CHARLES: We’re getting gold and silver signatures.
This is where the real Money Pit could be.
-Absolutely. -EMILIANO: Welcome to Italy.
RICK: We’re looking for a possible Templar connection
to Oak Island.
Oh, Rick. Have a look at this.
-CORJAN: Look at that. Fantastic. -Oh, wow.
We’re at the bottom, where the timbers stop.
We’re about to boldly go where no one’s gone before.
RICK: There is a direct connection to Nolan’s Cross.
This is a very real Templar connection here.
That’s amazing.
NARRATOR: 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.
♪ ♪
-CHARLES: Hey, guys. -ROGER: Hey, how’s it going, Charles?
Good. How are you?
Not too bad. Not too bad.
NARRATOR: The cold North Atlantic fall season
has arrived on Oak Island.
Did you get your last set in?
The guys are in the process right now
of getting that set in, so it’s not,
it’s not done yet, and we’re not quite ready
-to have anybody go down there. -Okay.
NARRATOR: But for brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,
and the Fellowship of the Dig,
their determination to make a major breakthrough discovery
in the Money Pit area and solve a treasure mystery
that began in 1795 has never been higher.
It’s still soft over on that, over on that corner?
-That north corner? -Yes.
So, that one, uh, north corner, like you call it,
yeah, we-we-- so we punched a hole in there,
and the ground is much softer than all three other sides.
Really?
I know we’ve got a, we’ve got,
uh, prime real estate over here,
where we’re getting gold and silver signatures
-in the water, right? -Right. Right.
NARRATOR: After nearly three months of tireless work,
representatives from Dumas Contracting Limited
have nearly completed the reconstruction
of the mysterious 82-foot-deep feature
known as the Garden Shaft,
a potentially early 18th century construct
that has not only yielded high trace evidence of gold
in both wood and water samples...
It’s quite possible that over there could be another tunnel.
Right, a-and that could be.
...but which also sets
above a believed tunnel
at a depth of some 95 feet
that runs due west straight into the so-called Baby Blob.
A zone where, according to water tests
that were conducted in previously drilled boreholes,
the highest indications of silver and gold
have been detected so far.
Yeah, we hope to be able
to punch some more holes in there...
-Yeah. -...and see if we get any more values
-like you were getting, so... -Right.
Quite possibly,
this is where the real Money Pit could be.
-Could be. Absolutely. -Interesting.
-Yes. Yeah. -Absolutely.
NARRATOR: Now Dumas is working
as diligently as possible
to safely finish the shaft and find out not only
what may lie at the bottom but also attempt to reach
the potential treasure tunnel located below it
before the onset of winter forces the team
to halt their search activities until next spring.
MARTY: The Garden Shaft could be very, very meaningful.
When we get to the bottom, we get to start
exploring where, perhaps, other people haven’t been.
And that’s where the data becomes really useful.
I think it could really help with answers.
The Garden Shaft, it presents
some very unique opportunities for discovery.
Is there a tunnel with those significantly
high gold values directly beneath the Garden Shaft?
But we’re running out of good weather.
We’re running out of time.
Well, Roger, I see you’ve got a lot more work to do.
I’m gonna let you, uh, get to it.
-ROGER: Sounds good. Thanks a lot, Charles. -Okay.
CHARLES: Thank you.
MARTY: Lord Niven.
Hey, Marty.
MARTY: And Helen, deep in the pit.
HELEN: Hi, Marty.
NARRATOR: On Lot 5,
located on the western side of the island,
Marty Lagina joins archaeologists
Laird Niven and Helen Sheldon as they continue
investigating a mysterious depression
covered by a layer of stones.
LAIRD: We put a trench down below.
Helen’s standing in the absolute bottom.
Mm-hmm.
LAIRD: In this pit,
I’ve removed the rocks from the ring...
-Mm-hmm. -...and I’m getting artifacts.
-Oh, really? Like what? -Yeah, like that far down.
We have two pieces of pottery
that may have gone out of style in the 1750s.
NARRATOR: While the feature’s design is curious
for obvious reasons,
it is located in the same general area where the team
recently discovered a half coin and a lead barter token
that are both believed to be more than 1,500 years old
and of Roman origin.
Why don’t we measure it?
