All language subtitles for The UnXplained Special Presentation S01E22 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

WILLIAM SHATNER:
A buried treasure belonging to

one of the most feared pirates
to ever roam the seas.

A lost cache of gold
protected by a deadly curse.

And a confounding cipher

that could reveal
a vast fortune.

The fascinating tales
of lost treasures,

missing fortunes,

and elusive riches have sparked
the human imagination for ages.

And the prospect
of actually finding

precious valuables has motivated

an uncountable number
of brave souls to hunt

for where X marks the spot.

But these grand adventures
to follow the clues

to vast riches
often come with great risks,

and sometimes, deadly curses.

How likely is it
that there really is

treasure hidden all around us,
just out of our reach?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

♪ ♪

Every year,
thousands of people gather

at the Ocracoke Pirate jamboree

to experience a taste

of swashbuckling life
on the high seas.

The fair commemorates the defeat

of the most famous
and feared pirate

in colonial history,
known by the name of...

Blackbeard.

Edward Teach,
also known as Blackbeard,

is a legendary pirate.

Now, not much is known
about him in his early years.

But it's believed
that he grew up in Bristol,

which is a town in England,

and from there,
he moved on to Jamaica,

where he worked as a privateer

in the War
of Spanish Succession,

and that was where his career
as a pirate really began.

SHATNER:
During the War
of Spanish Succession

from 1701 to 1713,

the English government
gave captains

of private merchant ships
permission

to attack and plunder vessels

that were owned
by Spain and France.

Blackbeard was
one of those captains,

who were referred
to as "privateers."

MIKE DANIEL:
After 1713,

when the war ended,

if you continued
to be a privateer,

you were no longer a privateer.
You were a pirate.

Blackbeard and a lot of them
became pirates

because there was
no other way of making a living.

REBECCA SIMON:
In 1717, Blackbeard got
his own ship and became

one of the most infamous
pirate captains who ever lived.

He made himself look
as terrifying as possible.

He had a very long black beard,
he had very long black hair.

And during battle,

he would put fuses
or even candles

into his beard and hair,

so smoke would kind of rise up

and it looked like
he was coming out of hell.

Imagine this huge,
towering figure

with this big,
burly, black beard...

...and slow-burning fuses
coming out

from underneath his hat
just sparkling.

That really created
his reputation

as the legendary
pirate Blackbeard.

SIMON:
Blackbeard
and his fellow pirates were

plundering and stealing loot
from ships all the time.

In fact, so many,

we don't even know
the exact number...

...of ships that Blackbeard
was able to loot.

But they're able
to take a lot of loot.

SHATNER:
In 1718,
after spending years

capturing and plundering ships
on the high seas,

Blackbeard's notorious career
came to an abrupt end

when he was attacked

off the southern tip
of Ocracoke Island.

The governor of Virginia told
his Coast Guard

to capture Blackbeard
at all costs.

And so the job went
to Lieutenant Robert Maynard.

And on November 22 of 1718,

Maynard came upon
Blackbeard's ship

and immediately
engaged him into battle.

And Blackbeard engaged
in a fight

with one of the men who ended up

stabbing Blackbeard
in the thigh,

and supposedly,
Blackbeard shouted,

"Well done, lad!"

And then Lieutenant
Robert Maynard ends up

beheading Blackbeard
on the ship,

And Blackbeard's head was placed

on the bowsprit of a ship
and sailed up and down

the eastern seaboard
so everyone would know

that Blackbeard had been
killed in battle.

SHATNER: In the centuries
since Blackbeard's death,

the mystery of his lost fortune
has captivated generations

of treasure hunters.

SIMON:
If someone went out

to find Blackbeard's treasure,

they would find approximately
12 and a half million dollars

in today's currency.

And so, all kinds of rumors
and legends

about his treasure
are definitely still out there,

and people are looking for it.

And reportedly,
what Blackbeard said was,

"Only the Devil and I know
the whereabouts of my treasure,

and the one of us who lives
the longest should take it all."

SHATNER:
With little information
to go on as to where on Earth

Blackbeard's treasure
may be hidden,

fortune seekers began searching
the waters of Onslow Bay

for the legendary pirate ship
the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Just four months
before his death,

Blackbeard ran
his frigate aground

near the Outer Banks
of North Carolina.

