The Curse of Oak Island (2014) s03e05 Episode Script

1
Tonight on the curse of Oak Island
someone used this to berries extremely
high-value cargo this will be the first
remote operated vehicle in the cavern we
have expectations that we're going to
see man-made objects
we're in the cavern now there's three
square pretty square I mean what is that
if they're wooden that's irrefutable
proof that changes everything
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 bits of
gold chain a stone slab with strange
symbols carved into it
even a 17th century Spanish coin 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
as a new day begins on Oak Island Marty
and Rick lagina turned their attention
to this year's all-important goal to
find a diver experienced enough and
brave enough to get to the bottom of
borehole 10x hey Brad hey guys
to this end they along with dive expert
John tapper have arranged to meet with
certified saturation diver Brad Stabenow
so Brad I understand you have a lot of
experience with some of the things we
need low vis deep water cold water yeah
done a lot of deep stuff confined space
have you seen this before not this close
Brad Stabenow has worked as a
professional Salvage diver
in over 20 countries he's also used to
dive in utilizing the trimix breathing
system which combines oxygen with
nitrogen and helium to ensure a diver
does not experience the kind of narcotic
effects associated with diving at
extreme depths
so you've done saturation diving oh yeah
how long you don't forward a given time
loggers run with 74 days Oh 74 days of
kind of pressure yep Wow what's
incredible Brad Stabenow he's been to
800 feet we're only asking him to do 160
foot dive he has years of experience at
those depths far exceeding those steps
so what's the status of what we have
here right now right now you have this
size casing and concrete yeah that goes
all the way doing 181 feet at the bottom
you've got 27 inch pipe then you go down
47 feet to the top of a cavern that we
know is there okay and then there are at
least three targets in there that we
would like a human being to tell us what
they are
one is a post one is potentially a chest
and the third believe it or not possibly
a body they keep me leave that alone but
you've got a cavity that's roughly ten
foot by eight foot sort of elliptical
but irregular okay and the other thing
is is that there are two tunnels or we
think are two tunnels you mean down
below the case in the cabin the cavity
and those would need to be explored as
well okay before we do this dive we're
gonna have an ROV come out to check out
whatever can be done remotely and we'll
have that information before you would
go in there okay clearly there is a risk
of a fatal event in diving that deep in
a skinny hole with no visibility so we
have to reduce that to an acceptable
risk or we're not gonna do it okay so do
you want to do this
yeah okay doesn't bother you the 27 it
doesn't bother no it's pretty straight
there's your answer
all right did he drop from heaven I
don't know but he's perfect gentlemen
all right Cheers
all right we will get it together guys
an important decision has been made
Brad Stabenow will attempt the dangerous
dive to the bottom of 10-x but not
before Marty and Rick bring in an ROV or
remote operated vehicle to get solid
images of the 27-inch hole and the
mysterious cavern below
while Rick and Marty arrange for an ROV
team to come up to explore 10x their
partner Craig tester along with his son
Drake and stepson Jack Begley are
searching for clues and possibly
treasure near the center of the island
on the area known as lot 6
hey guys let's get our equipment we'll
head out on to lot six and see if we can
actually find something when the 140
acres of Oak Island were offered as
parcels for sale by the British crown in
1762 it was broken up into 32 for acre
lots for more than two centuries the
faithful treasure sites had been thought
to exist on lot 18 lot 19 and on lot 20
in addition to the swamp and the area
known as Smith's Cove
but today crack Jack and Drake have
decided to explore one of the lots that
has never been associated with the Oak
Island mystery lot 6
where the clearing is here you can see
more of an opening that is the border
between lot 5 and Lodge 6
lon 6 is also of interest to the team
for another very intriguing reason
what's this Samuel Boggs property yeah
Samuel ball was born into slavery in
South Carolina in 1764 just ten years
before the start of the American
Revolution after fighting on the side of
the British forces they won his freedom
before emigrating to Nova Scotia in the
late 1700s
in 1786 ball purchased four acres of
land on Oak Island for eight pounds
sterling a huge amount for what was
considered nothing more than rocky farm
and grazing land
what makes Samuel ball story of
particular interest to treasure hunters
is that at the time of his death in 1845
the former slave turned cabbage farmer
had purchased several more acres of land
