1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,559 Speaker 1: Nothing's better than feeling comfortable in your own shoes. Maybe 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:05,720 Speaker 1: you're a parent raising a little rock star, or a 3 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:08,719 Speaker 1: technomat working from anywhere. All birds want you to be 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: comfortable in your actual shoes too. Their wool runners, pipers 5 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: and loungers are so cozy you might forget you're wearing them, 6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,639 Speaker 1: and they're crafted from natural materials that tread lightly on 7 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: our planet. So get comfortable in your shoes. Get to 8 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 1: know the wool runners, pipers and loungers at albirds dot com. 9 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: That's allbrds dot com you're listening to. Unexplained into the 10 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: Abyss Pop two. It has been some twenty odd years 11 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: since doctor Leechy's interpretation of the Flagstone Code and the 12 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: rumors of buried riches on Oak Island have reached mythical proportions. 13 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: Due to complications of ownership, it isn't until eighteen ninety 14 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: three that a fourth team are able to secure the 15 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: thirty thousand dollar Least agreement to begin the next assault 16 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: on what many believed to be the hiding place of 17 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: the long lost treasure of infamous pirate captain William Kidd. 18 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: On first arriving at the site, the new group of 19 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: treasure hunters led by a Frederick Blair known as the 20 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: Oak Island Treasure Company, find it much changed from Donald 21 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: mckinness's day. The wants lushed green grove, now an open wound, 22 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: scarred and pockmark, with numerous holes full of water. Like 23 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,759 Speaker 1: many before them, the company make a start digging fresh 24 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: holes and making industrial strength efforts to drain the sea 25 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: waters away, but just as before, the same problems persist. 26 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: In March eighteen ninety seven, laborer may Not is helping 27 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: to drag water up from one of the pits when 28 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: the bucket snags on the rope. After ordering the men 29 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: to stop, he is fixed to the pulley system before 30 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: lowering himself into the pit, the bottom of which lies 31 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: somewhere in the dark ninety feet below him. Carefully easing 32 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: himself in line with the bucket, he has just untangled 33 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: it when the rope gives a sudden jerk, slipping two 34 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: feet before being caught again on the pulley. A greatly 35 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: relieved Kaiser has just enough time to look up before 36 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: the rope jerks loose again, sending the unfortunate Kaiser disappearing 37 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: into the darkness below. He becomes the second man to 38 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: die in pursuit of the supposed treasure of Oak Island. 39 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,679 Speaker 1: With the rest of the team too shocked and saddened 40 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: to return to work, the operation is brought to an 41 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: immediate halt. That night, deep in sleep, one of the 42 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: workers turns restlessly in his bed. Somewhere inside his head, 43 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: he is visited by the specter of Captain Kidd, who 44 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: delivers a terrifying warning cease digging now, or else more 45 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: will die. With news of the nightmare permeating the camp, 46 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: the crew refused to return to work. It will be 47 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: a year before the Oak Island Treasure Company are able 48 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: to start digging again. This time, the team begin with 49 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: another exploration of the material below the bottom of the pit. 50 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: The discovery of what seems to be loose pieces of 51 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: metal buried at approximately one hundred and fifty feet, as 52 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: well as a small piece of parchment bearing the Roman 53 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: numeral for the number six, only serves to convince the 54 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: company further that they are not on a hiding to nothing. 55 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,159 Speaker 1: Despite extensive efforts to plug the tunnels from Smith's Cove, 56 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: the boreholes continue to flood. In response, an engineer suggests 57 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: putting a red dye into one of the pits so 58 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: they can find out precisely where the waters are coming from. 59 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: With a small team assembled to the east above Smith's Cove, 60 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: the dye is poured into the hole. After nearly an 61 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: hour of waiting, however, they have seen nothing, but then 62 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: one of the crew spots it a garish wash of 63 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 1: red bleeding into the sea from the south shoreline. Realizing 64 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: they had been plugging the wrong tunnels all along, the 65 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: team undertake a sustained process of dynamiting along the southern 66 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: edge of the dig site in the hope of uncovering 67 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: the real flood tunnel. But just like the many previous efforts, 68 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: having only brought further destruction to the increasingly scarred landscape, 69 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: the company draws a blank. With enthusiasm for the work 70 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: beginning to wane. Company found of Frederick Blair buys out 71 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: the remaining shares and in nineteen o five takes full 72 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: ownership of the license to dig on the island. For 73 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: the next twenty five years, he leases it out to 74 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: a variety of unsuccessful ventures, and by the early nineteen thirties, 75 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: as described by Frederick Griffin in the Toronto Star Weekly, 76 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: where once the ground above Smith's Cove was littered with 77 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: the majestic oaks that gave the island its name. By 78 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: now there were barely half a dozen left clinging on 79 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: for dear life. The land has become a battle field 80 00:05:55,480 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: of torn earth and empty ball holes. In nineteen thirty five, 81 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: steel magnet Gilbert Headon is the next to answer the 82 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: siren corn of treasure, purchasing half the island and a 83 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 1: digging lease from Blair. After three years and fifty thousand 84 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: dollars just under a million today, Heddon's team make a 85 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: number of interesting discoveries, finding a minus oil lamp, some 86 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: dynamite buried at sixty five feet, as well as an 87 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: as yet undiscovered chamber that appears to have been one 88 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: of the original flood tunnels. The problem being it is 89 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: almost impossible to tell if any of these artifacts had 90 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: been left prior to seventeen ninety five. It has also 91 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: become impossible to tell which hole exactly was the original 92 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: pit that started the whole adventure off in the first place. 