1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Hello, it's Richard mc lean smith here with Unexplained on 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: an end of season break. We'll be dipping back into 3 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: the archive each week until season nine begins on Friday, 4 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: October thirty first. This week's episode takes us to a 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,240 Speaker 1: windswept island off the coast of Nova Scotia and Canada, where, 6 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: in the summer of seventeen ninety five, three young men 7 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: made a strange discovery that would haunt generations to come. 8 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: What began as idle curiosity about a depression in the 9 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: earth would ignite an obsession that has endured over two 10 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: centuries Since that fateful day. Oak Island has drawn treasure hunters, engineers, 11 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,319 Speaker 1: and dreamers from around the world, each convinced they can 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 1: succeed where countless others have failed. But the island seems 13 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: to guard its secrets jealously, and those who seek to 14 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: uncover them soon find themselves confronting something far more complex 15 00:00:54,840 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: and mysterious than they ever imagined. This is Unexplained, Season three, 16 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: episode eleven, Into the Abyss. Maybe it had been the 17 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: effects of an unusually dry summer causing unfamiliar variations in 18 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: the color of the grass, or perhaps it was just 19 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: the way. The light had fallen that morning, which caused 20 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: Donald to take notice either way. If there was one 21 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: thing the three farmers now standing over the peculiar impression 22 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: in the ground could agree on, it was that none 23 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: of them had seen it before. Donald had called on 24 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,759 Speaker 1: them as soon as he'd found it that morning, suggesting 25 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: they come and check it out for themselves. Seemingly manufactured, 26 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: it looked like a thirteen foot wide circle had been 27 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: carved into the ground, positioned in a small clearing under 28 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: the bow of a large solitary oak. It was certainly 29 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: strange that they hadn't come across it before. Or three 30 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: of them had lived and worked on the island for 31 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: a number of years, and with it being just over 32 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: one hundred and forty acres worth of land, there was 33 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: barely an inch of it that they hadn't seen. Being 34 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: first and second generation immigrants themselves, the men knew only 35 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: too well how transitory the local population had been through 36 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: the years, But since the island was thought to have 37 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: been entirely uninhabited prior to its incorporation only a few 38 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: decades ago, they were stumped as to what the strange 39 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: marking could be. Maybe it was just a well, or 40 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:42,119 Speaker 1: some kind of fire pit, suggested one of the men, 41 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: that had long since been filled in an ancient burial mound, perhaps, 42 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: suggested another. The year was seventeen ninety five, and the 43 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: place a two and a half kilometer long island known 44 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: locally as Oak Island, situated just two hundred metres off 45 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: the east coast of a stretch of land recent settlers 46 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: called Nova Scotia. Perhaps it shouldn't have been such a 47 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: surprise for Donald to have stumbled on something so strange 48 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: that morning, for the island had always been somewhat of 49 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: an enigma, a stranger in the midst The clue was 50 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: in the name Oak Island, inspired by the interloping evergreen 51 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: oaks that were dotted all across it, reaching upwards of 52 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: ninety feet with bare trunks and flat splayed out canopies. 53 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: They dwarfed the many surrounding pine trees that were far 54 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: more common to the region. In fact, it is said 55 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: that Oak Island was the only island out of three 56 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: hundred sixty four in the surrounding Mahone Bay that was 57 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: home to such a species. Perhaps they had pondered on 58 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: this when they decided to make a quick excavation of 59 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: the area that morning to see what they might find, 60 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: or perhaps they did not. Nonetheless, there was little chance 61 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: they could possibly have anticipated just quite what was going 62 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: to happen next. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard 63 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: McLean Smith. Into the Abyss Part one. The men had 64 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: only made it two feet down when one of them 65 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: struck something hard. Assuming it to be a large rock, 66 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: he tried digging a few feet to the side, only 67 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: to hit something similar again. It wasn't until they'd cleared 68 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: more of the earth away that they discovered the entire 69 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: area of the circle had been covered over with flat stones. 70 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: After removing the slabs, a few more hours of digging 71 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: revealed some kind of pit that seemed to narrow to 72 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 1: about seven foot in diameter under the flagstones. With the 73 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: soil having been obviously displaced and refilled before, it was 74 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: easy to follow the contours of the original dig Pickaxe 75 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: markings on the inside of the wall gave further indication 76 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: of the previous excavator's work. By the afternoon, having reached 77 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: just under ten feet in depth, one of the men 78 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: struck something solid again. Clearing the mud away, they found 79 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: a layer of rotting timbers that had been carefully positioned 80 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: deep below the surface. Believing they might finally have an 81 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: answer to the purpose of the pit, the men pulled 82 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: up the wood, only to find an empty two foot 83 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: pocket of air underneath. Undeterred, they continued to dig until 84 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: the early evening, making it a further eight feet down, 85 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: when once again their shovels struck timber. Utterly Perplexed, the 86 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: men pulled up the next row of logs, only to 87 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:12,919 Speaker 1: find nothing but dirt underneath. With the light fading quickly 88 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: and not having ladders long enough to dig any further, 89 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: the men call it a day. Any suggestion of the 90 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: pit being a burial chamber has been thoroughly dispelled, since, 91 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: despite being