ALEX: Sure.
NARRATOR: And one week ago, when Laird
and Marty’s son Alex determined the feature’s diameter...
-That’s 13 feet. -It’s a bizarre measurement.
...they were astonished to find
that it matched the exact dimensions
of the original Money Pit when it was discovered in 1795.
MARTY: For some reason,
this lot keeps giving up what is probably the oldest stuff.
I mean, why this lot?
-We have no idea. -I mean, if you...
Let’s-let’s try it this way.
How many circular...
rather massive features have been found in Nova Scotia?
Like, none that I can recall.
-No. Nothing at all. -MARTY: Hmm.
-It’s an oddity. It’s, uh... -It’s weird.
A-And potentially very significant.
We are on a treasure hunt, and what I’m hoping for,
as these dates come in older and older,
that there’s the clue in here that could help,
that could really help us figure out
-the treasure component of this. Okay. -LAIRD: Yeah.
-All right. -Here’s what I say: Carry on.
-Okay. See you later. -Thanks, Helen.
-See you. -See you later.
NARRATOR: As operations continue on Oak Island...
(church bell tolls)
ALEX: Wow.
Camerano truly is a beautiful town.
RICK: Oh, absolutely. Okay. Here we are.
NARRATOR: ...approximately 3,700 miles to the east...
DOUG: I see Emiliano.
-Hey, guys. Welcome to Italy. -Emiliano.
-Hey, hey. -Hey. Ciao.
-So good to see you. -Good to see you.
...Rick Lagina, along with his nephews Alex and Peter,
Oak Island historian Doug Crowell,
and researcher Corjan Mol have arrived
in Camerano, Italy, where they are meeting
with researchers Emiliano Sacchetti
and Alberto Recanatini.
EMILIANO: I’m so glad to see you guys.
I, uh, know
you’re interested in the underground system
of Camerano because of the Oak Island lead cross.
NARRATOR: Building upon the research
that was shared with the team back in 2016
by Rick’s late friend Zena Halpern,
Emiliano has invited them to visit the enigmatic site
known as the Camerano Caves.
A system of man-made underground labyrinths
which date back more than 2,500 years
and which features a section that is shaped
nearly identically to the 14th century lead cross
that was found on Oak Island in 2017.
EMILIANO: So, this is Alberto.
He’s been mapping and exploring these caves for 50 years.
-RICK: Wow. -And he is gonna be our guide today.
-RICK: Perfect. -So, why don’t we go inside?
-There’s no better time than now. -Awesome.
-After you. -CORJAN: Let’s go underground.
NARRATOR: Although the town
of Camerano, Italy dates back to 1198,
the first documented civilization in the region
were the Piceni, who are believed
to have created the underground cave system
in the sixth century BC.
-Looks like the catacombs. -It keeps going, huh?
NARRATOR: The area became part of the Roman Empire around 290 BC.
-RICK: It’s huge. -ALEX: Wow. -PETER: Keeps going.
NARRATOR: However, between the 12th and 14th centuries,
it was reestablished as a stronghold
for the Knights Templar,
who modified portions of the cave system
for reasons that remain a mystery.
The construct, it’s incredible.
It’s large, it’s massive.
Wow.
The hope is that there will be
a part of the system
that Alberto can directly connect to possibly Templars
or possibly to a belief system
that is associated with the artifacts
that we have found on the island.
You know, Emiliano, when you first invited us
to this Camerano cave system,
I didn’t see it as artfully designed as this.
Actually, this is the very beginning of the cave system.
-Right. -So, the model for this room
-is the Holy Sepulchre. -Mm-hmm.
EMILIANO: So, what you actually see here
is something that is very similar
to what we have in Jerusalem.
-Oh, wow. -ALEX: How old
is this part of the cave system?
(speaking Italian)
EMILIANO: Alberto is saying
the early 13th century.
(Alberto speaking Italian)
So, right after the Templar order was dissolved,
uh, they start digging
underground places to keep on gathering.
So they literally went underground.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: The order of the Knights Templar
has remained shrouded in mystery since it was established
in 1118 in Jerusalem.
They were headquartered on the original site
of King Solomon’s Temple
for the purpose of protecting Christian interests
in the Holy Land during the Crusades.