both on the mainland and oak island
including lot six
in fact samuel ball became one of the
richest men in nova scotia
but how could he have found part of the
Oak Island treasure
some two hundred years ago okay well
let's get after it just looking for
anything old whether it's a structure
rocks anything we're hoping to find gold
and something very old but anything that
that takes us the next step forward
towards finding the treasure would be
great
I got something here okay let's dig her
up it's down like in one of the ruts
cracked underneath the tree yeah seems
like it's grown like into the tree just
watch out man just make sure you're not
behind me there we go
Wow
nothing is huge
think of that we make what's on the tip
of it
the head of it then the other and what
the other end yeah well looks like a
hexagon yeah it does do you think it's a
steak or do you think it used to be some
sort of bolt oh it's like a steak I
think the iron nail and obviously
significant but is it fifty years old or
is it two hundred and fifty years old
should I keep moving just move back in
that way a little bit clear it out okay
suddenly jack gets another hit on his
metal detector and this time it's
indicating the presence of a non-ferrous
or possibly precious metal such as
silver or gold
Hey found something beside tired
good come in alright okay it's not
conductive great about here how deep six
inches okay
yeah there you go great right there get
it what is it
what is it I'm not this on lot six near
the center of Oak Island Craig tester
his son Drake and his stepson Jack
Begley have made an exciting discovery
maybe a piece of chest hinge handle
maybe yeah some sort of handle it looks
like yeah there's a handle good call
okay let's keep checking that area a
little bit if Craig and his sons have
found an object that was once owned by
Samuel ball it could be that there are
others in the vicinity if so perhaps
they will provide important information
about the former American slave who
became one of oak islands largest and
wealthiest property owners
the other side to that gonna be possibly
yeah all right look at that Craig
it's definitely curved you know it's a
little bit ornate not nothing super
fancy but some sort of handle buckle
something along that line okay let's hit
it with the metal detector it's hard to
tell exactly what we found but to me it
looked old so we're hoping we find
something here that tells us the who in
the wind but but we don't know hey Craig
yep
come here getting hit I just haven't
seen this before it looks a lot like
rock wall so
got a boulder here Boulder there and it
looks like it's kind of going off right
along the lot line
zero Chris don't wall that's supposed to
be here not that I know of
look at how sharp this corners that's
like cut Craig dig it up a bit
yeah it's a straight edge on this other
side too I'm not finding it yet their
study was a small rock this time what's
up with train give me a box around here
so it's a triangle-shaped Rock could it
be a natural formation or might it be a
clue one of many triangle-shaped
formations that have been found
throughout the island
watch out anything no obviously a huge
difference between this side in the
other side they're completely flat on
one side and then the opposite side I'd
say this is not natural
according to many Oak Island theorists
the presence of pyramid-shaped markings
and stones is significant some even
suggest that they offer proof of a
direct connection between Oak Island and
Freemasons who often use the symbol of a
triangle to represent the Great Pyramids
of Egypt as well as a symbol for the
Great Architect of the universe is it
possible that Craig and his sons have
located a clue that will help them solve
the Oak Island mystery
should we just stop where we are now
Phil back in the hole I think we ought
to get back to show them what we've
found all right
before the end of what has been a long
and productive day Rick and Marty lagina
have one large task to perform for
safety reasons they need to fill in the
20-foot deep hole they recently dug in
order to find the head and shaft so we
know exactly where the head and shaft is
which should help us orient as we
further explore where the original money
pit was for brothers Rick and Marty
lagina the recent discovery of the head
and shaft the searcher shaft dug by
treasure hunter Gilbert Hedden in 1937
has become one of the team's biggest
accomplishments so far
looks like it's right here there's a
beam that Rick is amazing we have found
it that is clearly the exterior wall of
the old head and shaft because the head
and shaft was known to be in close
proximity to the original Oak Island
money pit
finding it confirmed what Rick and Marty
discovered last summer when drilling
core samples in the area
to a depth of an estimated 145 feet they
found evidence of a wooden box covered
in what looked to be a kind of concrete
that's deathly cement upon closer
examination the box seemed to match the
description of a 7-foot tall so-called