twenty feet down already, they had found nothing 92 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: to show for their efforts. But in the days that followed, 93 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: slowly something began to dawn on them, a clear reason 94 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: why someone might go to all the trouble of digging 95 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: a secret pit on the edge of a tiny, nondescript 96 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: island and fortifying it to keep it safe. Back in 97 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: seventeen oh one, in the city of London, a man 98 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: had been condemned to death and eventually hung at the 99 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: infamous Execution Dock, located in Wapping on the banks of 100 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: the River Thames. His name was William Kidd, and like 101 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: many of the unfortunates for whom Execution Dock would be 102 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: their final destination, he was a pirate. There was much 103 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: a victim, as he was a participant of the rampant 104 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: scheming and corruption perpetuated by British gentry in matters of 105 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: trade and expansion. Kidd had none the less exhausted all 106 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: favors by the time the noose was placed around his neck, 107 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: and though his life would be short, his legend was 108 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: only just beginning. It had long been suspected that Captain 109 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: Kidd had buried a significant portion of his stolen wealth 110 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: in an effort to curry favor lest he ever be captured. Indeed, 111 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: a large stash of it had already been discovered shortly 112 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: before his execution on Gardiner's Island, a small outcrop at 113 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: the northern tip of New York State. But few believed 114 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: there wasn't more. And if you were looking for somewhere 115 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: to hide a treasure trove of gold and jewels far 116 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: from the usual shipping lanes of the trade, as Donald 117 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: Antony and John would shortly come to believe you couldn't 118 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: have found a better spot than the anonymity and seclusion 119 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: of Oak Island. Returning to the site a few days later, 120 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: convinced of their destiny, the men managed a further fifteen 121 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: feet but were left disappointed, finding only another shelf of timber. 122 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: Frustrated and realizing they had neither the skill or the 123 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: financial means to carry on, the men were forced to 124 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 1: bring an end to their adventure, or so they had 125 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: all told each other. In truth, John Smith had very 126 00:08:54,240 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: different ideas. Over the next few years, Smith surreptitiously secured 127 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: ownership of the pit, buying up the land and a 128 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: number of the plots around it. Finally, by eighteen o three, 129 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: along with three other investors, with whom he formed the 130 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: Onslow Company, he was ready to tackle the mystery again. 131 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,559 Speaker 1: Before long, they had made it to another five feet down, 132 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: where again they find yet another floor of timbers, But 133 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: this time there is something else, a layer of charcoal 134 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: scattered across the top of it. Since it was common 135 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: to use charcoal fires to draw fresh air into mining shafts, 136 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: it was now clearer than ever that a significant operation 137 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: had once taken place here the company soon make it 138 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: almost ninety feet in depth, uncovering a further four timber shelves, 139 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: each at ten foot intervals, and incredibly layers of cocoanut fibers, 140 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: suggesting that whatever was down there had likely traveled from 141 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: some distance, the nearest cocoanut trees being thousands of miles away. 142 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,559 Speaker 1: Not only that, but as the men well know, cocoanut 143 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: fibers were often used to pack precious cargo. Then, at 144 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: ninety feet down they find something extraordinary. Having anticipated finding 145 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,199 Speaker 1: another layer of wood, the team instead find a thick 146 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: slab of stone measuring two feet long and one foot wide. 147 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: Peeling it carefully from the mud, they are astonished to 148 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 1: find there is an inscription carved on to its under side, 149 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: Only it's not in any language that they have ever 150 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: seen before. Made from thirty nine geometric symbols spaced out 151 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: over what seems like eight words, it appears to be 152 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:04,479 Speaker 1: some kind of code. A short time later, the workers 153 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:08,439 Speaker 1: notice water seeping up from under the hole, but decide 154 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: to ignore it and continue to dig. That afternoon, at 155 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: roughly ninety eight feet, once again, the shovels hit wood, 156 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: and a ninth timber platform is unearthed after prising the 157 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: logs apart, only to find more mud and clay below. 158 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: The team finished for the day, convinced they are only 159 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 1: feet away from the objects of their wildest desires. Spirits 160 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: are understandably high when the crew return to work the 161 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: following morning, only to find a solemn looking John Smith 162 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: waiting for them by the pit, wringing his hat in 163 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 1: his hands. The pit has completely filled with water. All 164 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: hands work fearios to bail out the water, but the 165 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:07,080 Speaker 1: level refuses to budge. With no other option, the company 166 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: pulls the rest of their money and hires a mechanical pump. 167 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 1: The plan works perfectly as the water is soon drained 168 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 1: from the pit, but then, with only eight more feet 169 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: to go, disaster strikes when the pump breaks down. By 170 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: the end of the day, the water line is back 171 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: to where it started. Believing they knew roughly where the 172 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: treasure might be, the team dig a second tunnel from 173 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: which they planned to dig across to the first one 174 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,440 Speaker 1: once they had reached the required depth of one hundred 175 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: and ten feet or so, but the crew only make 176 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: it as far as twelve feet before their access pit 177 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: is also completely flooded, Having run out of money, the 178 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: Onslow Company is forced to give up, and so the 179 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: pit's secrets will remain submerged by water for the next 180 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: forty years. As for the stone, with its peculiar coded markings, 181 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: it is