They became extraordinarily wealthy
by developing one of the world’s first banking systems.
But in 1307, they were disbanded by the Catholic Church
and persecuted by the king of France
for the alleged crime of heresy.
However, some believe
that the Templars were actually targeted
because they had come into possession
of many priceless religious treasures.
EMILIANO: Let’s go to the...
-Venus Cave. -RICK: Perfect.
-PETER: Follow you. -ALEX: After you.
NARRATOR: Those sacred valuables
have never been found,
and researchers such as Corjan and Emiliano
believe that surviving members of the order
smuggled them throughout Europe before ultimately
hiding them in the New World on Oak Island.
EMILIANO: So we are now at the mouth of the Burchiani Cave,
aka the Venus Cave, and I’ll leave it to Marco,
who’s, uh, another very expert guide.
-Mm-hmm. -CORJAN: You know, the-the shape
-is why we’re here, right? -DOUG: Yeah, exactly.
CORJAN: Uh, because we think the-the shape of your cave
completely matches the shape of the lead cross
that was found, uh, on Oak Island.
-That’s exciting. -ALEX: Mm.
MARCO: Okay.
I would certainly love to see it.
-MARCO: Okay. -DOUG: Yeah, fantastic. -EMILIANO: Me, too.
EMILIANO: We are at around 20 meters below
-the street level. -Wow.
NARRATOR: In the town of Camerano, Italy,
Rick Lagina and members of the Oak Island team...
-Check this wall. -...are exploring a portion
of a 2,500-year-old cave system
believed to have been reconstructed by members
of the Knights Templar in the 14th century
and which matches the exact design
of the 14th century lead cross
that was found on Oak Island back in 2017.
-RICK: Wow. -EMILIANO: This is what, in a church,
-you would call the transept, right? -Mm-hmm.
We have the left arm, the right arm,
and a-according to Alberto, there is a slight difference.
This arm should be
a bit longer than this one.
RICK: Which is exactly what our lead cross exhibits.
EMILIANO: I’d say so.
RICK: It really is quite a feat of engineering.
-EMILIANO: Mm-hmm. -I wonder
if it exhibited that when they were carving it.
EMILIANO: Okay, let’s go take a look at the head, the ring.
Perfect. Wow.
EMILIANO: Now we’re talking about the eighth century,
-before Christ. -(Rick laughs)
Right?
That is, that is...
-incredible history. -Clay up there.
RICK: Mm-hmm.
-It’s amazing. -It’s almost like a glue,
-holding the sand together. -Yeah.
RICK: 2,000 or 3,000 years later,
it still stands.
Is there really an intimate relationship
between the lead cross found on Oak Island
on-on Smith’s Cove beach?
What that cross represents and what this represents,
and are they aligned?
I think they are the same thing, and...
Obviously, you know my friendship with Zena.
Makes you get emotional, right? Because...
I reach out and touch this now, if this really is that,
she was the one who guided us here, really.
-No, I... I understand. -She helped us.
And now maybe, maybe this
will help us move the story forward.
And that’s, that’s why we’re here, really,
is to make connections.
To hear it from you means something.
Yeah, I...
I don’t want to be emotional as well.
(chuckles) Lead on.
-It’s amazing, the history. -CORJAN: Hey, Rick.
I think you want to have a look at this.
-Sure. -You might even recognize it.
-Huh. -Do you see that?
(chuckles): Uh, I recognize it.
That’s the so-called goose paw at-- up in Nova Scotia.
Exactly.
Oh, wow.
NARRATOR: Earlier this year...
ISAAC: We just know it’s been here for a really long time.
...Rick, Corjan and Charles Barkhouse
traveled some 50 miles southwest of Oak Island
to Liverpool, Nova Scotia...
It comes to a point.
...where they were shown
a nearly identical carving.
CORJAN: To me, this looks like, uh,
what we call a goose paw, and if that’s what it is,
that would be something, because that is the-the mark
of the Masons for the Knights Templar in medieval Europe.
CORJAN: Looks like it.
It looks exactly like
-the goose paw. -Our goose paw.
-RICK: Uh-huh. That’s amazing. -That’s cool.
It is very cool.
CORJAN: So, we thought that they used this
to mark their presence.
-Wow. -I mean, this is a very real Templar connection.
