The Curse of Oak Island (2014) s02e07 Episode Script

1
Previously on the curse of Oak Island in
order to dig in the money pit we have to
shut off all the flood phones and maybe
this digest will lead us in that
direction my green coming out of there
we're here to the south of France trying
to take back to find the roots of this
if you were gonna look for the treasure
of the Knights Templar it's not the bulk
item ties to Oak Island are here
supposedly it all comes together it was
Scotland you need to come get me to
Scotland
there is an island in the North Atlantic
where men have been looking for treasure
for more than 200 years so far they have
uncovered booby-trapped flood tunnels
carved stones with strange symbols 17th
century Spanish coins and evidence of a
wooden vault covered in concrete six men
have even lost their lives trying to
solve the mystery
according to legend
we'll have to die before the treasure
can
okay let's do this Jack you going in
sure Rick yeah who's getting wet Jack
Walters ever since finding evidence of a
mysterious wooden vault buried deep
within the money pit treasure hunter
Rick lagina is determined to find an
efficient way of getting to it Charles
here take this
because the object is buried more than
140 feet below ground and surrounded by
what are believed to be a network of
booby-trapped flood tunnels Rick
believes the key to shutting off the
water and getting to the money pit might
be found hidden in the Oak Island swamp
something just floated up in between my
toes it's probably an eel
due to
environmental regulations the water from
the swamp cannot be pumped into the
nearby ocean so the team will need to
divert it several hundred yards away to
the western side of the island
that's good that's good did you do it
that'll work because there is a
widespread belief that the
triangle-shaped swamp is man-made many
Oak Island researchers believe that
everything from a sophisticated
hydraulic system to a vast underground
treasure vault might lie buried under
four and a half acres of brackish water
and muck okay good job just don't drink
any of that okay good job jack
Dave you're up crank it let's go
when Rick and his partners tried to
drain the swamp one year ago they found
that their efforts were undermined by a
series of natural springs that put water
back in the swamp almost as fast as they
could pump it out this year Rick will be
using a larger and more powerful pumping
system he will also be setting up
additional pumping stations at two more
strategic points and running the pumps
for a longer period of time
we need to solve this and I've said it
before and I'll say it again I think
there's answers to be gained in the
swamp and they're not gonna come easy
but it has to be done and it will be
done we're gonna go check the road if
all goes according to plan Rick lagina
is confident that the swamp should be
fully drained in just a few days
time enough for him to travel some 3,000
miles across the Atlantic
to Scotland where he and other members
of the team have been invited to join
Marty and Marty's son Alex who have been
on a fact-finding mission of their own
gentlemen
welcome to Scotland this is our driver
Jack Jack why are we driving on the
wrong side of the road it is the right
side of the road actually looks like
we're here I see the ocean
here at Saltcoats kathleen mcgowan has
arranged for Rick Marty and the team to
meet with Alan Butler a prolific English
author who has done extensive research
on the Knights Templar and the various
myths and stories connected to them
welcome to Scotland you might want to
know why we brought you to a rainy part
of Scotland like this in connection with
that place Oak Island so far away across
this ocean but I think in order to
explain it I need to take you somewhere
where we can get a better view of the
surrounding area
okay I take it this is a lovely day here
[Applause]
oh it's nice yeah
if you look around you can see that this
is a really good natural harbour things
particularly important because it's
shielded by another part of the mainland
of Scotland and also by the islands it
was a place where the French would never
have dared to come according to McGowan
and Butler the Cathars a group of early
Christians who traced their origins back
to the days of Jesus placed a number of
sacred objects including the Ark of the
Covenant and the Holy Grail
into the hands of the Knights Templar
who in turn hid the objects at various
locations in France before taking them
here to Saltcoats the Templar see see
this place is refuge and not England the
most famous of the Scottish Kings Robert
de Bru's he had killed one of his
opponents on the steps of a church altar
that made the Pope quite cross so he has
communicated Robert the Bruce and the
whole of Scotland and that just happened
to coincide with the time when the
Templars were made illegal according to
legend on Friday the 13th 1307 King
Philip the 4th of France and Pope
Clement the 5th conspired to have the
Templars arrested and executed on
charges of heresy although it is