left in the possession of John Smith, the 182 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: landowner and one of the pit's original discoverers. However, believing 183 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: it to be worthless, the code is never deciphered and 184 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 1: the stone soon forgotten about. By eighteen forty five, with 185 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: Donald mc kinnis having died and John Smith vowing never 186 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,599 Speaker 1: to waste another cent on the hopeless venture, it is 187 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: left to the third of the original finders, Anthony Vaughan, 188 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:37,440 Speaker 1: to take up the reins. Now in his sixties, Vaughn, 189 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: together with another seven investors, forms the Truro Syndicate, and 190 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: by eighteen forty nine finally secures the rights to start 191 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: his own attempt to locate the treasure. That summer, the 192 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 1: largest team yet sets up camp and immediately gets to 193 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: work draining the pit. After two weeks, they have drained 194 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 1: it to within five feet of the bottom. Returning the 195 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,040 Speaker 1: following day, however, the crew is devastated to find that 196 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: once again the waters have returned, but this time they 197 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: have a new plan. After constructing a wooden platform over 198 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: the pit, a large drill is dropped into it, with 199 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: the hope of at least determining what materials are buried 200 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: further down. They will not be disappointed. Passing the bottom 201 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: of the hole marked by the shelf of timber ninety 202 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: feet down, they drill on to roughly one hundred and 203 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: fifteen feet. Deciding they have gone deep enough, the crew 204 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: watch with bated breath as the device is withdrawn from 205 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: the depths and pulled finally into the light of day. 206 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: Just as the last section is removed, something sparkles in 207 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: the light. The foreman hurriedly inspects the drill head and 208 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: is astounded to find three small links of a gold chain, 209 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: as well as fibers of oak, suggesting the high likelihood 210 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,280 Speaker 1: that the drill had broken through the walls of some 211 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: kind of chest. Finally they had found it. Getting it 212 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: out would be another matter, entirely owing to the incessant 213 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: flooding of water. Just as the Onslow team had realized 214 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: their best chance was to access it from a parallel shaft, 215 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: Believing the treasure to be roughly one hundred and ten 216 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: feet down. Incredibly, the team managed to dig a secondary 217 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: channel to one hundred nine feet and are even able 218 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: to start tunneling across before disaster strikes again, and just 219 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: as if something had been suddenly uncorked, water rushes into 220 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: the pit. But as the team regroups to assess their options, 221 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: one of the men notices something interesting. The water is 222 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: rising and falling with the tide. Tasting it, he is 223 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 1: amazed to find it is salty, suggesting that rather than 224 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: being the water table, it must be coming from the sea. 225 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: One hundred meters to the east of the dig site 226 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: lies Smith's Cove, named after one of the area's earliest 227 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: known settlers, Edward Smith, sometime in the mid seventeen hundreds. 228 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: Being the closest stretch of coastline to the pit, the 229 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: crew naturally assume it to be the most likely source 230 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: of the floodwater. With the beach being fairly small, the 231 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: chief engineer suggests they construct a dam to better see 232 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: what they are dealing with. Making quick work, it isn't 233 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: long before they have blocked off the cove and drained 234 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: it completely of water. What they discover next astounds them. 235 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: Or of the inlet is found to be completely covered 236 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: with coconut fiber and eel grass, under which they find 237 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: beech stones carefully laid out. The cove, it transpires, has 238 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: been synthetically constructed and underneath all the rocks. Finally they 239 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: find the source of all their problems. It is some 240 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: kind of booby trap made from a series of eight 241 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: inch wide drains of flat stone fanning out like five 242 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 1: fingers into the ocean. Together, the drains converge into one 243 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: single drainage channel that disappears underneath the island, heading straight 244 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: for the excavation site. The team immediately gets to work 245 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: locating the main drainage tunnel in the hope of blocking 246 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: it off completely. Yet another shaft is dug twelve feet 247 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 1: to the east of the original, revealing an underground channel 248 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: of water thirty five feet down. Next, timbers are driven 249 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: into the ground to block it off, and when a 250 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: fourth borehole twenty feet to the south of the original 251 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: is dug to one hundred ten feet with no sign 252 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 1: of water, it appears their plan is working finally, with 253 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 1: no danger of water making it past the blocking timbers, 254 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: the team are ready to dig through to the treasure. 255 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: All is going well when within two feet of the 256 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: original shaft. Workers tunneling through the clay on their knees 257 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: in the dark, notice the walls have become wet, and 258 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: soon their knees are damp, and before long their feet 259 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 1: and calves are drenched. Two the tunnel is filling with water. Mercifully, 260 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 1: the workers are able to scramble out and get back 261 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: to the surface before it is too late, while the 262 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: rest of the team watch with sinking hearts as one 263 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: by one the three surrounding boreholes steadily fill up with water. 