Some speculate that the pirate
wrecked his ship on purpose,

as a way to cheat his crew
from receiving their share

of the latest plunder.

The sunken vessel
eluded discovery until 1996,

when Mike Daniel
and a team of divers

used their
treasure hunting skills

to pinpoint exactly where
X marked the spot.

DANIEL:
Over the years,
I've found a lot of treasure--

a lot of gold, a lot
of emeralds, a lot of silver.

For instance, I found a
shipwreck called the Maravilla.

1656 Spanish galleon.

One of the richest ever to sink.

The whole process
of finding a shipwreck

is first you get
the documentation.

It gives you a pretty good idea
of where you should be looking.

And so, in order to go search
for the Queen Anne's Revenge,

you know, we started
looking through

the various
historical documents.

And it was said
that the Queen Anne's Revenge

supposedly ran aground
trying to enter Topsail Inlet,

up in North Carolina.

Even though
it's "Beaufort Inlet" today,

it was "Topsail Inlet"
at the time.

And once you've got that
pinned down,

now what you do is
you set up a grid system

and then travel down that line
towing a magnetometer,

a electronic piece of equipment

that measures
very minute magnetism.

If there is an anomaly
in the water,

it would tell you
something's there.

And we had a pretty major hit.

I go down, take a look

and I spot the three cannons
right away.

They're sitting in-- off
to the side of this big mound.

And that's when we actually
said, "Yeah, we've got it."

SIMON:
Today, over 400,000 items

have actually been excavated off
of the Queen Anne's Revenge.

And these include things like
24 huge cannons came out of it.

They've also found other goods
such as personal effects,

and they've found weapons,
as well.

SHATNER:
But despite
the vast number of artifacts

archaeologists have salvaged
from the Queen Anne's Revenge,

they found no sign
of Blackbeard's treasure.

Which begs the question,

where could it be?

It's a mystery

that still fascinates
treasure hunters to this day.

SIMON:
The big question is,
what happened to the gold

on the Queen Anne's Revenge?

It's possible that some of it

has just been kind of dispersed
into the sea.

It could be, perhaps, that
Blackbeard offloaded much of it

before actually abandoning
the Queen Anne's Revenge.

It's one of the big mysteries
about Blackbeard

that we just don't really know.

SHATNER:
While the discovery
of the Queen Anne's Revenge

was a massive accomplishment,

the fact remains
that Blackbeard's treasure

is still missing.

And the notorious pirate's gold

isn't the only riches

treasure hunters
have yearned to discover.

In fact, deep
in the Arizona mountains,

many unlucky adventurers
have tried

to find a fortune
guarded by a deadly curse.

SHATNER:
In Southern Arizona,

50 miles east of Phoenix,

lie the Superstition Mountains.

These jagged peaks rise
approximately 1,800 feet

into the sky

and dominate
the surrounding landscape.

According to the folklore
of the native Apache people,

the Superstition Mountains
are a sacred place

that is guarded
by a supernatural entity

-known as...
-(thunder rumbling)

...the Thunder God.

To the native Apache,
the Superstition Mountains

are the home of the Thunder God

and, as such,
they should be respected.

Most Apache will not enter
the Superstition Mountains,

because they believe
that to do so

could anger the Thunder God,

causing him to lash out

and probably kill the person
who has violated his space.

RON FELDMAN:
The Apache, they did not live
too much in the Superstitions.

Because that's where
the Thunder God lived,

was in the Superstitions.

And many times,
actually, I've heard

thunder sounds even when there
is no thunderstorms around.

(thunder rumbling)

There's something there.

I mean, definitely,
the mountains do roar at times.

The mountains rumble
by themselves.

And it's been
attributed to, of course,

the Apache religion
of their Thunder God.

SHATNER:
The Superstition Mountains
got their name in the 1800s,

when pioneers heard tales
from the local Native Americans

about people
mysteriously disappearing,

or suddenly dying,

after entering
this sacred mountain range.

But in spite of these warnings,

settlers often did not view
the Superstition Mountains

with such reverence.

For those who came
to the Superstition Mountains

during the Wild West era
in search of gold,

the Superstition Mountains,

like every other part of
the American landscape,

were a resource
waiting to be tapped.