believed by some researchers they came
Philip the fourth really persecuted the
Templars because he had fallen into debt
with them and wanted to confiscate their
great wealth by 1312 the Knights Templar
were nearly disbanded but not before 18
ships believed to be carrying a precious
cargo of religious artifacts left La
Rochelle France and route to Scotland so
the treasure of the Cathars and the
Templars comes into this Harbor that's
very very protected and they could have
done it in a very secretive way and
these treasures were talking about
things like the Ark of the Covenant the
temple of the tables of Solomon the Holy
Grail could only be held on sacred
ground so they would have taken the
treasure from here to a sacred place and
that would be Kilwinning Abbey and
that's where we're gonna go next okay
did the Knights Templar really bring
priceless treasures including the Ark of
the Covenant and the Holy Grail to
Scotland for safekeeping
and if so was it to prepare for an even
greater journey one that would take
these sacred religious artifacts across
the Atlantic Ocean to Oak Island
when I sit back and think about these
theories honestly they're all
far-fetched and generally they're all
credible they're both so we listen and
we're gonna look okay let's go
coming up there's a tunnel here jack
yeah I'm saying dig here yeah the ark
paint here took the winning that will
ultimately lead to the finding of the
treasure
back on Oak Island as the swamp
continues to drain researcher Jack
Begley is looking for a way to get to
the bottom of the money pit without
breaching one of the supposed
booby-trapped flood tunnels
with him is veteran treasure hunter dan
Blankenship who's nearly 50 years of
treasure hunting while living on the
island makes him an invaluable human
resource jack is curious about a strange
clearing known as the bald spot a
mysterious patch of land on the island
where trees inexplicably
don't seem to grow I really like the
spot already because it's above high
tide line and it's right off the
boulderless beach we have to figure this
all out before we get the claw digger in
here oh all I need to do is to try and
help you out and tell you what I think
is there and then you know take it from
there if we're gonna be digging here how
deep do you think this well I'll just
watch I've never seen dowsing before I'm
really interested to see if there are
chambers or flood tunnels deep
underground dan Blankenship is using an
unconventional and fairly controversial
method dowsing the ground condition is
perfect for dowsing wet good
also referred to as divining dowsing
dates back to the 15th century and
entails walking in a straight line while
holding two l-shaped wooden or metal
rods parallel to the ground if the rods
cross without any manipulation it may be
an indication that a water source or a
tunnel may lie hidden down below now I'm
gripping them tight I'm perfect okay now
they come by themselves you straighten
them out
when you see the raj cross is this
attempted something is it an attraction
of something is making a Raj crowd and
in all probability is a tunnel although
not scientifically proven dowsing has
actually been employed for years in the
well-drilling and energy industries it
was by this method back in 1969 that dan
Blankenship became convinced he had
found a location that might provide an
alternate means of reaching the money
pit 10-x he digs down 235 feet and he
finds this chamber underground and best
of my knowledge all he used was dowsing
which is something I don't believe in so
then you're left with the conclusion
that I guess he was either incredibly
lucky or perhaps dowsing works there's a
tunnel here jack
if dan blankenship did just locate a
tunnel could it be one of the so-called
flood tunnels connected to the money pit
I suspect there to be another tunnel
coming out of here I want to see whether
they can fix that up
yeah I did already I picked it up here's
the cross tunnel I was telling you about
I'm saying dig here for the only reason
that it's adjacent to two cross tunnels
this is the hottest place I would say
that's what I like to hear Dan I'd like
to hear
nearly 3,000 miles away Rick Marty and
Alex lagina along with Dave Blankenship
and Charles Barkhouse arrive with
researchers Kathleen McGowan and Alan
Butler at Kilwinning Abbey considered by
some to be among the most sacred sites
in Scotland this is a monastery built by
a group of monks called the Turin
anciens you know some monks pray some
monks farm these guys were builders
founded in Tehran france in 1109 the
tironensian order adhered strictly to
what was known as the rule of Saint
Benedict which allowed little more than
prayer and work over the years the monks
developed an astounding knowledge of
architecture and engineering which in
turn led to the construction of more
than 100 sacred Abbey's and priories
across France England Ireland Wales and
Scotland within a five-year period
but the terran indians were not only
known for their ability to build
