The Curse of Oak Island: DRAMATIC DISCOVERY During Final Excavation

Over in the Money Pit area, we got a chance.

Members of the Oak Island team are monitoring the excavation of the B4C shaft.

“Hopefully, we start seeing roads soon. It gets a tunnel to a treasure chamber or an offset vault I have sorry too, located just five feet north of borehole C1.”

B4C will soon reach the approximate 90-foot depth in the so-called C1 cluster, where earlier this year the team not only recovered evidence of potentially 15th-century wooden tunnels but also detected high trace evidence of both silver and gold.

This has prompted them to speculate that they have either located the general area of the original Money Pit or perhaps a tunnel that may lead to an offset treasure chamber.

“Even though this is the final, we’re not going to give up. We know that there is a tunnel in the 90-foot horizon. Well, a tunnel means we’re close to finding the original Money Pit. We got to be getting—oh yes! Yeah, we should be involved soon.”

“Every time we dig, you just wait and see that next scoop, that next grab, hoping that it’s it.”

“The fact that there’s gold in the water means there was gold introduced into the Money Pit. Here we go, let’s see what we got.”

“Ah, just bits of wood everywhere! Look at that, that’s a big old iron fastener. Raw iron, armored round.”

“That’s what we’re looking for!”

“How old do you think it is?”

“I think we’re in the 1700s or older. It’s so crude.”

“Okay, so pre-Money Pit discovery? Yeah, oh that’s sweet, Gary.”

“Lo and behold, there is a what we deem to be a hand wrought spike. We have an opportunity with this spike to do some types of analysis on it. Every little clue means something.”

“What was the big spike I saw?”

“Yeah, this is old, mate. That’s an oldie for sure. It’s mushroomed in at the top there and forged wrought iron. Nice and heavy, nice bit of chunky iron.”

“Looks like the red bands in the can a little bit.”

“Pouring more water.”

“No, there’s nothing in that one. There’s no wood, no structure.”

It is a startling turn of events for the Oak Island team.

After recovering incredible evidence of a potentially ancient wooden tunnel, bedrock has just been encountered at a depth of approximately 130 feet in the B4C shaft.

“So, long day. Appreciate all the hard work, but we’re at bedrock. Bottom line is, I think we’re pretty close to being done.”

Although the team is now out of time to conduct any more excavations in the Money Pit area this year, the fact remains that all five of the massive steel shafts they dug over the previous months offered evidence that the legendary treasure people have sought for more than two centuries is still buried somewhere below.

The question is: what will it take for Rick, Marty, Craig, and the team to finally recover it?

“I think we have all now come to an understanding that the Money Pit is incredibly complex. What it tells me is we need to find new technologies and the application of those technologies to our situation—that has been key to moving the search forward.”

“So there’s reason to be hopeful.”

“We’re disappointed in the results in the Money Pit, but scientists say there are big quantities of gold down there and big quantities of silver down there, and there’s plenty of evidence that it’s true. So we need to do more searching.”

“Look, I think every hole teaches us something, right? And we have definite elevations for that tunnel. We do have a significant artifact that can be tested. We have quality candidates for C14.”

“Sure, and we’re approaching the depth at which we call the hole.”

“Yeah, okay, I agree. That’s where we’re at.”

Later that day,

“Carmen, welcome back once again! It’s much appreciated.”

Marty Lagina, along with his business partner Craig Tester and Gary Drayton, meet in the research center with blacksmithing expert Carmen Leg to get his analysis of the iron spike recently discovered more than 100 feet deep in the B4C shaft.

“This came out of a Money Pit spoils when we were digging.”

“Oh, well let’s have a look.”

“This is a typical size and structure of a rock drill.”

“A rock drill? You found a rock drill used for what, Carmen?”

“For drilling rocks or drilling holes.”

“Okay, so it was used in the digging process?”

“Yes, you come to a big boulder, you need to break it up. And also, these are the type of drills that would have been sharpened on that sharpening sways.”

“That would be exactly what would be sharpened on that.”

“Well, those swages were old, so is this old?”

“It is very old, yeah. Same time period as the swages.”

“Wow! Whoever made this did it a long time ago.”

“Two years ago, while investigating Lot 21, which was once owned by Freemason Daniel McGinnis, one of the men who originally discovered the Money Pit in 1795, Rick Lagina, Gary, and Dan Henske discovered two heavy iron swages or rock drill sharpening tools, which Carmen believed could date back to the mid-15th century.”

“Is it possible that this rock drill found in the B4C shaft could offer more evidence that the team was within striking distance of the fabled treasure?”

“After all, that’s absolutely fantastic because that was brought up by the amma grab. This is very interesting, and now that you know those rock drills are down there, you can sort of surmise what they were creating down there. Were they creating caverns and caves and so on? Were they expanding it for some reason?”

“Woody’s date service has got to be an artifact from the original Money Pit construction. This rock drill could go back to medieval times. So when you let your mind wander, it could have been used to chisel out a chamber. If that’s the case, maybe we’re looking in the right spot.”

“I mean, this speaks to me! It says medieval baby! We’re coming to the end of the season, so we’re out of time, but are we eventually going to investigate it?”

“Yes, we can’t walk away from that discovery without looking more closely. I mean, this really is—this is old and a piece of history in your arm from the Money Pit, which makes it even more special.”

“Carmen, thanks for explaining things to us once again. Um, Gary, go find some more stuff.”

“I can do that. Thanks, Carmen. Very good. See ya.”

“See ya.”

Later that afternoon,

With the discoveries that the team has made in recent years across the island—from the stone-paved area in the middle of the swamp, which could date to 1200 A.D., and the 500-year or older stone road in the swamp’s southeastern corner, along with the discoveries on Lots 4, 8, and 15—could the team finally be zeroing in on just who was behind the Oak Island mystery?

If so, then what is it that was so ingeniously hidden deep in the Money Pit?

“For me, it’s been an absolute pleasure, and I owe everyone a sincere thank you for continuing to stay involved in what I have always thought since we were little kids. This is a wonderful story, a wonderful mystery, and it has only gotten better because of all of you. And now it’s inspirational. That’s real treasure, and I’m grateful for the experience. Thank you all.”

“And he makes me follow that. Let me come on.”

“Now look, here’s—I would just say we didn’t win this year, but we can no longer lose. It’s not possible to lose anymore because there’s gold on Oak Island! There’s gold in the Money Pit! We ain’t gonna give up! It’s down there; we’re gonna find it!”

“Yeah, we got a good thing going, and we need to think about it and advance the ball next year.”

“Here, here!”

“Yep, yes! Shall we? Cheers!”

When they were just boys, Rick and Marty Lagina dreamed about a legendary treasure buried deep in the Money Pit on Oak Island.

As grown men, the fact that so many capable searchers had tried for more than two centuries to find it inspired the brothers to take a chance themselves.

“See ya until next year, Charles and Billy.”

And now, after more than a decade of tireless work with the help of their dedicated team—

“Keep the faith, guys! We will!”

They have not only proven that the Oak Island mystery is more profound than anyone ever thought possible, but are closer than anyone who came before them to finally recovering the treasure.

“Honestly, I feel better about this whole thing than I ever have. There’s no way to say we’re on a wild goose chase because we can prove for sure that there’s gold down there. Now the hunt for information is every bit as important, and it will ultimately, hopefully, yield results. It will find what we seek.”