This was a place of possibility,

this was a place
of possible wealth.

LYNNE McNEILL:
We tend to associate

this idea of westward expansion
with discovery,

when, of course,
there were humans there

all along, for centuries,

who already had an existing
relationship with that land.

They knew what was in it

and had their own beliefs

about what was
an appropriate way

to interact with this landscape.

DOWNS:
The Apache were not happy
to see these settlers coming in

to their sacred land,
and, according to legend,

put a curse on the land

that would result in
the deaths of anybody

who tried to mine
the Superstition Mountains,

because they believe
that to do so

is to risk angering
the Thunder God.

SHATNER:
There are those who believe

the curse
of the Superstition Mountains

is both real and deadly.

-(thunder rumbling)
-As evidence,

they point to
a curious treasure mystery

that took place in the mountains

over the course of
more than a hundred years.

The story begins
with the untimely demise

of the Peraltas,

a family of prospectors
who went searching for gold

in the Superstitions
in the 1840s.

The Peralta family were
supposedly the Spanish

that came first to mine

in the Superstition wilderness.

And they worked several mines
in an area where there was gold,

there was silver,
and they mined for both.

JESSE:
As the story goes,
the Spanish Peralta family

amassed crude bullion bars

from their mine.

And what I mean by "crude,"

that would be, uh, made of gold,

silver, copper and lead.

And they stored this wealth

in a hidden drift underground.

And then, suddenly,

the Apache attack the miners.

RON:
The Apaches got

tired of them being there

and destroying the natural
beauty of this place.

They were intruders,

and the Apache, in 1848,
wiped them out.

SHATNER:
After the massacre, the Apaches
reportedly buried the gold,

and backfilled the mine in order
to appease the Thunder God.

But since that time, treasure
hunters have not been scared off

by the fate of
the Peralta family

or the supposed curse.

Over the years,
thousands of fortune seekers

have journeyed to
the Superstition Mountains

in search of the lost gold.

McNEILL:
The desire

to find the hidden resources,

to find this treasure

that history tells us is there,

is exciting people to this day,

and that sense of
possibility and potential,

that there's still
more wealth, more prosperity

to be had is something that

is really hard to squash.

SHATNER:
According to some estimates,
at least 600 people

have lost their lives
searching for gold

in the Superstition Mountains.

Many of these people died
in bizarre and gruesome ways

that defy explanation,

perhaps lending credence
to the notion

that the mountains
are actually cursed.

The most famous
of these incidents

was the death of a man
named Adolph Ruth.

RON:
Back in the 1930s,
there was Adolph Ruth.

He was a treasure hunter,
amongst other things,

and he came out here
to hunt the actual mine.

And he disappeared,

and after about six months,

they found his head and his body

separated.

It became nationally known.

And a lot of people
wanted to come out

looking for the mine
because of Adolph Ruth.

There's good reason
to believe that there

could be a curse on
the Superstition Mountains.

A lot of people have died
prospecting for gold,

and bodies have been found
with their head missing,

which seems like something
that couldn't happen

from natural causes,

and something that may have

some kind of
supernatural origin.

In an interesting way,

the stories
of Native American curses

are a way of commemorating
the dark history of the land,

and acknowledging
that the original inhabitants

were forced off of the land,
and, in many cases, killed.

It's about remembering
that the present situation

was arrived at through some

dark actions.

SHATNER:
Could a curse
really be protecting

a hidden fortune deep within
the Superstition Mountains?

The land's name
and troubling history

certainly makes it
a distinct possibility.

But there is another
treasure that is not

concealed by a curse
but rather a code.

It is known as the Beale Cipher,

and solving it could
finally reveal a cache

of missing gold.

SHATNER:
This rural area is filled
with rolling foothills,

patchy forests

and quaint farms and cottages.

But there are those
who believe that Bedford County

also holds the answer
to a 200-year-old mystery...

...the mystery
of the Beale treasure.

Thomas J. Beale
was an educated man

from here in the local area

in the 1820s.

And him and a bunch
of his buddies went out west

for an adventure.

They were young
and rich and educated,

and wanted to see the West.

CORT LINDAHL:
Thomas Beale

and his compatriots,

said to be up to 30 people,

traveled first to St. Louis.