structures above ground they were also
expert at building tunnel systems such
as the one believed to be at Rosslyn
Chapel in Scotland which connects the
chapel to a nearby castle now there's a
strong tradition that the ark came here
to Kilwinning but is there any reason
you think it's here in Kilwinning aside
from just the fact that it would be a
good spot for it
yeah I'm absolutely certain that they
would have kept it here as much as
anything else because it was so close to
the coast and they knew that there would
come a time when they had to get it out
very quickly
the Templars were very forward-looking
people if they wanted to do something
they went to see the people who were
already doing that thing they needed to
come to people who could build and those
people were the tironensians
Kathleen McGowan and Alan Butler are
among those who believe that members of
the Knights Templar brought their
treasures including the Ark of the
Covenant here to Kilwinning Abbey after
fleeing from France in 1312 they also
believe the Templars and later the
freemasons forged a secret alliance with
tironensian monks to hide these sacred
objects on Oak Island Freemasonry took
over to a great extent from the Templars
in carrying that message forward and
Freemasonry has been really important on
Oak Island I'm sure but that will
ultimately lead to the finding of the
treasure I came away thinking yes
there's a good chance there were some
amazing things that were spirited away
with the fall of the Knights Templar and
there's a credible case made that they
could have gone to Scotland it makes
sense politically at the time but we're
trying to connect the dots back to Oak
Island the next parts of called to me
one of the most amazing places in the
world is Rosslyn Chapel and Kathleen's
gonna take you that great great perfect
coming up we're really hoping to find
the top of a tunnel yeah
Scottish Knights went to the new world
before Columbus perhaps there may have
been some other purpose for that voyage
well Rick Marty and the other members of
their team are in Scotland tracing the
possible connections between the Knights
Templar and Oak Island a bald spot Drake
Craig tester his son Drake and stepson
Jack Begley are at the mysterious area
on the island known as the bald spot see
how there's no living trees in this wide
open area they are preparing to excavate
where dan Blankenship believes one of
the islands legendary flood tunnels runs
underground that's why we want to go
ahead and excavate down and see if
there's any rooms or tunnels just 1012
feet down this area has also been of
interest to Oak Island treasure hunters
because it is next to what is known as
the boulderless beach
the only stretch of beach on the island
where all rocks and boulders appear to
have been cleared away could it be
hiding another flood system like the one
found in 1850 at Smith's Cove or Dan
wanna dig first break where this dump is
it has a tunnel leading straight over to
where that other crossroads point is
about in the middle of-of this bald spot
here again in order to see if Dan
Blankenship's theory is correct Craig
tester has hired an excavator which can
dig down approximately 12 feet well the
place you want to try digging is that
stump right there
with this dig we're really hoping to
find is the top of a tunnel or a room
it's gonna be cribbed or have wood
supporting it
we're about halfway there we think take
a look
oh I'm not seeing any cribbing yeah no I
mean either yeah you might be able to
get another foot or so
although the excavator is approaching
its maximum depth of 12 feet and as yet
there is no sign of a tunnel a tunnel
might still exist dowsing while believed
to be effective at finding sources of
water underground is not generally
effective at calculating depth in other
words a flood tunnel may exist
underground what may lie farther down
than the excavator can reach
how deep you think we are now I think
we're about 12 feet I'll feed that's the
deepest of skulls yeah thank
and see how it's doing
no wood though we're not seeing anything
here so we'll move to another location
okay as digging and pumping activities
continue on Oak Island Rick Marty and
the other members of their team are
looking for important clues in one of
the most mysterious buildings in
Scotland Rosslyn Chapel look at that
absolutely magnificent
boy did they create some magnificent
things in stone at Rosslyn Chapel it's
clearly ornate it's beautiful it's
inspiring
Rosslyn Chapel was designed and
commissioned by William Sinclair a
powerful member of a clan with ties to
the Knights Templar it was built by
Freemasons in approximately 1456
Wow
amazing
originally designed to be a Catholic
Church many researchers believe the
strange carvings on the walls and
ceilings of the chapel contain numerous
clues
it could be instrumental in solving the
Oak Island mystery and we're
particularly interested in North
American influence in the chapel and
that's simply because we've come looking
for a connection to Oak Island in North
America that perhaps referencing this