264 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: After trying again to unsuccessfully find the central flood tunnel, 265 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:09,199 Speaker 1: the Truro Company's hunt for treasure is also forced to 266 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 1: come to an end. In eighteen fifty seven, John Smith 267 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 1: becomes the second of the three original Oak Island treasure 268 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: hunters to die. Ownership of his land is passed from 269 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: his sons, who, having watched the fabled treasure pit steadily 270 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:34,679 Speaker 1: ruin their father, are only too happy to sell it 271 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 1: on to a Henry Stephen, who in turn sells it 272 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 1: to local landowner Anthony Graves. The Trurou company return in 273 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine for one final stab, but their considerable 274 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 1: efforts will once again prove futile. However, Rumours about the 275 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: island's apparent treasure are beginning to grow, and within two 276 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: years a new crop of hunters arrive on the island 277 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: ready to claim its reward. The Oak Island Association, led 278 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,959 Speaker 1: by Jotham McCully, draft in over sixty men and thirty 279 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,880 Speaker 1: horses to assist them, as well as employing the latest 280 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: mining technology, from an iron pump engine to industrial sized 281 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: winches and pulley systems. However, their heavy handed approach digging 282 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:31,160 Speaker 1: three further holes and tunnels around the original pit results 283 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: in yet more flooding and the eventual collapse of the 284 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: original shaft, resulting in only the upper thirty feet of 285 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: it now being accessible. In the process of re excavating 286 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:48,880 Speaker 1: the original pit, the pump boiler ruptures, spraying scolding water 287 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: onto a nearby worker and burning him to death. But 288 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: what's worse from the perspective of the Oak Island Association 289 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,199 Speaker 1: is that they are running out of money, and with 290 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,920 Speaker 1: news of the fatal accident now spreading, there is little 291 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: hope of raising fresh capital. A short time later, however, 292 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: with work halted, Jotham McCully hears a story about one 293 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,120 Speaker 1: of the first artifacts to be found in the original 294 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: pit a mysterious stone inscribed with a strange cryptic message. 295 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: What's more, as rumour would have it, the stone is 296 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:31,080 Speaker 1: still on the island, having apparently been integrated into John 297 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: Smith's old fireplace. Wasting no time, McCully, whose company now 298 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: owns the property, takes a chisel to the fireplace and 299 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: sets about removing it piece by piece. He hasn't been 300 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: working long when he spots one particular slab a little 301 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: smoother than the others, pressed into the wall at the back. 302 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: Freeing it up, he turns it around to find, much 303 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: to his amazement, a strange cryptic message etched onto the 304 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: other side of it. Realizing it might be their last chance, 305 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: McCully has the stone loaded onto a horse and cart 306 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: and dispatched immediately to Halifax, the nearest major city. For 307 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 1: the next few weeks, the curious stone is placed in 308 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: the window of a bookshop to drum up interest in 309 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 1: the Oak Island treasure hunt in an effort to sell 310 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 1: more shares to keep the company going. Many come to 311 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: view the peculiar artifact and attempt to decipher the code, 312 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: but no one can crack it. Regardless excitement generated by 313 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: the stone's mysterious origins is enough to raise another two 314 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 1: thousand dollars what equates to roughly fifty thousand today, enabling 315 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: the Oak Island Association to continue their search for a 316 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: few more years. However, like all all who had come 317 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:06,200 Speaker 1: before them, the company will fail, becoming the third formal syndicate, 318 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: forced to admit defeat in the search for what many 319 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: have come to believe is the lost treasure of pirate 320 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 1: Captain William Kidd. A short time later, the stone is 321 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: brought to the attention of James leache, a professor of 322 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:29,679 Speaker 1: languages at Halifax's Dalhousie University. A keen amateur cryptographer, Leechi 323 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,879 Speaker 1: sets about trying to decipher the message, assuming it to 324 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: be a simple substitution code, whereby each symbol simply represents 325 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: a letter of the English alphabet. It is not long 326 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: before Leechie believes he has cracked the code. The message, 327 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:53,200 Speaker 1: he believes, reads forty feet below two million pounds are buried. 328 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: It has been some twenty odd years since doctor Leechy's 329 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: interpretation of the flagstone code, and the rumors of buried 330 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 1: riches on Oak Island have reached mythical proportions Due to 331 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 1: complications of ownership. It isn't until eighteen ninety three that 332 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:20,959 Speaker 1: a fourth team are able to secure the thirty thousand 333 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 1: dollar lease agreement to begin the next assault on what 334 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: many believe to be the hiding place of the long 335 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: lost treasure of infamous pirate Captain William kidd On first 336 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: arriving at the site, the new group of treasure hunters, 337 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: led by a Frederick Blair, known as the Oak Island 338 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: Treasure Company, find it much changed from Donald mc kinness's day. 339 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 1: The once lush green grove now an open wound, scarred 340 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: and pock marked with numerous holes full of water. Like 341 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: many before them, the company make a start digging fresh 342 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: holes and making industrial strength efforts to drain the seawaters away, 343 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: but just as before, the same problems persist. In March 344 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,880 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety seven, labourer Maynard Kaiser is helping to drag 345 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: water up from one of the pits when the bucket 346 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 1: snags on the rope. After ordering the men to stop, 347 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,920 Speaker 1: he is fixed to the pulley system before luring himself 348 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: into the pit, the bottom of which lies somewhere in 349 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: the dark ninety feet below him, carefully easing himself in 350 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: line with the bucket. He has just untangled it when 351 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: the rope gives a sudden jerk, slipping two feet before 352 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: being caught again on the pulley. A greatly relieved Kaiser 353 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,639 Speaker 1: has just enough time to look up before the rope 354 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 1: jerks loose again, sending the unfortunate Kaiser disappearing into the 355 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 1: darkness below. He becomes the second man to die in 356 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:06,879 Speaker 1: pursuit of the supposed treasure of Oak Island. With the 357 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: rest of the team too shocked and saddened to return 358 