You have to follow the clues where they are,
but let’s see where this leads us.
Okay, well, there’s a lot more to see, so, uh,
-maybe we should move out and, uh, join the group. -Yep. Yep.
-Let’s go. -After you. Yeah.
RICK: Why? Why was such a unique shape
put into a tunnel system from long ago,
perhaps Templar-associated?
If it was just about refuge or storage
or the need to hide, why would you go to the trouble
of designing something of such uniqueness?
Everything is a stepping stone.
You have to be creative,
and hopefully it will get us to Oak Island.
-Hey, guys. -PETER: Hey, guys.
-Hey. -CORJAN: How are you?
So, there’s another cave system
that I would like to show you guys.
And it’s in Osimo,
it’s a few kilometers from Camerano.
And I’m pretty sure you’ll find it very interesting.
-I’d say yes. Let’s go. -Okay.
DOUG: It’s been an amazing day.
RICK: It has been.
NARRATOR: While Rick and members of the team
finish their visit in Camerano, Italy...
-GARY: Hello, Billy. -BILLY: Hey, guys.
GARY: I’m glad to see you’re here, mate.
Sill digging on top of this ramp.
NARRATOR: ...back on Oak Island,
metal detection expert Gary Drayton
and surveyor Steve Guptill join Billy Gerhardt
in the triangle-shaped swamp.
All right, mate, let’s get diggy with it.
NARRATOR: They are continuing efforts
to excavate a believed stone ramp...
All right, fingers crossed, Steve.
...to determine
if it actually connects the stone pathway
that runs along the swamp’s eastern border
with the massive stone-paved feature
in the center of the brackish bog,
which has been scientifically dated to as early as 1200 AD.
BILLY: Hey, Gary?
I’m getting kind of down to some hard bottom, maybe.
What are you seeing, Billy?
It’s mostly all flat cobbles, I think.
GARY: Okay.
BILLY: And it certainly looks like the shape of a ramp.
STEVE: This, to me, looks what,
what a ramp would look like.
GARY: You’ve got your stick, mate,
and maybe you can probe and see
-where it ends. -Right.
Well, we see one there.
They’re there.
Yeah, they’re everywhere.
So, to give you an idea,
right along that water’s edge, we’re a foot below sea level.
And as we’ve come up where I’m standing,
I am four inches below sea level.
So, it’s coming up quite quickly.
I think we’re on the ramp interface.
We believe we found a ramp interface
that connects the paved area to the cobble path.
Let’s get digging.
And we’re gonna hope to connect these features,
and if we can do that,
we can start to piece the story of the swamp together.
(device beeping)
-Oh, Gary, got a hit? -Yeah, I got a hit, mate.
I think it’s in here.
-(beeping) -Ooh.
Let’s see what we’ve got here.
-(Gary whoops) -What is that?
GARY: It looks old.
-(Gary whoops) -STEVE: What is that?
Some kind of fastener?
NARRATOR: While investigating
a believed man-made stone ramp
in the northeastern region of the Oak Island swamp...
And it’s a square-shanked fastener,
which means it’s normally an older type.
...Billy Gerhardt,
Gary Drayton and Steve Guptill
have just unearthed a potentially significant clue.
I would say pre-1800s.
This type of iron fastener
would have been used for securing, uh, wooden planks.
-Mm-hmm. -Like a ship’s decking nail.
We have found parts of an old ship in here.
-Yep. -NARRATOR: Over the past several years,
the team has found not only compelling evidence
that the swamp was once an open harbor
but, given the stone road-- or ship’s wharf--
that was uncovered in 2020,
may have also been used for the docking
of a large sailing vessel.
If Gary is correct that he, Billy and Steve
have found more evidence of a ship
on the believed stone ramp,
could that mean that the ramp, which may be connected
to the 800-year-old paved area,
was created in order to transport something
of great value off of a ship and onto Oak Island?
It really seems like a ramp here.
So, just to be sure, I think we should hydrovac
to see, really, what it looks like,
-and then we know. -Yeah, I agree.
MARTY: A hydrovac truck is just a truck
that pulls a very high vacuum,
like a big vacuum cleaner, but it’ll pull up water.
It’s like a giant shop vac, actually.
Clean of metals, mate.