93 00:06:50,279 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: Heddon gives up in nineteen thirty eight. When Frederick Blair dies. 94 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty one, the sight lease reverts to mel Chapel, 95 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: who had been a partner of Blair's twenty years previously. 96 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: Chapel had also been one of the diggers who witnessed 97 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: Maynard Kaiser fall to his death. Though it was said 98 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: the Chapel had once himself seen gold flakes coming off 99 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: a drill during one of the earlier excavations, he had 100 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: no interest in seeking the treasure, remembering all too well 101 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: the warning from his colleague that death stalked all who 102 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: sought it. It was in nineteen fifty nine that Robert 103 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: and Mildred rest All negotiated a deal with mel Chapel 104 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: to try their luck at cracking the mystery. In the 105 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, Robert and his wife Mildred worked a traveling 106 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: show called The Globe of Death, which involved the married 107 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: couple riding motorbikes around a metal sphere at sixty five 108 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: miles per hour. The pair traveled the world before settling 109 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: in Canada. It was at some point in the nineteen 110 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: fifties that the Dare Devils got wind of the intriguing 111 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: treasure hunt occurring on Oak Island. Soon after agreeing a 112 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: lease with Chapel, Robert and his son Bobby moved to 113 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: the island to begin work, and are joined by the 114 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: rest of the family soon after. The following year, they 115 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: succeed in pumping out almost all the water from the 116 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: main shaft. For the next five years, however, the family 117 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: struggled to keep the water held back long enough to 118 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: make a thorough exploration of the site. Once again, the 119 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: treasure remains tantalizingly out of reach. In August nineteen sixty five, 120 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: Robert and Mildred are preparing to head to near by 121 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: Chester to run a number of errands, where Robert heads 122 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: to the side to make a final check on a 123 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 1: new gasoline pump. The pump had been installed next to 124 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: one of the new shafts that they had been digging 125 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,440 Speaker 1: at Smith's Cove. Telling him not to take too long, 126 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: Mildred watched her husband as he stepped into the muggy 127 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: afternoon air and made his way down to the cove. 128 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: A few miles away on the mainland, Jim Kaiser, one 129 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: of the rest All's key laborers, was carrying out some 130 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: chores at home. Though he wasn't scheduled to work that day, 131 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: he had the most peculiar desire to stop what he 132 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: was doing immediately and head to Woke Island, back above 133 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: Smith's Cove. As Robert nears the shoreline, he is overcome 134 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: by a strange smell of rotten eggs. It seems to 135 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: be emanating from one of the newly dark pits. Robert's 136 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: son Bobby, is helping to burn waste materials when he 137 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: looks up to see his father peering down at something 138 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: from the edge of the pit, before going stiff and 139 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: falling straight in. Bobby tears down to the cove, only 140 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: to find his father's lifeless body floating in the water 141 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: at the bottom of the pit. Moments later, everything goes 142 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: black as he too loses consciousness and falls straight into 143 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: the hole. Another worker, Karl Grazer, who had witnessed the 144 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: whole thing, races to the edge of the pit, seeing 145 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: the two bodies in the water. He has only just 146 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: reached the top of a ladder descending into it when 147 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:46,199 Speaker 1: he becomes the third man to lose consciousness, falling from 148 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,559 Speaker 1: the ladder with a splash into the hole. He is 149 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:54,440 Speaker 1: in turn followed by worker Cyril Hilts, who has made 150 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: it halfway down the ladder before he too succumbs to 151 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 1: the strange fumes in the pandemonium. A further two workers, 152 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: Andrew Dumont and Leonard Kaiser, attempting to rescue the others, 153 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: make it as far as the water before their bodies 154 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: give up. Two incredibly New York firefighter, Captain Edward White, 155 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: who just happens to be visiting the dig sight at 156 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: the time, is miraculously able to pull Kaiser and Dumont free, 157 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:31,679 Speaker 1: but for the others, it is too late. Back at 158 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: Jim Kaiser's home, there is a frantic knock at the door. 159 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: He opens it to fight his uncle in a desperate 160 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: state with some terrible news. Jim immediately races to Oak 161 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,560 Speaker 1: Island to find a team of fire fighters assembled at 162 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: the top of Smith's cob trying to figure out the 163 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:56,319 Speaker 1: safest way to retrieve the bodies. Without thinking, Jim borrows 164 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: a vintage Second World Wore gas mask from one of 165 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: them and jumps straight into the hole. One by one, 166 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: he pulls out the dead bodies of his friends. Are 167 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: you always taking care of your family? Do you often 168 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 1: take care of others and not yourself? Now it's time 169 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: to take care of yourself. To make time for you, 170 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 1: you deserve it. 