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,399 Speaker 1: to work, the operation is brought to an immediate halt. 359 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 1: That night, deep in sleep, one of the workers turns 360 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: restlessly in his bed. Somewhere inside his head, he is 361 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 1: visited by the specter of Captain Kidd, who delivers a 362 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: terrifying warning cease digging now, or else more will die. 363 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: With news of the nightmare permeating the camp, the crew 364 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: refuse to return to work. It will be a year 365 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: before the Oak Island Treasure Company are able to start 366 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: digging again. This time, the team begins with another exploration 367 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 1: of the material below the bottom of the pit, the 368 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: discovery of what seems to be loose pieces of metal 369 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,239 Speaker 1: buried at approximately one hundred and fifty feet, as well 370 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,680 Speaker 1: as a small piece of parchment bearing the Roman numeral 371 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: for the number six, only serves to convince the company 372 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 1: further that they are not on a hiding to nothing. 373 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,399 Speaker 1: Despite extensive efforts to plug the tunnels from Smith's Cove, 374 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: the boreholes continue to flood. In response, an engineer suggests 375 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,239 Speaker 1: putting a red dye into one of the pits so 376 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:38,399 Speaker 1: they can find out precisely where the waters are coming from. 377 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: With a small team assembled to the east above Smith's Cove, 378 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:46,479 Speaker 1: the dye is poured into the hole. After nearly an 379 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: hour of waiting, however, they have seen nothing, But then 380 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,879 Speaker 1: one of the crew spots it a garish wash of 381 00:27:54,960 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: red bleeding into the sea from the south shoreline. Realizing 382 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: they had been plugging the wrong tunnels all along, the 383 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:08,040 Speaker 1: team undertake a sustained process of dynamiting along the southern 384 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:10,680 Speaker 1: edge of the dig site in the hope of uncovering 385 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: the real flood tunnel. But just like the many previous efforts, 386 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:19,680 Speaker 1: having only brought further destruction to the increasingly scarred landscape, 387 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 1: the company draws a blank. With enthusiasm for the work 388 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: beginning to Wane Company, found of Frederick Blair, buys out 389 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: the remaining shares and in nineteen o five takes full 390 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:37,119 Speaker 1: ownership of the license to dig on the island. For 391 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 1: the next twenty five years, he leases it out to 392 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: a variety of unsuccessful ventures, and by the early nineteen thirties, 393 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 1: as described by Frederick Griffin in the Toronto Star Weekly, 394 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 1: where once the ground above Smith's Cove was littered with 395 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: the majestic oaks that gave the island its name, by 396 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: now there were barely half a dozen left clinging on 397 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: for dear life. The land has become a battlefield of 398 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: torn earth and empty boreholes. In nineteen thirty five, steel 399 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: magnet Gilbert Headen is the next to answer the siren 400 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: corn of treasure, purchasing half the island and a digging 401 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 1: lease from Blair. After three years and fifty thousand dollars 402 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: just under a million today, Hedden's team make a number 403 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:32,480 Speaker 1: of interesting discoveries, finding a minus oil lamp, some dynamite 404 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 1: buried at sixty five feet, as well as an as 405 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: yet undiscovered chamber that appears to have been one of 406 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: the original flood tunnels, the problem being it is almost 407 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: impossible to tell if any of these artifacts had been 408 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 1: left prior to seventeen ninety five. It has also become 409 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: impossible to tell which hole exactly was the original pit 410 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: that started the whole adventure off in the first placed 411 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: gives up in nineteen thirty eight. When Frederick Blair dies 412 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty one, the site lease reverts to mel Chapel, 413 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: who had been a partner of Blair's twenty years previously. 414 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: Chapel had also been one of the diggers who witnessed 415 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:26,160 Speaker 1: Maynard Kaiser fall to his death. Though it was said 416 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: that Chapel had once himself seen gold flakes coming off 417 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 1: a drill during one of the earlier excavations, he had 418 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: no interest in seeking the treasure, remembering all too well 419 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 1: the warning from his colleague that death stalked all who 420 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: sought it. It was in nineteen fifty nine that Robert 421 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:51,320 Speaker 1: and Mildred Restore negotiated a deal with mel Chapel to 422 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 1: try their luck at cracking the mystery. In the nineteen fifties, 423 00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: Robert and his wife Mildred worked a traveling show called 424 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: thee of Death, which involved the married couple riding motorbikes 425 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: around a metal sphere at sixty five miles per hour. 426 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: The pair traveled the world before settling in Canada. It 427 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: was at some point in the nineteen fifties that the 428 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: Dare Devil's got wind of the intriguing treasure hunt occurring 429 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:23,719 Speaker 1: on Oak Island. Soon after agreeing a lease with Chapel, 430 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: Robert and his son Bobby moved to the island to 431 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 1: begin work and are joined by the rest of the 432 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: family soon after the following year, they succeed in pumping 433 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 1: out almost all the water from the main shaft. For 434 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: the next five years, however, the family struggled to keep 435 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: the water held back long enough to make a thorough 436 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: exploration of the site. Once again, the treasure remains tantalizingly 437 00:31:50,880 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: out of reach. In August nineteen six, Robert and Mildred 438 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: are preparing to head to nearby Chester to run a 439 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 1: number of errands when Robert heads to the site to 440 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: make a final check on a new gasoline pump. The 441 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: pump had been installed next to one of the new 442 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,800 Speaker 1: shafts that they had been digging at Smith's Cove. Telling 443 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: him not to take too long, Mildred watched her husband 444 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: as he stepped into the muggy afternoon air and made 445 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:29,960 Speaker 1: his way down at the cove. A few miles away 446 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: on the mainland, Jim Kaiser, one of the Restall's key laborers, 447 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,800 Speaker 1: was carrying out some chores at home. Though he wasn't 448 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: scheduled to work that day, he had the most peculiar 449 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: desire to stop what he was doing immediately and head 450 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 1: to Woke Island, back above Smith's Cove. As Robert nears 451 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:56,240 Speaker 1: the shoreline, he is overcome by a strange smell of 452 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:00,080 Speaker 1: rotten eggs. It seems to be emanating from one of 453 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 1: the newly dug pits. Robert's son Bobby, is helping to 454 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,880 Speaker 1: burn waste materials when he looks up to see his 455 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: father peering down at something from the edge of the pit, 456 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: before going stiff and falling straight in. Bobby tears down 457 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: to the cove, only to find his father's lifeless body 458 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:24,840 Speaker 1: floating in the water at the bottom of the pit. 459 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:31,320 Speaker 1: Moments later, everything goes black as he too loses consciousness 460 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 1: and falls straight into the hole. Another worker, Carl Graser, 461 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 1: who had witnessed the whole thing, races to the edge 462 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 1: of the pit. Seeing the two bodies in the water. 463 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 1: He has only just reached the top of a ladder 464 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: descending into it when he becomes the third man to 465 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: lose consciousness, falling from the ladder with a splash into 466 00:33:55,080 --> 00:34:00,000 Speaker 1: the hole. He is in turn followed by worker Cyril Hilts, 467 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: who has made it half way down the ladder before 468 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: he too succumbs to the strange fumes in the pandemonium. 469 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: A further two workers, Andrew Dumont and Leonard Kaiser, attempting 470 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: to rescue the others, make it as far as the 471 00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:22,640 Speaker 1: water before their bodies give up too. Incredibly, New York 472 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,279 Speaker 1: fire fighter Captain Edward White, who just happens to be 473 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 1: visiting the dig site at the time, is miraculously able 474 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: to pull Kaiser and Dumont free, but for the others 475 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:39,879 Speaker 1: it is too late. Back at Jim Kaiser's home, there 476 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: is a frantic knock at the door. He opens it 477 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:46,440 Speaker 1: to find his uncle in a desperate state with some 478 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 1: terrible news. Jim immediately races to Oak Island to find 479 00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:54,600 Speaker 1: a team of fire fighters assembled at the top of 480 00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:58,359 Speaker 1: Smith's Cove, trying to figure out the safest way to 481 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 1: retrieve the bodies. Without thinking, Jim borrows a vintage Second 482 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,400 Speaker 1: World war gas mask from one of them and jumps 483 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 1: straight into the hole. One by one, he pulls out 484 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:22,680 Speaker 1: the dead bodies of his friends. The tragic death of 485 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: the men, especially both Robert and Bobby Restall, marks the 486 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:30,880 Speaker 1: end of the rest All involvement with Oak Island, with 487 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:34,239 Speaker 1: Mildred having no interest in pursuing what is starting to 488 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:38,759 Speaker 1: look increasingly like a cursed errand ownership of the lease 489 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: is transferred to Robert Dunfield in the summer of nineteen 490 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:49,120 Speaker 1: sixty five. The bullish Dunfield wastes little time in bulldozing 491 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: twelve feet away from the surface of the original pit, 492 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:56,520 Speaker 1: and uses the resultant clay to clog any tunnels coming 493 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 1: up from Smith's Cove. Next, he constructs a causeway joining 494 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:06,919 Speaker 1: the island to the mainland for the first time. Back 495 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:11,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty three, businessman Fred Nolan discovered that, unbeknownst 496 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,400 Speaker 1: to Restall and Robert Dumfield at the time, a few 497 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,120 Speaker 1: minor lots of Oak Island were still available to purchase. 498 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,640 Speaker 1: After swiftly buying them up, he undertakes a few minor 499 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:29,040 Speaker 1: excavations but finds little of interest. However, with the construction 500 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:33,000 Speaker 1: of Dumfield's causeway. Nolan is excited at the prospect of 501 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:38,520 Speaker 1: getting better equipment to continue his search, but Dumfield refuses 502 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:42,240 Speaker 1: to let him use it. What he hadn't realized, however, 503 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:47,319 Speaker 1: was that Crandall's Point, the land abutting the causeway, was 504 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:52,880 Speaker 1: also still available to purchase. When Nolan finds out, he 505 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:58,719 Speaker 1: buys it, immediately denying all access from the causeway. The 506 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,760 Speaker 1: petty stalemate results in Dumfield quitting the project for good 507 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:08,400 Speaker 1: and returning to his native California. Some might say he 508 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:18,920 Speaker 1: got off lightly. Only a few weeks prior to Dumfield's 509 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:24,360 Speaker 1: voluntary eviction, Jim Kaiser, who had stayed on to assist Dumfield, 510 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,279 Speaker 1: is spending the night at the dig site in the 511 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 1: old Restall family home when he waits to find the 512 00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:36,319 Speaker 1: whole cabin shaking violently while having the sensation of a 513 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:42,000 Speaker 1: heavy weight on his chest. Looking up, moments later, he 514 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:46,480 Speaker 1: was confronted by a pair of red eyes staring at 515 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 1: him from out of the darkness. Running from the bed 516 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:54,640 Speaker 1: in terror, he heads straight outside into the cold night air, 517 00:37:55,280 --> 00:38:00,680 Speaker 1: but finds no sign of anybody. The next morning, having 518 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:04,800 Speaker 1: finally got back to sleep, Kaiser finds his body covered 519 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:09,239 Speaker 1: in bruises, including five on his arm, long and thin, 520 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:14,120 Speaker 1: as if a hand had gripped him there. It wasn't 521 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 1: long after that reports of a genuine curse first came 522 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:23,759 Speaker 1: to light. That Worn, specifically that seven treasure hunters would 523 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:26,920 Speaker 1: have to die before the island gave up its treasure, 524 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:31,960 Speaker 1: with the construction worker scolded in eighteen sixty one and 525 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:36,239 Speaker 1: Maynard Kaiser's fall of eighteen ninety seven added to the 526 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:41,000 Speaker 1: horrific quadruple tragedy of the rest All operation. So far, 527 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:52,480 Speaker 1: there had been six by nineteen sixty nine. In the 528 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:55,680 Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy four years since Donald mc kinnis, 529 00:38:55,920 --> 00:39:00,200 Speaker 1: John Smith and Anthony Bourne first uncovered