MARTY: We’re going to try and see
what this ramp looks like.
And we’re trying to figure out
how old it is and what it could have been used for.
Well, I’ve done my work, I think you worked on yours.
-Yep. -All right, mate.
STEVE: We’ve had a good day.
GARY: Yeah, it’s been a success, mate.
NARRATOR: The following morning...
BILLY: We’re getting a little more water on that.
...as Billy Gerhardt supervises
the hydrovac operation to uncover more
of the believed stone ramp in the swamp on Oak Island...
EMILIANO: So, we’re in Osimo.
NARRATOR: ...nearly 3,700 miles to the east,
in the town of Osimo, Italy...
I want to introduce you to Fabrizio Bartoli.
-ALEX: Pleased to meet you. -A pleasure.
NARRATOR: ...researcher Emiliano Sacchetti
and Professor Fabrizio Bartoli, a historian
and modern-day member of the Knights Templar,
meet with Rick Lagina and other members of the team
just outside an ancient site known as the Grotte Simonetti.
Here, there’s another amazing underground cave system.
-It’s about 30 kilometers wide. -Wow.
There are some interesting carvings in these caves,
and Fabrizio will show us and explain us
-the meaning of those carvings. -DOUG: Well, we’re really
interested to see what we might see in these caves.
-Why don’t we step in? -ALEX: Yeah. Can’t wait.
CORJAN: Look at that.
RICK: Wow.
NARRATOR: Located just five miles southwest
of the town of Camerano,
the Grotte Simonetti was first created nearly 2,000 years ago.
-ALEX: Boy. -RICK: Stunning.
ALEX: Everything is just so well built.
-RICK: Yeah. Really. -CORJAN: Wow.
NARRATOR: Around 1160 AD, it was reestablished
as a stronghold for the Knights Templar.
However, after their dissolution in the early 14th century,
it is believed to have been used as a secret refuge
by surviving members of the order.
-It’s quite remarkable. -PETER: Mm-hmm.
I would never have guessed the scale of the...
-of the work. -ALEX: Yeah.
RICK: I mean, look at the enormity of the material removed.
-CORJAN: Oh, yeah. -You know, to me,
this is a most impressive cave system,
but as you articulated earlier, it’s kilometers long.
So, uh, why don’t we separate?
But remember that, you know, the reason why we’re here--
the core, the focus of it--
is to try to tie it back to the island.
-Okay. Game ready. -Fair enough?
-Okay. -CORJAN: Great idea.
Oh, Rick. Have a look at this.
-Oh, wow. -CORJAN: Wow.
I remember seeing something very similar in Domme.
I remember this feature.
I remember the pyramidal base.
DOUG: Absolutely.
-NARRATOR: In 2017... -Oh, wow.
...Rick and his nephews Alex and Peter
visited a 14th century Templar prison in Domme, France.
There, they were shown a number of carvings
made by members of the Templar order
during their persecution,
including one that was an exact match to the lead cross
that was found just a week later on Oak Island.
There’s much more to investigate here,
and I-I think we should continue the search.
-EMILIANO: Yeah. -There’s a lot to learn.
Oh, another cross there.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, look at this.
-Ho-ho. -Right there.
-Hey, Rick. -RICK: Hmm?
-ALEX: Check this out. -PETER: That’s cool.
We have seen this symbol before...
-RICK: H+O Stone. -...on Oak Island.
PETER: Yeah.
We saw that at Fonte Arcada.
Now, that’s a direct tie to Oak Island.
ALEX: We saw that at Fonte Arcada.
-RICK: The H+O Stone. -PETER: Yeah.
ALEX: That’s a direct tie to Oak Island.
NARRATOR: In a cave system
known as the Grotte Simonetti
in Osimo, Italy, Alex Lagina and his cousin Peter Fornetti
have just found an ancient carving believed
to have been made by members of the Knights Templar,
matching one found on the so-called H+O Stone,
which was discovered in the 1920s on Oak Island.
PETER: Haven’t we had some people who have thought, like,
-this is a symbol for gold? -That is true, yes.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that Peter and Alex
have found a symbol in the Grotte Simonetti
related to the sacred treasures that many believe
the Templar order smuggled out of Europe
between the 12th and 14th centuries?