Then they traveled
north into Colorado,

where they were said
to have found

a deposit of gold and silver,

which they worked
for several months

and then transported
back to Virginia,

hiding it in a vault
somewhere in Bedford County.

SHATNER:
A hidden vault filled with
millions in gold and silver?

It's certainly
an incredible story.

But that's not why
we're still talking about

the Beale treasure today.

The real reason why
it has become so famous

and sought after is because
of the ingenious way

Thomas Beale decided
to hide his fortune.

LINDAHL:
No one really knows
why Thomas Beale

decided to hide the treasure,
but it could be because,

at the time this was found,

Colorado was still
part of Spain,

and they would have,

if they would have been
caught mining there,

it would have been
a capital offense,

and they would have
gotten in a lot of trouble.

We do know
Thomas Beale gave a box

to Robert Morris
in Lynchburg, Virginia,

who ran a boarding house
there in about 1822,

with instructions for
him not to open it

until 1832.

THOMSON:
Beale goes, "I want you to
keep this for safekeeping

"'cause I'll be back
in about ten years,

"and if I'm not,

you're free to open it up
and figure out what's going on."

SHATNER:
But as the story goes,
Thomas Beale never returned.

He disappeared and was
never seen or heard from again.

So, naturally,

Mr. Morris began to wonder...

"What's in the box?"

THOMSON:
About 20 years later,

Mr. Morris goes,
"Oh, yeah, that's right.

It's been more than ten years.
I can open up this box."

Well, he opens up the box,
and there's three letters

that are all written in numbers.

It was like, "12 comma,
537 comma, 16 comma, eight."

Just a bunch of numbers.

And Mr. Morris, he's like,

"Okay.

I have no idea
how to solve this."

SHATNER:
Thomas Beale had written
the three notes

using a simple
but effective secret code

that is known as a book cipher.

This technique replaces
letters with numbers,

creating a code based
on a secret source document.

But until you know what document
the numbers correspond to,

it's impossible
to decode the cipher

and reveal the secret message.

DAVID ORANCHAK:
It was a type of encryption
used a lot during

the Revolutionary War,
and the numbers

would indicate line numbers
and word numbers within,

like, a dictionary

or a law manual
or something like that.

It's fairly secure,
provided that you keep

the identity of the book
or source material secret.

SHATNER:
Since no one knew what text

Thomas Beale had
used as his cipher,

the three messages remained
unsolved for decades.

That is, until 1885,

when a man named James B. Ward

began selling a 50-cent pamphlet

which revealed that Beale had
used a surprising document

as the cipher
for the second message:

the Declaration of Independence.

What Thomas Beale had done was

he wrote a number
under each word

of the Declaration
of Independence in order.

So starting at the first word--
one, two, three, four, five--

all the way down
to the 800s or the 900s.

And so he took the "I"

in the first word of the message

and looked for a word
starting with the letter "I"

in the Declaration
of Independence.

And then he picked one of them,
and looked at the number

that he had written
underneath it and used

that number to stand
for that letter "I."

And so, he continued to
the next letter in his message.

Wrote down the number
associated with that word

and then continued along
to create

this long sequence of numbers.

Apparently, what he had done was

he encoded three messages,

one of which described

the contents of the treasure,
another describing its location.

And then the third note,
uh, describes

the owners of the treasure
and, uh, their relatives.

THOMPSON: Mr. Ward took
the Declaration of Independence

and was able to compare that
with the one letter.

And he was able to figure out
how that worked.

Mr. Ward was able to translate:

"I have deposited
in the County of Bedford

"about four miles from Buford's,

"six feet below the surface
of the ground,

"1,014 pounds of gold,

"and 3,812 pounds of silver

deposited November 1819."

If the description
of the contents of the vault,

if it's truthful,
the treasure is estimated

to be worth about $40 million
in today's money.

So, obviously,
that's a very compelling

motivation to find,

uh, the solutions
to the other ciphers.

THOMPSON: But the first letter,
which says exactly

where it's located,
has never been decoded.

So-- which is
one reason why people

don't know where exactly
it's within those four miles.

SHATNER:
One place that is located

within the four-mile area
that Beale described

is a farm owned
by a man named Danny Johnson.

Which is why, for decades,

people have been coming
to his property in search

of the Beale treasure.

People from all over
the world have been here

to find that treasure.