Sinclair voyage that there may have been
some interaction or some purpose for
that voyage or other voyages to in the
world so legend is that Scottish Knights
went to the new world before Columbus
born there are those who believe that in
1398 nearly a century before Christopher
Columbus sets sail to the Americas
William Sinclair's grandfather Prince
Henry Sinclair sailed across the ocean
from Scotland to what would become known
as Nova Scotia or New Scotland
he was accompanied on his journey by
members of the Knights Templar and their
goal was to hide not only the vast
Templar treasure but sacred religious
artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant
the golden menorah of King Solomon and
the Holy Grail one of the theories we've
heard is that the MiG Mob people the
original people in the Nova Scotia area
have some symbols that are like some
phoned in here according to the
historical timeline of the Mi'kmaq First
Nation tribes people of Nova Scotia
contact with Europeans was made in 1398
it has been reported that the Mi'kmaq
saw Henry Sinclair as a god named
Glooscap and that he taught them new
ways of fishing and navigating
this possible connection between the
native peoples of Nova Scotia and the
Knights Templar is made even more
convincing when comparing the Templar
battle flag of Henry Sinclair to the
ceremonial flag used by the Mi'kmaq they
are virtually identical the legend here
is that Prince Henry Sinclair in 1398
sailed to the New World and brought back
with him corn and if you look up here
there is what may appear to be maize or
as we have called Indian corn this
chapel was built well before Christopher
Columbus went to America
corne could this be the first important
clue directly linking Rosslyn Chapel to
the Oak Island mystery
coming up it's ten feet we'll hit it if
it's 15 feet we're not gonna hit it the
money pit is a deliberately constructed
copy of Solomon's Temple
at Rosslyn
Chapel in Scotland Rick and Marty lagina
have just been shown stone carvings of
what many believe to be corn corn is a
grain that is native to North America
and could not have been known in this
part of the world until after Columbus
is so called discovery of the new world
in 1492 so how did it come to be
incorporated into the architecture of a
chapel built in 1456 there are those who
believe that Prince Henry Sinclair a
member of the Knights Templar visited
North America in 1398 nearly 100 years
before Columbus and that the inclusion
of corn and the design of the chapel
serves as an important clue directly
linking Sinclair to the Oak Island
mystery
on a recent visit to oak island swedish
researcher daniel ronnstam suggested
that the stone slab found in the money
pit contains secret instructions for
stopping the ocean water that floods the
pit by using something as simple as dry
corn could William Sinclair have
intended these carvings to serve as a
means of instructing future generations
of Templars on how to retrieve their
sacred treasure stash honestly it looks
like you can see the little corn kernels
yes there are other carvings such as the
aloe vera and Trillium which against
North American plants and interestingly
our botanist believed the Trillium Moss
Trillium so we have to believe that the
people who carved this Chapel were far
traveled corn is a new world crop and
one of the key things is that there
appears to be a carving of a Trillium
while trilliums would been unknown to
the people who built that Chapel had
they not been to North America people
come to this chapel for many different
reasons and with many different beliefs
and we respect all the different beliefs
that people come with so we can't say
definitively contain we didn't sail to
the New World and that's part of the the
magic and mystery of the place we're
very used to non-definitive answers we
Rex were experts in non-definitive
answers
was it an inspiring and was it quite an
amazing place to visit yes it was but as
it regards this search I don't know so
what do you guys think of Rosslyn I need
time to digest at all I really do it's
overwhelming
you got a lot of dot to connect sensory
overload we need we need to discuss all
this and let it gel
I mean it's spectacular our friend Alan
Butler has been working all day to put
together a presentation for you guys so
if you're ready we can go have a drink
and meet with Alan well we definitely
need a drink
there's a wonderful bar called the Grail
down the street maybe we should go there
we seek the Grail we seek the Grail
let's go
back on Oak Island treasure hunters
Craig tester and Jack Begley are about
to dig a second test hole at the area
known as the bald spot so named because
large trees have never been known to
grow there after dowsing the area dan
Blankenship believes that one of the
reasons for the scarce vegetation might
be that one of the man-made flood
tunnels that feeds ocean water into the
money pit could lie underground dan talk
about it was it was over he put some
some sticks in the ground and okay
there's like a crossroads he thinks that