If so, could the H+O Stone be a critical clue
as to where they are located today?
And what’s that, uh, down there?
-ALEX: I think that’s the crescent moon. -Crescent moon.
-We saw that at Fonte Arcada, remember? -PETER: Yeah. Absolutely.
ALEX: Yeah, and we saw that at Domme, too.
-In the prison. -PETER: Mm-hmm.
The Templar prison.
We’ve previously explored in France
and in Portugal all these Templar symbols
and Templar locations.
I mean, they’re both here in these caves.
The symbols are here that connect all the places
that we’ve looked at so far, so there must be more.
And not only that, but back to, back to the island as well.
The circle with the dot, obviously,
is represented on the H+O Stone.
And the crescent moon, we have seen that everywhere,
from Fonte Arcada in Portugal
to the Overton Roadstone in Nova Scotia.
So, we are beginning to draw some connective tissue
to, perhaps, Templar involvement on Oak Island.
Kudos to both of you for finding that.
It-it’s impactful. It is.
There’s a lot more to learn.
NARRATOR: The following morning, back on Oak Island...
MacKENZIE: That’s a darker clay.
NARRATOR: ...while the reconstruction of the Garden Shaft continues
in the Money Pit area...
MacKENZIE: Oh, geez, so that’d be from the south to the north, eh?
IAN: So we just walked over the cobble path, right?
Yeah. That top layer.
-IAN: Oh, okay. -Yeah. And then,
slopes quickly into this.
Very interesting.
NARRATOR: ...Craig Tester,
Billy Gerhardt and Laird Niven
arrive at the swamp with geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
to have him examine the stone ramp
which has now been cleared of water and mud.
IAN: The key to it all is,
if we can find stones like this,
and there’s wood underneath them,
then we’ve got another man-made feature.
-Yeah. Yeah. -CRAIG: Yeah.
And if we can get, uh,
samples that-that say
-what time was this built. -Yeah.
CRAIG: This area continues to be very interesting.
If it ties into the paved area in the swamp,
it could have been built as long ago as 1200 AD.
A huge number.
So I don’t know what that’s used for,
but we hope we can find the answer.
IAN: You see something like this rock here?
CRAIG: Yeah.
If we dig down, right off the bat,
-we’ve got a stick. -Oh, nice. Nice.
IAN: And the stick is sort of crushed,
and it’s not a root.
That stick did not work its way
-underneath that rock. -Yeah.
So it tells me this rock was put down
-on top of swamp. -Yep.
NARRATOR: With the discovery of the stick beneath the ramp,
Dr. Spooner has not only obtained strong evidence
that the feature is man-made but may now be able to determine
just when it was constructed.
IAN: Yeah, there’s another stick right there.
It looks like... an older.
CRAIG: Okay. Yeah, it’s all good.
The first rock, we find a stick.
IAN: That was kind of a little bit lucky, to be honest with you.
(both laugh)
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...
-MARTY: Hey. Hello. -ALEX: Hey, guys.
-(overlapping chatter) -DOUG: Everybody.
-Ciao. -MARTY: We’re keen to hear
what’s going on with our Italian crew.
-Talk to us. -It’s been very,
very interesting.
NARRATOR: ...Marty and members of the team
gather in the war room
for a highly anticipated videoconference
with Rick, Doug, Alex and Peter
regarding their search for clues in Italy.
ALEX: We went to the caves in Osimo,
and there are carvings in those caves
known to be made by Templars.
There, we saw these symbols.
And the one on the top, I mean, that...
that’s one we’ve seen on Oak Island before,
on the H+O Stone.
The circle with the dot in the center.
But right below it, you can see a symbol
that we saw in Portugal and in France, in Domme,
which is the crescent moon.
So, that’s a, that’s a concrete visual.
RICK: Yes. To me, it rounds back to what Zena posited, that there’s
a possible Templar connection,
to come to the New World to safeguard
information or treasure.
MARTY: I have to say,
you do see some commonality between some of these symbols
that seems to be surviving across centuries.
Great job, guys.
Well, here on Oak Island,
Billy has been very busy in the swamp.
He’s been uncovering a piece of the path
that we already knew about.
Well, Billy, tell ’em.
What-what do you think you found?
For me, it’s-it’s a ramp.