treasure vault first reported by
treasure hunter William Chappell in 1897
concrete and then wood that's the
description that's what they found in
the top of the vault
finding both the head and shaft and
evidence of the mysterious wooden vault
confirmed that Rick and Marty have found
the exact location of the money pit a
location which because of excessive and
careless digging during Prior
excavations had been lost for more than
100 years all right
let's fill it back in coming at you big
boy
to properly excavate the money pit will
mean digging a hole that will need to be
approximately 40 feet wide and 150 feet
deep
and with equipment much larger than what
the team currently has at their disposal
they will also need to shore it up in
such a way as to prevent the kind of
flooding and Cabot's that have plagued
treasure hunters on the island for more
than 200 years
so we got this filled back in yeah but
we still need to explore this bugger
this went into a cavity covered by a
cement like material so we need to image
it yeah
Brian has to come back and Brian Abbott
the sonar guy yeah absolutely
Rick and Marty are hoping a sonar scan
of the money pit similar to the one
Brian Abbott did of 10x earlier this
year will verify once and for all that
there really is a treasure vault buried
some 145 feet below
we need to get that down there I mean
look I got high hopes the only way it'll
be worth digging here to 145 feet as if
we see something otherwise we're not
we're not doing it
as the Sun sets on Oak Island Rick
lagina joins up with Dave Blankenship
jack begley Oak Island historian Charles
Barkhouse and veteran treasure hunter
dan henskee at the nearby fo'c'sle
Tavern okay guys I don't know about you
but I'm glad to be here right now it's a
long day you know Jack's you guys
actually did some work on lot six right
yeah I mean as you know we've been
running some pretty strict grids trying
to figure out if we can pinpoint a spot
where there could have been the supposed
encampment yeah well let me let me stop
you there because lot six we've not
looked at this is the first go-round for
a lot six so you know the progression of
ownership
well the AH we do know that at one time
was Samuel ball home lot six yeah kind
of primed it here have you fallen as I
was saying I started looking for
anything non iron move the detector
around and got some more hints raid in
the general area we finished digging
everything up and at first we thought
well maybe these are just pieces of some
old nails right now where all these
phones in one spot yep in the same hole
well maybe that's just a bent nail
we found another one from the pieces we
found I think it looks like some sort of
a chest handle the handle jack
that's what inside the trousers well I'm
doing my best David well let's get a
little bit better than that those fines
like this tie into you know your
understanding of log six but as far as
we know no one's ever done anything I
don't know we just found it
the curious thing you know you've told
us some of the Samuel ball story but
it's quite singular in the history of
the island that this person comes you
know freed slaves and at some point he
becomes probably one of the largest lent
order something yeah right no he wants
the fact that he's associated with that
is is interesting why was a lot six left
undisturbed might that have been his
treasure vault I don't know none of us
know and thus we're looking was there
anything else over there jack
yeah there was this pyramid or
triangular shaped rock that came up and
we dug it up I don't know if it's a
stone marker or if it's significant or
not but it was surrounded by a bunch of
granite boulders and then this stone was
different and it looked like it may have
been man-made
you to investigate that rock whatever it
is
okay see if you think it's relevant you
know dance theory a little bit of frets
that are either that these markers
stones if you will are important to the
so called map above the ground so go
back the three of you investigator you
come up with
we will sounds like a plan what do you
what is Nova Scotian sir sociable
sociable
it is the start of another day on Oak
Island like most it is filled with the
promise of new information and possible
discovery so we're at lot 6 and there's
there's a couple stones that we found
and it's an odd shape well let's have a
look at it all right
Jack Begley and Charles Barkhouse have
returned to lot six with Stone
researcher and area historian Terry
Deveau they are hoping that Terry can
tell them whether or not the
triangle-shaped Rock they found is a
natural formation it's just right up
here all right or if it might have been
intended as some kind of ancient marker
one that will help them solve the Oak
Island mystery
we were running lines back and forth
with the metal detector and clearing
them a lot of brush away and as we were
clearing the brush I saw this point
sticking out okay
and I came over and dug it up this type
of greywacke which is common in this
