

But you can see here on the leaf itself

there's some there's a little bit more

of the design has come out of it. Right?

-Yeah. Mm-hmm. -You know, with just mechanical cleaning.

Overall, it's in great shape.

Actually, I think it is, you know, to be honest with you.

Is there any hope for a maker's mark

-or anything like that? -Yeah,

there's no maker's mark that I can see.

Are you any closer in terms of determining an age?

It's difficult to give a date on it.

It wouldn't hurt to have

somebody who specializes in antique jewelry

to have a quick look.

Although the age and origin

of the decorative brooch remains unknown,

it may still be an important clue.

Our search on Oak Island is all about

putting the pieces together,

and it's happened before where we had a piece

that was relevant and we didn't know it yet.

Even if it's not immediately obvious,

could be a pretty significant find.

We're gonna take it to the guys

and we're gonna see what they think.

Hopefully it's going to justify further investigation on Lot 21.

Some real archaeology. To what end, we'll see.

-Thank you for, uh, thank you doing this. -Oh, you're welcome.

Yeah. My pleasure.

Well, thanks again, Kelly.

Any time. Yeah. - We'll see you soon.

Following their trip to Acadia University...

-Hey, guys. -Hello, hello.

We're back.

...Alex Lagina and archaeologist Laird Niven

head to the Mug & Anchor Pub in the nearby town

of Mahone Bay, where they are joined by Rick, Marty,

and other members of the Oak Island team.

Gary, I understand you found something pretty interesting

on Lot 21.

'Cause these guys took it to have it cleaned

and identified, or just cleaned?

Cleaned and conserved, basically.

Okay, well, it's time to get me out of the dark.

What is "it" we're talking about?

Okay, because it hasn't been conserved yet,

-it was recommended that we wear gloves while we handle it. -Really?

If you've got to wear gloves, that means

-it's really special. -I would think.

Here, I'm gonna hand it to you

-so you can take a look. - I'm looking forward to this.

So, this is it cleaned off.

Wow.

That is nice.

A brooch. Quite intriguing.

Yeah. Definitely, it ranks up with the other brooches.

What's the date, you think?

We don't know. Kelly hasn't seen anything like it.

We didn't see a maker's mark or anything like that.

-That's good. -It's probably a one-off.

-It's very nice. - Yeah, it's...

-frickin' fantastic. So, it seems to be

-a double coil of rope... Mm-hmm.

...topped by a leaf.

It's quite elaborate.

You think the ropes mean naval, or not?

So, two ropes entwined could imply a couple.

So, the leaf is on a hinge?

Because it's come down quite a bit from where it was.

It was tipped up before.

-Or was that just bent? It's not, it's not hinged, but...

-It was bent? -We're not sure why it was up there. It was, yeah, bent up.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

There's some debate about whether

it's a-a brooch or a cloak pin.

...nine, ten, 11, 12.

Guess how many branches there are.

-13? -Uh, I'm not gonna say. 13.

Mm-hmm.

13 branches?

Watch your step. This stuff is slippery.

One year ago, while meeting with treasure hunters

Bruce Lindahl and Justin Cannady,

Marty Lagina and Doug Crowell were shown

a mysterious stone carving

on the northeast shore of the island

depicting a single pine tree.

Even more remarkable was the fact that this carving

was virtually identical to a symbol used

by George Washington for his Revolutionary War battle flag,

known as the Pine Tree Flag or "An Appeal to Heaven."

It was this same battle flag that Bruce's brother,

author and researcher Cort Lindahl,

had earlier indicated was often shown with 13 branches,

a number of strategic importance

for both Freemasons and members of the Knights Templar.

George Washington

was a Freemason.

-Yes. -These French families who came

to settle in Nova Scotia

actually corresponding with George Washington

prior to the war

to try to convince him that Nova Scotia

should be part of the American colonies.

And, indeed, Nova Scotia may have even been planned

to be the 13th colony.

That's interesting.

In addition to making new connections

between the significance of the number 13 in Freemasonry

and its symbolic importance

to the number of American colonies,

Lindahl also shared compelling new evidence

to suggest that some of America's Founding Fathers,

through their close association with their French allies,

the Rochefoucauld family,

may have had knowledge of a treasure buried on Oak Island.

A portion of which might have been used to help finance

the American Revolution.

There is some degree of probability

that Louis Alexandre Rochefoucauld,

in his friendship with Benjamin Franklin

and Thomas Jefferson, told them of Oak Island

or whatever secret was there.

That's remarkable.

Could this antique brooch

featuring 13 branches be another piece of evidence

that could prove Cort Lindahl's incredible theory to be true?

I think what it emphasizes to us

is, you know, we found that brooch,

we found Gary's found significant numbers

of artifacts around Lot 21...

Yep. Yep.

...and perhaps you want to consider kind of

taking more, uh, more steps archaeologically.

Maybe ground-penetrating radar, something nonintrusive and

that could identify features for us.

Well, look, I love doing ground-penetrating radar.

I don't see why not. I mean, we're intending to try

and use this state-of-the-art technology everywhere.

We need to really try to source out

a proper testing methodology that will allow us some sort

of definition and clarity in terms of what timeline

-that comes from. -Yeah.