And every single one
of them has a different

idea of where
the treasure is buried.

And some people have dug
without permission.

There's probably been,
I don't know how many holes dug

right around me.

Every single one of them

believes
that they have broken the code.

You've got generations
of researchers that are coming

and looking
for this gold and silver.

You're talking
about a lot of money.

And I think that's why people
are still looking for it.

Will the confounding codes of

Thomas Beale's cipher
ever be solved?

Well, for now, the location
of the prospector's fortune

remains lost to history.

But there's
another rich mystery,

whose origins date back
thousands of years.

It concerns
the wealth of King Solomon,

and a trove of gold
that was once hidden

in a temple bearing his name.

SHATNER: In the deserts
of southern Israel

lies a mountainous region

that is called the Timna Valley.

Today, this area is known

for its uniquely shaped
sandstone cliffs.

But more than 3,000 years ago,

the Timna Valley was the site

of a vast network
of copper mines.

MULLINS:
In the Timna Valley,

mining activity took place

for a long, long time.

And most
of the mining operations

took place underground.

The deepest is about 115 feet.

They would hew in the ground
circular shafts.

And, going down that shaft,

they would cut steps
into the side of the shaft.

And they would tunnel
along horizontally,

where they would extract
the copper

and take it back up
to the surface.

SHATNER:
In recent years, the Timna mines
have attracted attention

because there are
those who believe

that buried underground
in one of these deep tunnels

is the legendary lost treasure

of the biblical King Solomon.

In the Old Testament
of the Bible,

King Solomon is described as a
noble and wise ruler of Israel.

Historians believe
that Solomon was a real person

who lived
in the tenth century BC.

King Solomon is
an intriguing figure,

because the Bible makes
so many claims about him

controlling vast amounts
of territory.

According to the Bible,

Solomon expanded
ancient Israel considerably,

from the Euphrates River
in the north,

all the way
to the River of Egypt.

And so a much more expansive,
uh, territory.

The Bible also describes

Solomon controlling
vast amounts of wealth.

Solomon decides
to build a temple,

uh, in Jerusalem.

The temple becomes
the home of God.

And he spares no expense.

And he was so committed

to having the best temple
in the region

that he actually imports
the finest materials

to build this temple.

SHATNER:
According to the Bible,

Solomon's Temple was built
from the best limestone

and cedar wood.

Inside, the walls
were overlaid with pure gold.

And Solomon adorned the temple
with objects made out of copper,

which was also
a precious metal at the time.

King Solomon ruled Israel
for 40 years,

before dying in 931 BC.

Upon his death,
Solomon reportedly left behind

an enormous amount
of gold and other riches

in his magnificent temple.

But then, in 586 BC,

the Babylonians
invaded Jerusalem

-and sacked Solomon's Temple.
-(clamoring, clanging)

ARIEL BAR TZADOK:
When the Temple

of Solomon
was destroyed in 586 BCE,

all the temple treasures
were lost to history.

And the ancient legend says
that Solomon's treasures

were taken out of Jerusalem
and buried.

There are those who believe
that the treasures

are, to this day, still hidden.

SHATNER:
For centuries, the legend
of King Solomon's lost treasure

has been a source
of fascination and mystery.

In 1885, the story was exposed
to a wider audience

when author H.R. Haggard
wrote his famous novel

King Solomon's Mines,

which speculated
that Solomon's treasures

were hidden deep
in a underground mineshaft.

But if there is some truth
to this legend,

then where is
King Solomon's treasure buried?

For some, the most likely
location is the Timna mines.

MULLINS:
The Timna Valley is located

not more than 150 miles
from Jerusalem.

So we're talking
about close proximity.

At Timna,
there are 10,000 mineshafts,

maybe more.

And so it's easy
for people to kind of say,

"There must be a connection."

SHATNER:
In the last several decades,
numerous researchers have tried

to prove that the Timna mines
are, in fact,

the hiding place of
King Solomon's lost treasures.

Some of the first evidence
in support of this theory

was found by an archaeologist
named Nelson Glueck,

who conducted a series
of excavations at Timna

in the 1930s.

COLLINS:
Nelson Glueck

made a huge study
of the-the copper mines,

the smelting works

and also the camps
of those that were there.