evidence of a 530 00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:04,840 Speaker 1: potential treasure pit, not one person had succeeded in digging 531 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:08,479 Speaker 1: down any further than the ninety foot bottom carved out 532 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:12,759 Speaker 1: by the Onslow Company in eighteen o three. But all 533 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:17,279 Speaker 1: that was about to change. It was in April of 534 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:22,279 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine that businessman Daniel Blankenship and David Tobias 535 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:26,680 Speaker 1: formed the Triton Alliance, buying up the majority of the 536 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:31,680 Speaker 1: island and moving in at the first opportunity in what 537 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,920 Speaker 1: was by far the most sophisticated operation to date. The 538 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:39,719 Speaker 1: alliance begins by digging sixty different boreholes close to the 539 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:43,279 Speaker 1: original pit to draw up a detailed plan of the 540 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:49,000 Speaker 1: geology underneath. They soon discover the bedrock to be located 541 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:53,040 Speaker 1: at roughly one hundred and sixty feet below, but incredibly 542 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:56,320 Speaker 1: there also seems to be some kind of wooden layer 543 00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:03,120 Speaker 1: forty feet below this. The follow year, labourers uncover evidence 544 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,719 Speaker 1: of what could well have been the original dam constructed 545 00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:11,360 Speaker 1: at smith Cove to create the original flood tunnels, a 546 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 1: set of logs laid out in a U shape with 547 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:19,560 Speaker 1: Roman numerals carved into them. They also discover a litany 548 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:24,440 Speaker 1: of artifacts, including wrought iron scissors, an iron ruler, and 549 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:28,280 Speaker 1: a wooden sled that pre date the time before Donald 550 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: mcinness first spotted something in seventeen ninety five. But the 551 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:38,359 Speaker 1: best is yet to come. Since there was no way 552 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:41,800 Speaker 1: of preventing the sea water flooding the now myriad tunnels 553 00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:45,680 Speaker 1: and boreholes, and with the risk of structural collapse too 554 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,480 Speaker 1: high to send people down them, the team construct a 555 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:54,000 Speaker 1: vast twenty seven inch diameter steel pipe, which they hope 556 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 1: will allow for direct access to underneath the dig site 557 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,400 Speaker 1: in spring in nineteen seventy one. The team choose a 558 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: borehole numbered ten X for the purpose and proceeded to 559 00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:09,520 Speaker 1: carve it out to a depth of two hundred and 560 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:13,440 Speaker 1: thirty five feet before threading the pipe down it all 561 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:19,160 Speaker 1: the way to the bottom. What made TENX so special 562 00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:22,480 Speaker 1: was that they had good reason to believe it led 563 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:26,480 Speaker 1: directly to an artificial cavity that had at some point 564 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:31,840 Speaker 1: been dug out of the bedrock. Before sending anyone down, however, 565 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:36,320 Speaker 1: Blankenship and Tobias decided to use a camera to first 566 00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:40,880 Speaker 1: investigate what was down there. With the team set up 567 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,200 Speaker 1: on the edge of Borehole ten X, they gathered excitedly 568 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:48,240 Speaker 1: around a bulky TV monitor. As the camera was slowly 569 00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:53,600 Speaker 1: lowered down, They watched with profound anticipation as it dropped 570 00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:56,760 Speaker 1: deeper through the casink, through the pitch black of the water, 571 00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:01,040 Speaker 1: and finally out into the open of the chamber below. 572 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 1: Squinting at the monitor, they see soft, angular shapes beginning 573 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:10,960 Speaker 1: to emerge from out of the darkness, things which seemed 574 00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:15,080 Speaker 1: foreign to the surrounding geology, all covered over in a 575 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:20,480 Speaker 1: thick layer of silt, and one shape more recognizable than 576 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:25,239 Speaker 1: the others, protruding from out of the mud the arm 577 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:30,840 Speaker 1: of a skeleton. Believing they had finally unearthed the location 578 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:35,360 Speaker 1: of the fabled treasure, the Triton team employ a diver 579 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:40,520 Speaker 1: to take a closer look. In October nineteen seventy one, 580 00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:45,800 Speaker 1: Alan Sagar, a retired lieutenant commander and former de mining expert, 581 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:56,759 Speaker 1: answers the corps. With the casing too narrow to wear 582 00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:00,360 Speaker 1: an oxygen tank, Saga is forced to hugger a small 583 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:03,560 Speaker 1: bottle of compressed air to his chest as he is 584 00:43:03,600 --> 00:43:08,719 Speaker 1: lowered manually on steel cable into the pipe, and with 585 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:12,640 Speaker 1: no radio communication, Saga and the crew have only the 586 00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:16,800 Speaker 1: cable with which to give each other signals. At ninety 587 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:20,160 Speaker 1: feet down, feeling the chill of the water at his feet, 588 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:23,600 Speaker 1: Sega tugs on the cable for the Winch team to 589 00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:29,319 Speaker 1: stop adjusting his mouthpiece. He gives another two tugs and 590 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:33,880 Speaker 1: is soon descending again, dropping steadily until he is completely 591 00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:41,040 Speaker 1: submerged under the water in total darkness. He soon descends 592 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 1: past one hundred and fifty foot level, then two hundred feet, 593 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:49,640 Speaker 1: until finally he emerges at the bottom end and into 594 00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:55,960 Speaker 1: the cavity. Saga takes a moment to compose himself before 595 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:59,040 Speaker 1: turning on the camera the images of which are being 596 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:02,919 Speaker 1: fed back live to the surface, and points it into 597 00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:07,640 Speaker 1: the space. Turning on his torch, he directs it into 598 00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:16,280 Speaker 1: the gloom. Suddenly he can see everything. Unexpectedly, the cavern 599 00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:20,239 Speaker 1: that stretched off some distance behind was much bigger than 600 00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:24,480 Speaker 1: had been first assumed. On the floor of it, just 601 00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:27,799 Speaker 1: as the previous footage had revealed, there appeared to be 602 00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:32,160 Speaker 1: a number of oblong containers and a pole, perhaps the 603 00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:34,759 Speaker 1: handle of a tool, poking up from out of the 604 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:38,919 Speaker 1: soft mud, And sure enough, there to the side of it, 605 00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:42,800 Speaker 1: the arm of a skeleton reaches up out of the silt. 606 00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:48,360 Speaker 1: Back on the surface. Crowded around the monitor, a nervous 607 00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:51,719 Speaker 1: excitement to spreading throughout the team as they struggle to 608 00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:57,319 Speaker 1: contain themselves. But then Sega takes a step forward into 609 00:44:57,320 --> 00:45:01,600 Speaker 1: the cavern, instantly sending a bar cloud of silt billowing 610 00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:06,600 Speaker 1: up into the space, blocking out the light. Realizing he 611 00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:10,279 Speaker 1: can no longer proceed, Sega has little choice but to 612 00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:13,640 Speaker 1: get back into the pipe and head back to the surface. 