And, you know, that really makes the paved area something.
-So, there’s a drone shot. -RICK: Wow.
So, the elevation of the top of the ramp aligns
with the elevation of the top of the path?
You could, you could wheel a wheelbarrow up it easily.
LAIRD: It’s definitely man-made.
There’s a level difference that’s quite distinct.
RICK: The bigger question is where the stone path goes.
-Yeah. -I think there’s,
there’s a lot more to be learned in the swamp,
but time and weather is closing in.
And then, going over to the Money Pit,
Dumas is gonna keep digging down to 82 feet.
So there’s plenty for you to, to do, Rick,
and the rest of you guys when you come back.
That shaft is about ready to-to reveal its secrets.
RICK: I’m in. But I think
the next couple, three days
are gonna be more than informative.
Doug found a, uh, Professor Gaspani,
who has worked with the...
national observatory of Milan
and the National Astronomical Society for 40 years.
And he believes, for sure, there are
stellar alignments in Nolan’s Cross.
MARTY: Well, Rick, that would be incredibly important.
In the meantime, we’re gonna let you go,
’cause you got lots to do.
-Yeah. -We will get back out on our quest.
-Okey doke. -Okay, guys,
thank you very much, ciao,
va bene, and we’ll see you here soon.
-DOUG: Take care, everybody. -BILLY: See you later.
NARRATOR: As a new day begins on Oak Island...
-MARTY: Hey, Roger. -ROGER: Hey, how you doing, guys?
Doing well. Thank you.
NARRATOR: ...Marty Lagina and Charles Barkhouse
arrive in the Money Pit area to get an update
on the reconstruction of the Garden Shaft.
ROGER: We had some cracked timbers in there, so...
this morning when we went down, we seen that there had been
-a bit more movement. -Why do you think it’s pushing?
Why is it unstable behind there?
The issue now is, is we know that we’re close
to something that could be bearing water.
NARRATOR: Could there be a flooded structure
some 80 feet deep just outside the Garden Shaft
which is causing the damage to the original structure?
If so, could it be related
to one of the legendary flood tunnels
connected to the Money Pit, and mean that the team
might be close to the fabled treasure vault?
TONY: So, our plan at this point was to use casing
to case the hole ahead of time so that
-we-we can make sure that... -MARTY: Actually, I think that--
I think that’s really prudent, because we suspect
a tunnel right underneath you.
-Y-Yeah. -And-and we do know when
you get into certain areas here, the water’s unstoppable, so...
Yeah, so we want to just hold it in place.
We put that steel bracing in there.
Uh, the boys are in there now, they’re...
we’re gonna be setting up our last set this afternoon.
Okay.
We think there’s a tunnel.
We don’t know who made the tunnel.
We don’t see the tunnel in the historical narrative.
And yet this tunnel is right in the treasure area.
Right where the scientists tell us that the waters
are full of metals that shouldn’t be there.
That could be very, very significant.
You’re about to boldly go where no one’s gone before.
Oh, y-yeah, you’re absolutely right.
-It’s true. You’re right. You’re right. -It’s true. Yeah.
MARTY: All right, well, carry on, keep us posted.
-ROGER: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. -Okay.
NARRATOR: As operations continue on Oak Island,
over 3,700 miles to the east, near Rome, Italy...
RICK: Professor Gaspani.
My pleasure to meet you, sir.
-I’m Rick. -Pleased to meet you.
...Rick Lagina, along with other members of the team
and Italian researcher Emiliano Sacchetti,
meet with author, archaeoastronomer
and astrophysicist Professor Adriano Gaspani.
DOUG: Gentlemen, the reason I think that this, uh, stop
on our trip is so important is because,
on the island, we have Nolan’s Cross.
And we’ve had several researchers suggest that it has
a solar alignment
or a constellation context to it,
so I thought, as an astrophysicist,
he might be able to give us his opinion on Nolan’s Cross
a-and whether those alignments are true.
RICK: And I would concur.
I mean, Nolan’s Cross is integral to understanding--
according to more than a few theorists--
an understanding of who, what, when, where, why and how
about Oak Island.
NARRATOR: In recent years,
some researchers have suggested
that the six boulders on Oak Island,
which form the megalithic feature known as Nolan’s Cross,
may have originally been positioned to align
with certain stars in the night sky.