And what he found
under the ground

was pottery dating from

the ninth to tenth century BC.

And this was the exact timeframe

of the reign of King Solomon.

And so, for Nelson Glueck,

he felt that
he had discovered evidence

of Solomon's mines.

SHATNER:
Nelson Glueck's discoveries
made sensational headlines

around the world.

However, despite years
of searching,

Glueck was unable to locate
the fabled treasure,

and some experts began to think
that Glueck was wrong

to associate the Timna mines
with King Solomon.

But then, in 2019,

a team of archaeologists

led by Professor Erez Ben-Yosef
of Tel Aviv University

made a remarkable discovery.

While excavating an ancient
mining worksite at Timna

that is referred to
as Slaves' Hill,

they found more evidence
that links this location

to King Solomon.

SHATNER:
It seems that the truth
about this treasure

of biblical proportions
will continue

to be unearthed, one artifact

and one clue at a time.

But there is another fortune,

not buried in the Holy Land,

but rather in the Catskill
Mountains of upstate New York.

The story involves
a seasoned mobster, a murder,

and a very large stash
of missing cash.

SHATNER:
Phoenicia, upstate New York.

This quaint town at the base
of the Catskills

is primarily known for being
a popular vacation destination.

But it is also known
as the hiding place

of an incredible lost fortune.

Because according to legend,
somewhere in this area,

a safe was buried

that contains
tens of millions of dollars

in cash, bonds, and jewelry

that belonged to a gangster
named Dutch Schultz.

Dutch Schultz was one
of the most iconic

early 20th century mobsters
in America.

He was someone that had a name
and a reputation--

that spread across the country--
as a real tough guy,

and he became a millionaire

during Prohibition
on bootlegging

and various other rackets.

ALTERMAN:
Dutch Schultz became
what was known as

the Beer Baron of the Bronx

because, during Prohibition, uh,
it was hard to get beer.

And if you wanted beer,

you had to get it
from Dutch Schultz

because he controlled everything

above 57th Street
and in the Bronx.

SHATNER:
In the early 1930s,
the FBI started building a case

against Dutch Schultz

in an effort to crack down
on organized crime.

The investigation was led
by U.S Attorney Thomas Dewey.

Thomas Dewey was
a very smart prosecutor.

He went methodically
after all of the criminals.

So, Dutch became so paranoid

that he wanted
to bury his wealth

before they could take it.

BURNSTEIN:
Supposedly, while
he was under indictment,

Dutch Schultz had a customized
safe constructed for him

that was airproof,
soundproof, weatherproof.

Him and his bodyguard

put what was thought to be
anywhere between

five and ten million dollars
in that safe,

as well as jewelry and bonds,

and they allegedly took
that safe up to the Catskills

and buried it somewhere.

NATE HENDLEY:
The Dutch Schultz treasure
is an intriguing notion because

one of the items allegedly
put into the treasure box

were liberty bonds,

and these are simply bonds
that could be redeemed

at a future date for more than
the value you paid for them.

But no liberty bond
associated with Dutch Schultz

or any of his accomplices
has ever been redeemed.

This is used as one of the clues

that this treasure
is still at large.

SHATNER:
If it's true
that the lost treasure

of Dutch Schultz
does, in fact, exist,

then where could it be hidden?

Well, according
to many researchers,

the most likely place
is somewhere along an old brook

named Stony Clove Creek.

ALTERMAN:
Even though Dutch
was a city kid,

he knew the Catskills well

because that's where he had
his stills making the whiskey.

He'd stay at the Phoenicia Hotel

and then drive up
and look at all of his stills.

Back in 1935, there was a train

that went from New York City
up to the Catskills.

It went through this area

near Stony Clove Creek
and Phoenicia.

One station
was called Lanesville,

which was really nothing more
than a little shack.

At that time, Dutch was afraid

of being nabbed in a checkpoint
with the treasure.

So, treasure hunters
have theorized

that he got off the train
at Lanesville,

buried the treasure
somewhere along the banks

of the Stony Clove Creek

because it's extremely remote.

SHATNER:
Is it possible
that the lost treasure

of Dutch Schultz
is buried somewhere

along the banks
of Stony Clove Creek?

We may never know for sure
because, in 1935,

a rival gangster
named Charlie "Lucky" Luciano

ordered a hit on Dutch Schultz.