part of Nova Scotia does tend to
naturally fracture with this type of a
prismatic shape and to make very clean
cleavage at times is there anything that
stands out to you this one is pretty
interesting because there there seems to
be kind of an added piece to it this is
almost like a cast of some kind that's
been added on to make a point an added
piece one design to make the stone form
a perfect triangle could this strange
triangle-shaped stone really be some
sort of clue that's interesting yeah it
doesn't it might have been used for a
marker of some kind
couldn't rule that out stone markers are
usually not just one stone they're
usually a pile of stones for example
what about this stone over here there's
no yeah it also has a flat surface if it
was used either as a cover over here or
as the back wall and then somebody later
took it apart to see what was in there
if there was anything in there with what
stood out to me was that this was a
depression right and that it was
surrounded by rocks right someone may
have come here and used this to bury
treasure or something valuable we do
know that there was a lot of smuggling
going on both during the American War of
Independence and the war of 1812 this
was the hot spot of smuggling was Mahone
Bay absolutely yeah if it was a
smuggling type cache it would have to be
an extremely high-value cargo if I had a
treasure or something that I wanted to
bury in the ground I'd be looking around
for a spot like this
throughout the 17th and 18th centuries
and even much earlier the area in and
around Nova Scotia was notorious as a
haven for smugglers and privateers
numerous small islands just off the
mainland provided cover and offer the
perfect places to bury and hide stolen
goods and even treasure with little fear
of detection or discovery
Jack have you run the metal detector
through here yep
and funny thing not a thing I don't know
exactly what a treasure cache would have
looked like you know some people have
the idea there were several of them all
around the island just small caches here
there and this really could be the
remains of one of those when Samuel ball
died on December 14th 1845 he left
behind a wife and grandson but curiously
he left his property on Oak Island to
his servant Issac Butler along with a
series of instructions that Butler was
ordered never to reveal could it be that
both Baal and Butler knew the secret of
the Oak Island mystery a secret they
ultimately took
to their graves
today Rick and Marty lagina are hoping
to take another important step forward
in their goal to get a diver to the
bottom of 10x but before letting
professional diver Brad Stabenow make
the difficult and dangerous descent down
the narrow 235 foot deep borehole they
have decided to take one more
precautionary measure I'm Craig they've
hired Jake McNaughton and larae Davies
from Dominion diving in nearby Dartmouth
to send the video ray pro for remote
operated vehicle or ROV to the bottom of
the 235-foot deep shaft armed with a
high-definition camera as well as sonar
the ROV will for the first time be able
to capture high-quality images of any
dangerous obstructions that could
undermine a dive
it will also be able to move freely
throughout the mysterious underground
chamber and photograph any evidence of
man-made objects or tunnels as we
contemplate putting a diver in the hole
they're gonna want every little bit of
information possible that we can give
them the ROV insertion is simply
gathering more data
why wouldn't we try it these are the
whites I take it yep
the LED lights camera here and there
okay great
and your highly skilled and can do
acrobatics with it and everything right
yeah
the whole thing is all controlled from
this okay the ROV will use its
horizontal thrusters along with vertical
propellers to navigate down the eight
foot wide portion of 10x and then
through the narrow 27-inch section all
the way to the bottom this is exciting
let's do this hey yeah I'm good to go
okay
let's put her in we haven't had ROV data
in the past this will be the first
remote operated vehicle in the cavern
we're gonna get a state-of-the-art
machine in there and let it tell us what
it can tell us just the boat you've gone
it's an order
I suppose though in the water down
lights on okay
from our standpoint we'd like to see
some distinctly man-made artifacts in
there heck we'd like to see a treasure
chest in there dan thinks there's one in
there we'd love to see it that's pretty
good visibility yeah it's a lot better
than I thought it was gonna be standing
platform
1:32 yep going around
we're out 150 in here keep going down
alright well there's some debris
it's 181 old better let's stop there all
right take a look see
Walter debris down here there seem to be
a lot of boards going across or steel or
hey won't you look directly down
that's a 27-inch yeah that's it right
there
that Kermit that's what I'm thinking
yeah good turn right here yeah that's
the twenty seventy right on top of it