that the tunnels that are here they
crisscross but they're not at the same
level he thought that that was gonna be
the highest one and then this was the
other hotspot he had and pretty much
right in the center of all just these
sticks a good place to start
right here that stick is the center of
the whole yeah correct
I'm still enthusiastic about this area
but we don't have a good idea how deep
these rooms or tunnels might be it's ten
feet we'll hit it if it's 15 sheep we're
not gonna hit it
take a look
Wow
coming up I would back to mother stone
that ax marks the spot
suppose it took exactly your life
savings to dig it up
would you do it
at the strange treeless area on oak
island known as the bald spot
Craig tester and Jack Begley are hoping
to unearth one of the islands possible
booby-trapped flood tunnels let's see
how it's doing
Wow okay seven or eight feet you know
like halfway there
this one's been going pretty good no
wood though yeah a lot of boulders
unfortunately the excavator they are
using can only reach a depth of 12 feet
and there is no telling how deep the
flood tunnel could be assuming one
exists to test and Blankenship's
findings the team will have to return to
the site with larger and more powerful
digging equipment well I think we're at
12 feet here again and that we're not
finding anything so it could be natural
but there's not no trees here but it
could be that the tunnels are a little
deeper so we'll look at maybe running
seismic maybe a ground-penetrating radar
but I'm not done bringing it here for
sure I sure hope they're having better
luck in Europe than we're having here
right now
on their last night in Scotland Rick and
Marty lagina have arranged to have a
final meeting with researchers Kathleen
McGowan and Alan Butler time for a pint
of bitter plain of something Rick Marty
and the team have spent the last two
days investigating the theory that the
treasures of the Knights Templar
including the Ark of the Covenant and
the Holy Grail it could have made their
way from France to Scotland and then
possibly to Oak Island it's time to
connect the dots I hope you think it's
worthwhile when you heard what we've got
to say when I read the account of how
McGinnis and his friends first started
to dig at the money pit
the first thing they came across a
couple of feet under the turf was a
platform of flat stones why is this
significant well it's got to do with a
threshing floor often referred to in the
Holy Bible a threshing floor is a paved
surface where sheaves of crops are
spread out and trampled in order to
separate the edible grains from the
stalks
but threshing floors also came to
represent spiritual truth and were used
to mark very symbolic religious
locations
one of the greatest examples was the
foundation used in building the original
temple of King Solomon on what is now
known as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
he said the dimensions of that were the
size of a threshing floor or the
dimensions of the original dig are quite
small yeah
that's all they were yeah yeah fresh
applause were very small who are they
always circular yes I've never seen one
that wasn't while exploring Oak Island
in 1795 Daniel McGinnis and his friends
Anthony Vaughn and John Smith found a
circular depression 13 feet in diameter
in the ground at the foot of an old oak
tree
because the area had been frequented by
Spanish and Portuguese pirates they
believed they had found buried treasure
they began to dig and two feet deep they
found a layer of flat paving stones not
found anywhere else on the island
could they have really uncovered a
threshing floor meant to mark the
location not of pirate treasure but
something of great spiritual and
religious significance
it's rung a bell in my mind especially
in connection with how much interest
Freemasons had shown to Oak Island it's
got to do with a particular part of
Freemasonry which is called the Royal
Arch of Enoch in the Old Testament of
the Bible Enoch is the great-grandfather
of Noah
the man who on God's command built an
ark to ensure humans and animals would
survive the Great Flood according to the
so-called legend of Enoch an ancient
series of texts used by freemasons enoch
built a structure deep underground that
would ensure that all the important
knowledge and treasures of the world
would also survive
the first eight chambers Enoch
constructed were meant for protection
but in the ninth and final chamber he
placed a triangle of pure gold known as
the Delta on which the name of God was
written he also placed a collection of
great scientific and historical
knowledge alongside it time rolls by and
along come the children of Israel and
King Solomon builds the temple they find
the entrance to the Enochian chambers
some Masonic legends say that Solomon
added to the treasures that were there
where the Ark of the Covenant ultimately
found its way into the temple and when
the Knights Templar were eventually able
to build their own new Jerusalem the
money pit was deliberately constructed