Lot 21 continues to yield significant artifacts,

and we have to push the envelope in terms of trying to come

to an understanding of what happened here long ago.

Such a cool-looking item, you know?

If we can investigate it properly,

archaeologically, we might find the clues we want in there.

And so, we're gonna take the time and do it.

Well, good work everyone.

Especially Gary nice find with your helper Charles.

-Good find. -Cheers.

Cheers.

As a new day begins on Oak Island...

Start it.

...and as the team from Choice Drilling continues

to search for more evidence of the possible flood tunnel,

believed to be some 50 feet deep beneath Smith's Cove,

Rick, Marty and members of the team gather in the war room.

All right.

Guys, we got to find that flood tunnel.

They are about to hear a highly-anticipated

scientific report on a wood sample

extracted from the potential structure

found beneath Smith's Cove.

Okay, as you all know,

we were drilling upland from Smith's Cove,

trying to see if we could find any indication

-of a flood tunnel. -Yeah.

It was kind of a surprise, but we found this piece of wood

that looked like a collapsed tunnel

-down by the shore at a depth of about... -54 feet.

-It was a two-foot section. -54 feet.

We got samples of it.

Craig sent it in for C-14 analysis and has the results.

Definitely. Um...

So, when you're looking at the data, you're hoping it fits

in the time period that they were doing something.

You're hoping it's in a more refined time period...

- Yeah. -...the data will indicate.

Yeah.

So, the most likely time period,

if you will, is from 1735 to 1784.

-Yes!

Isn't that what we're looking for?

-Yeah. -Perfect.

-I love that. Right? -Oh, yeah.

Wood? Found 54 feet

beneath the beach at Smith's Cove?

And carbon-dated to a period 60 years prior to the discovery

-of the Money Pit in 1795? -Can I see that?

Could this mean that the team did, in fact,

locate the main flood tunnel?

There's nothing I like better than getting results

that could be something pre-Money Pit.

You cannot overstate

how valuable it would be to actually, concretely,

find the flood tunnel.

But there's only one way to determine

whether or not it's a tunnel.

You'd have to dig it.

So, for me, this might be

the most exciting thing we chase this year.

Am I getting too excited like I always get, or...?

No, no, no.

I-I agree, this should be followed up.

I'm pretty excited about anything dating from 1769, 1770.

-Right. -This is the key.

I would like to say it's obviously there.

I know the time frame. I know what I'm looking for.

It just makes sense to me. This is the entrance.

You got to pierce it. You got to dig.

-Yeah, yeah. I know, but...

Just get right in there and let's tear this earth up

-and dig it up, you know?

Jack, would you please get a little enthusiastic about it?

You know, you right now, I have done this myself

where you figure something out and you get all excited about it

and you just can't believe that it could possibly be wrong.

I'll dig by hand if needed.

But, I mean, let's be realistic.

Exactly.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

Is it exciting? Yeah. But, you know,

is it as definitive as we would like?

We'd like a statement where it says,

"100% certainty, it's this."

Especially the fact that that area that we're looking at

is fraught with uncertainty.

-And that's a problem. -Oh, yeah. Sure.

Can you imagine going down 50 feet? Especially down there?

-Right. -So, I think we need to take

slow, measured steps, and one of which is

let's confirm this with the drilling,

try to determine some sort of cardinal direction,

try to connect this dot with another dot.

-Yeah. -Yeah. I agree with Rick.

Now you have two points and then you can follow it.

You find it again.

It starts to tell its tale as you follow it, right?

-Yeah. -We've got the sonic rig here.

We got it for some time yet.

How about we continue drilling, so we get a little verification?

That's right.

If this is indeed the flood tunnel,

we have to stay with this until we find what was so significant

as to protect it that way.

I think this is probably the best clue we've ever had

in terms of possibly finding

the original Money Pit and-and what lies below it.

I mean, it's the best clue we've ever had

and it holds great promise.

And I'm-I'm very much convinced of it.

How many people around this table want Jack to be right?

So, so that's 100%.

Okay, yeah. For sure, for sure.

There you are. Let's chase it.

-Craig, thank you for getting the data, as always. -Mm-hmm. Sure thing.

Next time make it more definitive.

-Okay, will do.

All right. Let's get after it, guys.

For Rick, Marty and their team,

finding evidence of a man-made structure

deep below the beach at Smith's Cove

is a potentially historic breakthrough.

One that could lead them

straight to the original Money Pit.

But as they continue to investigate,

what will they find?

A vault containing a vast treasure

deposited centuries ago?

Or will they uncover something

that could challenge the known history of North America

and possibly the world?

Next time on The Curse of Oak Island...

Okay, where is this thing?

If we can follow that trail, it'll lead us directly to

-the Money Pit. -Oh, wow. -There it is.

That's a look back in time, boys, 159 years.

This next one should be right where we want to be.

The French moved their treasure out of Louisbourg

and stuck it on this island.

So, you're actually looking for some kind of a French treasure.

Here comes our next core.

This could be it, man.

-What's that? -Oh! What the...?

We got it.

Subtitled by Diego Moraes www.oakisland.tk