there is that do your figure that's the
edge of the hole there that tight space
I'll just put it in there okay here we
go here we go
given Dan's belief and stories about the
whole and our expectations I think we
both have expectations that we're gonna
see man-made objects down below where
we're in the 27-inch right now is wait
what's that that's metal for sure what
is that though is that a droplet is that
the drill bar David is that the drill
bar looks like in the 1970s when Oak
Island resident and treasure hunter dan
Blankenship was digging 10x a member of
his crew dropped an approximately 20
foot long drill bar down the 235 foot
board
despite many attempts to retrieve it the
drill bar was never found
and opinions had varied on where it
could be and many believe it could be
lodged in the 27-inch Y hole but no one
has tried to enter the cavity since the
bar was dropped if it turns out that the
drill bar is blocking the narrow shaft
and cannot be removed it would end any
notion of sending a diver down to
explore the mysterious underground
chamber the drill bar is just such a
complicating factor for this whole thing
because it's bad enough we got a 27-inch
hole we have a drill bar which is
basically a four inch piece of more or
less solid steel 20 some feet long
wedged in there
so it's off to the side right it's not
in it's not in his way it could be
no I think we're in the cavern now we're
in the cavity this is a big open space
what's that
there's something
something there's some right there
that looks pretty straight yeah three
square it's pretty squared I mean there
could be your public prick over the post
and could be the pouch
there could be a boat wreck over the
post at 10x an ROV in the two hundred
and thirty five foot deep chamber has
just revealed something of potential
significance to Rick and Marty lagina
and members of their team the image of
what could be a man-made wooden post
that's metal for sure there is also a
second vertical structure which appears
to be an old metal drill pipe can you
follow that up yep what is that that's a
piece of pipe coming out from the roof
of the caverns at the top yep yep
Wow was that a clear image there very
distinctly two posts or columns and
certainly they didn't grow there and I
thought that they were almost certainly
pipes Rick is convinced they're not
pipes so that's another mystery we have
to pull those things out and see whether
those are our posts are on if they're
wooden and appear to be placed there
without coming down that 27-inch hole
well then that's irrefutable proof of
workings there there it is on this sonar
yep well if there's indication that that
post goes up into the ceiling and it's
embedded in there well then that's
indicative of the first real thing
that's reinforces that there's any
man-made Association down there
it looks square yeah it definitely looks
square suddenly the post like object and
the metal drill pipe disappear from view
we've lost the post
okay go find it again where's our posts
I don't know why it's so hard to see I
mean it was so obvious where I'm sitting
according to this owner the post should
be just off to my left right right how
come they're not showing up yeah I don't
know they'd have to be pretty proud like
all the way top to Bob they were yeah
they were in this owner unless we pulled
that pipe and that's all there was
well it can't be we didn't that's not in
the cavity no no we pulled that
eight-inch that was in there could be a
few weeks ago the team removed three
rusted riser pipes out of 10x is it
possible that the two posts they saw in
the cavern were simply old riser pipes
if that's true then why did one look
square and even more curiously where did
they go
Daniel come on and set eyes in your
cavern
for 92 year old dan blankenship the man
who constructed 10x with the help of his
son Dave and friend dan henskee today's
activities mean more to him than anyone
I know you don't want to but I insist
because for him finding something of
value at the bottom of the 235-foot
borehole would serve as a validation for
his more than 50 years of dedication and
hard work trying to solve the Oak Island
mystery
any certainty of things that tunnels
have you seen anything that makes you
think those are there not yet if I've
headed towards them with the sonar and
it always just seems to end up in the
corner big key is to find it on the
sonar and then ya swim towards it right
out of time what's that can you go in
there
there's a wall though tunnels it's
impossible to be a man-made no no
question about that they come through
the fissures in the rock
absolutely they didn't come from the
surface we see openings here right like
right there now I'll turn and go towards
I
it kind of looks like a defined tunnel
heading off right now that's a wall
again I don't see anything that makes it
seem like it's a man-made structure down
there so far aside from maybe a little
bit of concrete over port looks like a
natural cavern that's been scoured
that's probably gonna be it for the day