copy of Solomon's Temple and the
chambers of Enoch in 1804 the Onslow
company excavated what became known as
the money pit
and found nine platforms made of oak
logs every ten feet at the ninth and
final level the so-called 90-foot stone
was discovered on which mysterious
carved symbols were found could these
nine platforms really have been
constructed to represent the nine
chambers of King Solomon's Temple if
it's ever possible to say that x marks
the spot I would bet a modest sum that
what you're looking for is another shaft
with another chamber which is 996 feet
due west of the money pit
they hate to do this to Marty but the
prophecies about the New Jerusalem say
that the New Jerusalem will be built on
an island of swamp
x marks the spot
what you're looking for is another shaft
with another chamber on there last night
in Scotland Rick Marty and the other
members of their team have just been
told by researcher Alan Butler that a
secret chamber that connects to the
money pit can be found 996 feet due west
right on the edge of the Oak Island
swamp
but how did Alan Butler arrive at such a
precise measurement everything about the
money pits the structure itself with its
paving slabs the size of it lead me to
believe the whole design is based on a
linear unit of measurement the
megalithic yard equal to two point seven
two feet the megalithic yard is believed
by some researchers to have been used as
an ancient unit of measurement in the
construction of many mysterious
megalithic structures including
Stonehenge in later years the Freemasons
adopted this unit of measurement in the
building of other often sacred sites
including Rosslyn Chapel
we know the gap between Rosslyn Chapel
and Rosslyn Castle is 366 megalithic
yards that is equivalent to 996 feet and
I think that is the situation Oak Island
so if we look at what the Templars are
doing creating a new Jerusalem using the
Enochian model there would be a chamber
that is 366 make looks yards away the
other end of the tunnel is at a fixed
Compass Point from the origin which
makes me think it's more likely it would
be due west am I to understand looking
at this that we're back in that bloody
swamp yes No tell me it isn't true
it's surprising really how many
different theories keep landing in that
swamp and it's been no secret I'd like
to stick a big fork in the swamp we'd be
done with it I hate that swamp
so how sure are you of this me yeah
absolutely sure suppose it took exactly
your life savings to dig it up would you
do it considering I'm as poor as a
Churchmouse it wouldn't be much of a no
but that's still the measure is I'd I
would well then on that note let's you
big brother says okay big brother the
question was asked earlier would you
commit to this endeavor
and the answer for me is I will we're
going to drain the swamp anyway I don't
care still a mucky mess but I don't care
how difficult to this I really don't I
mean I'll go in there by myself
Matt Rick lagina is why you are going to
find this treasure we are going to the
dots were not as close as I would have
liked but these people came with a
theory rather elegant theory at the end
of the presentation they gave us
information that we could act on they
put an axe on the Mary that's rare
yeah one thing occurs to me that is
interesting is that how many people
actually get to say that I spent a
portion of my life seeking the Grail
legitimate anyway so thank you very much
Cheers
to the quest to the question for Rick
Marty and their partners the trip to
Europe has been both informative and
motivating finally the troops arrived
they are heading back to Oak Island more
convinced than ever that something of
great significance may lie buried deep
inside the money pit here's the plan
we'll shoot this and that an important
key to reaching it might be found at the
bottom of the swamp a swamp that has so
far been able to keep its secrets hidden
life takes a lot of twists and turns
it's kind of what makes it interesting
so it's hugely important that we listen
to theorists yay but we need to get data
in credible usable definitive data I
would like to be able to say there's
something to excavate here in the swamp
at the end of the day you have to prove
the theory take it into the field take
theory into practice take theory to
result there's a story here a
magnificent story something happened
long ago I would like to play whatever
part necessary to find out what that is
will the laginas and their partners find
sacred treasures hidden away by the
Knights Templar or will it be something
else something so incredible that
finding it will not represent the end
but only
the beginning next time on the curse of
Oak Island right here's where we're
gonna start
I'm just so sick of this slop something
right there he just got a reading he's
saying we got multiple hits in the same
area
you got some divers coming in and we'll
concentrate on 10x you're ready to go
let's do this
what's in the bottom of 10x
we're getting into analysis paralysis I
am wanting to quit what do you mean you
want to quit