613 00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:18,320 Speaker 1: Once in place, he tugs twice again on the cable 614 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:22,440 Speaker 1: and is greatly relieved when moments later, he feels it 615 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:27,719 Speaker 1: taking his weight and lifting him upwards a just over 616 00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:33,040 Speaker 1: half way. With Saga still submerged some distance underwater, he 617 00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:36,520 Speaker 1: has the strange sensation that he is being pulled back 618 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:41,359 Speaker 1: into the pipe. He realizes with horror that it is 619 00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:44,960 Speaker 1: the suit caught on one of the welds in the pipeline. 620 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:50,200 Speaker 1: Unaware of what has happened, the workers above continue to 621 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:54,440 Speaker 1: winch him up, but with Saga's body unwilling to budge, 622 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:59,600 Speaker 1: the suit is beginning to pull apart, and now the 623 00:45:59,640 --> 00:46:06,400 Speaker 1: breathing apparatus is coming undone as well. Sega pulls furiously 624 00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:11,600 Speaker 1: on the cable while simultaneously struggling to free himself, when 625 00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:16,280 Speaker 1: finally something dislodges and he is suddenly free, once again 626 00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:28,160 Speaker 1: being pulled steadily up to the surface. After Saga's close call, 627 00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:31,840 Speaker 1: nine other divers are tasked with helping to retrieve the 628 00:46:31,880 --> 00:46:34,799 Speaker 1: apparent items from the cavity at the bottom of Hold 629 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:40,399 Speaker 1: ten X, but none are successful. In nineteen seventy six, 630 00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:46,240 Speaker 1: Daniel Blankenship tries to enter the cavern himself. However, having 631 00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:50,160 Speaker 1: only made it halfway down the pipe, Blankenship hears the 632 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:54,239 Speaker 1: ominous sound of creaking steel, which is followed by a 633 00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:59,600 Speaker 1: cascade of debris falling on his head from above. Sensing 634 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:06,480 Speaker 1: imminent danger, Blankenship demands an immediate evacuation. Miraculously, he is 635 00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:10,960 Speaker 1: pulled free just as the casing collapses completely below him. 636 00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:15,239 Speaker 1: When the twenty seven inch wide steel piping is dug 637 00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:18,560 Speaker 1: out later, they discover a section of it has been 638 00:47:18,760 --> 00:47:24,000 Speaker 1: entirely closed in to some The cavity at two hundred 639 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:27,880 Speaker 1: and thirty five feet deep and the items allegedly spotted 640 00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:31,479 Speaker 1: in it is the strongest evidence that a genuine horde 641 00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:36,320 Speaker 1: of treasure has been stashed away on the island. Others 642 00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:39,359 Speaker 1: have questioned whether it may have in fact, only been 643 00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:42,759 Speaker 1: created by dynamiting that had been carried out by the 644 00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:49,640 Speaker 1: Triton Alliance some time prior to its discovery. Either way, 645 00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:54,759 Speaker 1: like all others before them, Blankenship and Tobias will leave 646 00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:59,600 Speaker 1: the island empty handed, and though many others even to 647 00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:03,719 Speaker 1: this day have since attempted to unlock the island's secrets, 648 00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:08,400 Speaker 1: it resolutely refuses to give them up, or so it 649 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:19,080 Speaker 1: was thought. In a startling revelation that has only recently 650 00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:23,440 Speaker 1: come to light, it was claimed by Fred Nolan that 651 00:48:23,480 --> 00:48:26,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty, whilst digging in a region just above 652 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:31,800 Speaker 1: the south shore known as the Swamp, he discovered three 653 00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:37,680 Speaker 1: old and empty oak chests. Then something else came to light. 654 00:48:39,080 --> 00:48:42,080 Speaker 1: Thanks to the extensive research carried out on the subject 655 00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:46,839 Speaker 1: of the Oak Island Treasure by the Fantastic Blockhouse Investigation Team, 656 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:52,920 Speaker 1: it seems those empty chests just might have been rediscovered before, 657 00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:57,319 Speaker 1: In fact, all the way back in seventeen ninety five. 658 00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:02,360 Speaker 1: According to Carma, who had taken part in some of 659 00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:08,440 Speaker 1: the earlier excavations, in nineteen twenty five, his grandmother Lucy Vaughan, 660 00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:12,560 Speaker 1: a descendant of Antony Vaughan, one of the first discoverers 661 00:49:12,600 --> 00:49:15,799 Speaker 1: of the pit, had taken him into the basement of 662 00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:19,319 Speaker 1: her home and shown him an old looking chest made 663 00:49:19,360 --> 00:49:23,920 Speaker 1: of oak. Opening it up, it was revealed to contain 664 00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:29,520 Speaker 1: twenty five white canvas bags, each stuffed with gold coins 665 00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:34,719 Speaker 1: that she said had come from Oak Island. And then, 666 00:49:35,120 --> 00:49:38,920 Speaker 1: in a two thousand and seven newspaper interview, a descendant 667 00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:44,520 Speaker 1: of Donald McInnis made a similarly startling revelation. In the 668 00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:47,600 Speaker 1: weeks after Donald uncovered the first signs of the pit 669 00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:52,720 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety five, he John Smith and Anthony Vaughan 670 00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:58,560 Speaker 1: had in fact also uncovered three separate chests stuffed full 671 00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:03,160 Speaker 1: of lute. It had long been believed in the McInnis 672 00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:07,440 Speaker 1: now known as McGinnis family, that on finding the treasure, 673 00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:11,840 Speaker 1: the men had sworn to secrecy, agreeing never to reveal 674 00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:16,040 Speaker 1: the truth of it to anyone. After all, there's no 675 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:19,640 Speaker 1: telling what lengths people will go to when told there 676 00:50:19,719 --> 00:50:32,800 Speaker 1: is treasure to be found. Thank you as ever for listening. 677 00:50:33,200 --> 00:50:36,560 Speaker 1: Unexplained as an Avy Club production, the podcast created by 678 00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:40,520 Speaker 1: Richard mclin Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including 679 00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:45,640 Speaker 1: the music, are also produced by me Richard mclin Smith. Unexplained. 680 00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:49,279 Speaker 1: The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. 681 00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:53,520 Speaker 1: You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and 682 00:50:53,640 --> 00:50:57,520 Speaker 1: other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever 683 00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:00,160 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in 684 00:51:00,239 --> 00:51:03,399 Speaker 1: touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've 685 00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:06,400 Speaker 1: heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or 686 00:51:06,440 --> 00:51:08,920 Speaker 1: a story of your own you'd like to share. You 687 00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:12,080 Speaker 1: can find out more at Unexplained podcast dot com and 688 00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:16,040 Speaker 1: reaches online through x and Blue Sky at Unexplained Pod 689 00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:21,480 Speaker 1: and Facebook at facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained podcast