then isn't it I would say so the ROV
results were you know I hate to keep
using the word disappointing because
it's probably the wrong word they are
what they are the driver of the ROV did
bounce it off all the walls best he
could well you think Brett so our
purpose in this is to kind of ascertain
whether there's anything down there
between me and you that's been my quest
for the last 10 years I would love to
find something on this island that
definitively says that there were
man-made workings underground prior to
1790 yeah that's what I've been looking
for for 10 years potentially a wood post
which we haven't seem to be able to
locate potentially yeah
nothing's indicating it so far that
we've seen here so
how does that impact you the bread I
wouldn't put anybody in the water here
so let's see what Big Brother's doing
over here what started out as a simple
operation to confirm information about
10x has suddenly brought the entire Oak
Island treasure hunt to a standstill
because diver Brad Stabenow did not see
any evidence of man-made tunnels or
structures at the bottom of 10x he has
informed Rick and Marty that there is no
reason for him to make such an expensive
and potentially deadly dive but Brad
felt that there was an insufficient data
revealed to warn a dive and I kind of
felt that way too I had said but my
feeling is that what I saw today does
not warrant putting a human being down
there what do you guys think there's
nothing I could get excited about that's
for sure well we didn't see the floor
you can't make that statement he ran
into the wall everywhere he went
and the rover I mean it water kept
getting clear clear this is a problem
obviously but I just I don't see risk in
a human life to get on there right now I
don't
died sad in a sense but I'm saying I'm
seeing 10x off the list that's what I'm
seeing I didn't see enough to say cross
it off to me the answer is not
definitive as that was always the
criteria it's never gonna be definitive
you can always make up some plan you
know I disagree I think what's gonna
have to happen is what I said was gonna
have to happen long ago or is gonna have
to be humanized in that cavity I think
we should get David in on the
conversation too I would be fine with me
David what we're debating what we should
do next with 10 acts what you see that's
just it not what we expected to see you
willing to cross this off I don't know
Rick I really don't know could the ROV
data be enough to convince the team that
the search for what might be at the
bottom of 10x should now be abandoned
I'm close to crossing it off because
where are the tunnels they're not under
sediment where were the tunnels you
absolutely convinced there were no
tunnels
I don't know we can see the column we
didn't see the tunnels we didn't see the
chests we didn't see any story you know
he's anybody's when it's anybody's from
my perspective I seem to see that it was
basically showing the same area in the
cavity all the time
and I never saw the floor or very rarely
saw the floor I think it was an
incomplete study if you will the data
was insufficient surely it's sufficient
for me to say we're done here
we're all saying we've postponed the
dive at least that's it for me and I'm
really close to putting an X in 10x and
saying we did our job that's wrong I
know I'm not there Larry said we have a
disagreement I'm not there I'm not
willing to do what he's willing to do
put an action through that shaft
I'm not 10x X I'm not I'm close we have
a disagreement we'll work it off exactly
I come as far as we can today let's call
it a day
what say you I say the operative word is
today I am not finished with 10x he's
never varied from where he's been I've
never buried from where I've been which
is show me concrete evidence of human
activity pre 1795 and then my my
enthusiasm level goes way up but it's
his passion and part of my
decision-making process involves what
matters to him you know Rick Mathers
but with Brad out of the picture we're
looking for a new diver
for Rick and Marty lagina and their
partners the Oak Island mystery remains
just as complex today as it did when it
began in 220 years ago although they
continue to make progress at the money
pit they have for now had a major
setback and getting to the bottom of 10x
but will bringing in a new diver helped
the team get the answers they're looking
for will it force them to turn their
attentions back to the money pit the
swamp or other even less likely places
on the island or a mysterious treasure
may lie hiding next time on the curse of
Oak Island
that famous stone is it on the island it
was in concrete when I saw if these are
part of a bigger puzzle we've got three
new pieces let's see what we found here
an X right Wow these two pieces seem to
be part of the same stone well you could
probably smash them right up what we
gonna find when we drill these holes the
chambers were the real treasures hit he
put an X on the spot this was to work at
the Aztec empire