That is to say that with the stars
and, uh, archaeoastronomy,
we are able to date monuments.
NARRATOR: Combining the disciplines
of astronomy, archaeology and anthropology,
archaeoastronomy is the study
of ancient megalithic stone formations
that are believed to have been created to align
with specific stars, constellations
and certain yearly events,
such as the summer and winter solstices.
After conferring with Doug Crowell,
Professor Gaspani has been comparing the placement
of the boulders in Nolan’s Cross
with the position of certain stars over time
to determine an approximate era, or epoch,
when the feature may have been created.
Capella, Arcturus, Antares,
Bellatrix, Alphard and Fomalhaut.
Wow.
-That’s crazy. -DOUG: It’s amazing.
It’s amazing. It’s amazing.
Yeah. That means that, also, the cross
was made around, uh,
13th century.
-(laughter) -RICK: Wow. Wow.
-Wow.
-That’s crazy. -DOUG: It’s amazing.
It’s amazing.
Wow.
That means the cross was made
around, uh, 13th century.
NARRATOR: Just outside of Rome, Italy,
archaeoastronomer Professor Adriano Gaspani,
has informed Rick Lagina and members of the Oak Island team
that based on the historical alignments of certain stars
in the night sky, he believes that Nolan’s Cross
was created approximately 800 years ago.
This is really exciting, Professor, because--
let me give you a little bit of context about the island.
-This-this is our island. -Mm-hmm.
DOUG: This is the orientation of our cross.
This area of the swamp here,
under the swamp, there is a stone platform.
-(Gaspani speaks Italian) -Yeah.
DOUG: Quite large.
And from carbon dating,
we’ve dated it to 1200 AD.
Yeah.
DOUG: If these boulders were put in place
in 1200 AD,
along with the rest of the work that seems
to have been done on the island, that’s huge to us.
We thought, when we got the carbon date
from the paved area, we thought, "Oh, this, this is
too much of an outlier."
And yet here,
the stars are telling us a different story, right?
The professor is saying, "This is the best-fit scenario."
I mean, the stars are fixed in a way, right?
That’s right in line with Zena’s voyage.
The Templar voyage to the New World in 1179.
NARRATOR: If Professor Gaspani is correct,
that Nolan’s Cross, like the massive paved area
in the swamp, was created around 1200 AD,
could it offer evidence to support the belief
of the late Zena Halpern,
that members of the Knights Templar
really did make repeated visits to Oak Island
between the 12th and 14th centuries
in order to hide their sacred treasures?
RICK: I think it is almost irrefutable evidence
when he says these five or six star alignments
are so precise and so accurate,
they only fit to a certain time period.
And that was the aha moment.
1200 AD.
Because then your mind goes back
to Zena Halpern’s research.
I think we have to follow
the suggestions made by theorists,
i.e. a Templar treasure.
That’s astounding.
We need to continue to analyze and to think
about what this may mean and how to move it forward.
But I think it’s been incredibly informative
-and-and quite fascinating. -DOUG: Yep.
Professore, grazie.
-Grazie mille. -(speaks Italian)
-Thank you very much. -Thank you. -Thank you so much.
NARRATOR: For more than two centuries,
devoted searchers have labored to reveal the answers
behind the Oak Island mystery.
Is it possible that the Laginas and their team
are now uncovering the truth nearly 4,000 miles away?
The journey for clues continues.
ROGER: Couple of slings coming down.
NARRATOR: But is the ultimate proof
waiting at the bottom of the Money Pit,
guarded by a deadly curse?
Next time on The Curse of Oak Island...
RICK: We’re following all the clues where they lead.
Hey, guys. Come take a look at this.
CORJAN: Oh-ho. Fantastic.
Holy cow. This is freakin’ impressive.
I’ve never seen anything like this on the island.
DOUG: We found this on Oak Island.
EMILIANO: It’s very old.
Probably a thousand years old.
-DOUG: Wow. -Wow.
ROGER: We are at the bottom of the Money Pit shaft.
MARTY: And very close to the actual treasure
-of the Money Pit. -ROGER: Absolutely amazing.
-MARTY: How about that? -Wow.
Oh, baby.
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