ALTERMAN:
Dutch Schultz had set up
his operation

at the Palace Chop House,

a small restaurant bar
establishment

in Newark, New Jersey,
and two assassins,

Charles "The Bug" Workman and
Mendy Weiss, walk into the bar.

Charles shoots Dutch twice.

And there's that famous picture
of Dutch Schultz

with his head on the table
after he's been shot twice.

He's grievously injured,
but not dead.

SHATNER:
Dutch Schultz was immediately
rushed to the Newark Hospital,

and some researchers believe
that, on his deathbed,

Dutch left a final clue

as to where his treasure vault
is buried.

HENDLEY:
During his deathbed rant,

he's giving little tidbits
of possible information

about his treasure.

At one point he says, "Don't
let Satan draw you too fast."

That could just be a ramble, but
some treasure hunters believe

this line could be a reference
to a geological formation

in the town of Phoenicia
called the Devil's Rock.

ALTERMAN:
There have been scores
of treasure hunters

trying to find this treasure

up in the Catskills
around Phoenicia.

It is worth so much that,

today, you could probably buy

a fleet of jumbo jets with just
what's in that treasure box.

And that's why
everyone's looking for it.

SHATNER:
Heavily armed police officers

patrol the entrance
to an ancient Hindu temple,

the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

By order of
India's Supreme Court,

officials begin unsealing
six mysterious vaults

which have remained locked
beneath the temple

for hundreds of years.

And when archaeologists examined
the first five vaults,

they found untold billions
in ancient treasure.

JIM DOBSON:
The government had to do
an inventory of the vaults,

so they did go in
and they documented everything

in several of the chambers.

One chamber was just
for ornaments and jewelry.

Another chamber was for jewels.

And there were sacks
and sacks of diamonds

and rubies and emeralds.

There were thrones made of gold.
There was a 300-pound gold veil.

And there was a rope
of gold chain

that was 1,100 pounds.

And the reason there's
so much money in this temple

is because of contributions
and taxes,

and that started when
the maharajas and the rulers

started taxing
the lower caste system.

SHATNER:
The total value of the treasure
that was found

in the first five chambers
has been estimated to be worth

as much as $22 billion.

But when officials attempted
to open the door

to the sixth and final vault,

they made a shocking discovery.

When it came to the sixth door,
which they call chamber B,

they were decorated with cobras.

This is a sign of danger,
like a skull and crossbones.

DEEPAK SHIMKHADA:
That gives you a message:

do not enter
or enter on your own risk.

They are massive, huge cobras

and they can be very deadly.

This is a forbidden place.

SHATNER:
A forbidden place?

While that may sound
like a farfetched notion,

many believe
there's a very good reason

not to tamper with Vault B.

Because, according to legend,
it may be cursed.

You could not go
beyond this point

because there are cobras,
there are nagas.

Nagas are the mythical
serpents in Hinduism.

And it has been said that,
when they sealed the door,

it was locked with a what
you call Naga Paasam mantra.

This is like a spell.

Through the naga's mantra,
it was locked.

Everyone is scared of the nagas.

And they are thinking
that it may be cursed.

That is why, you know,
people do not dare to open it.

It could cause
many ugly consequences.

DOBSON:
Based on what they've heard,
the people all fear

that the world will end
if that chamber is opened.

And so they're really reticent
about doing anything.

Whenever you hear a story that

there is trillions of dollars'
worth of buried treasure,

people are always gonna
want to know more.

This temple is not hidden.
This temple is very public.

People know what's in it,
how much is in it,

and what the value is.

And yet, it's hidden to us.

We can't access it.
We can't see it.

We can't touch it.

So that's the real mystery.

Would you dare
to look past the cobras,

open that sealed door, and risk
your life for untold riches?

Regardless of your tolerance
to tempt fate,

many brave souls have
paid a steep price

on a mission
to claim hidden fortunes.

Is there any truth
to the legends,

curses, and calamities
that surround lost treasures?

And what will be uncovered
should Blackbeard's

or Thomas Beale's

or Dutch Shultz's secret stashes
ever be discovered?

Will it be gold, jewels,
or piles of money?

Ooh, it's an intriguing thought
that, for now, remains

unexplained.

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