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Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, 179 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: so they make it easy to change counselors if needed. 180 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: Free teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers. 181 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: Download the app, or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash 182 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 1: Unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com 183 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: slash Unexplained podcast. The tragic death of the men, especially 184 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: both Robert and Bobby Restall, marks the end of the 185 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: Restall involvement with Oak Island, with Mildred having no interest 186 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: in pursuing what is starting to look increasingly like a 187 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: cursed errand ownership of the lease is transferred to Robert Dunfield. 188 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: In the summer of nineteen sixty five, the bullish Dunfield 189 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 1: wastes little time in bulldozing twelve feet away from the 190 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 1: surface of the original pit, and uses the resultant clay 191 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: to clog any tunnels coming up from Smith's Cove. Next, 192 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: hen structs a causeway joining the island to the mainland 193 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: for the first time. Back in nineteen sixty three, businessman 194 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: Fred Nolan discovered that, unbeknowns to rest All and Robert 195 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,439 Speaker 1: Dunfield at the time, a few minor lots of Oak 196 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 1: Island were still available to purchase. After swiftly buying them up, 197 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: he undertakes a few minor excavations, which finds little of interest. However, 198 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: with the construction of Dunfield's causeway, Nolan is excited at 199 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: the prospect of getting better equipment to continue his search, 200 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: but Dunfield refuses to let him use it. What he 201 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: hadn't realized, however, was that Crandall's Point, the land abutting 202 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: the causeway, was also still available to purchase. When Nolan 203 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: finds out, he buys it immediately denying all access from 204 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: the causeway. The petty stalemate was results in Dumfield quitting 205 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,479 Speaker 1: the project for good and returning to his native California. 206 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: Some might say he got off lightly. Only a few 207 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: weeks prior to Dumfield's voluntary eviction, Jim Kaiser, who had 208 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: stayed on to assist Dumfield, is spending the night at 209 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: the dig side in the old Restall family home when 210 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: he wakes to find the whole cabin shaking violently, while 211 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: having the sensation of a heavy weight on his chest. 212 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: Looking up, moments later, he was confronted by a pair 213 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: of red eyes staring at him from out of the darkness. 214 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: Running from the bed in terror, he heads straight outside 215 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: into the cold night air, but finds no sign of anybody. 216 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: The next morning, having finally got back to sleep, Kaiser 217 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: finds his body covered in bruises, including five on his arm, 218 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: long and thin, as if a hand had gripped him there. 219 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: It wasn't long after that reports of a genuine curse 220 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: first came to light that warned specifically that seven treasure 221 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: hunters would have to die before the island gave up 222 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 1: its treasure, with the construction worker scolded in eighteen sixty one, 223 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: and Maynard Kaiser's fall of eighteen ninety seven added to 224 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 1: the horrific quadruple tragedy of the Restall operation. So far, 225 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: there had been six by nineteen sixty nine. In the 226 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy four years since Donald mckinnis, John 227 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: Smith and Anthony Vaughan first uncovered evidence of a potential 228 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:08,879 Speaker 1: treasure pit, not one person had succeeded in digging down 229 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,439 Speaker 1: any further than the ninety foot bottom carved out by 230 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: the Onslow Company in eighteen oh three. But all that 231 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: was about to change. It was in April of nineteen 232 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: sixty nine that businessman Daniel Blankenship and David Tobias formed 233 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 1: the Triton Alliance, buying up the majority of the island 234 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: and moving in at the first opportunity. In what was 235 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: by far the most sophisticated operation to date, The Alliance 236 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: begins by digging sixty different boreholes close to the original 237 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: pit to draw up a detailed plan of the geology underneath. 238 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 1: They soon discover the bedrock to be located at roughly 239 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty feet below, but incredibly the rulso 240 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: seems to be some kind of wooden lay forty feet 241 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 1: below this. The following year, laborers uncover evidence of what 242 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: could well have been the original dam constructed at Smith Cove, 243 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:16,159 Speaker 1: to create the original flood tunnels, a set of logs 244 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: laid out in a U shape with Roman numerals carved 245 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 1: into them. They also discover a litany of artifacts, including 246 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: wrought iron scissors, an iron ruler, and a wooden sled 247 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:34,159 Speaker 1: that predate the time before Donald McKinnes first spotted something 248 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety five. But the best is yet to come. 249 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: Since there was no way of preventing the sea water 250 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,399 Speaker 1: flooding the now myriad tunnels and boreholes, and with the 251 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: risk of structural collapse too high to send people down them, 252 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: the team construct a vast twenty seven inch diameter steel pipe, 253 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: which they hope will allow for direct access to underneath 254 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: the dig site. In spring nineteen seventy one, the team 255 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,679 Speaker 1: choose a borehole numbered ten X for the purpose and 256 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,680 Speaker 1: proceeded to carve it out to a depth of two 257 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,399 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five feet before threading the pipe down 258 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: it all the way to the bottom. What made ten 259 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: X so special was that they had good reason to 260 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: believe it led directly to an artificial cavity that had 261 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: at some point been dug out of the bedrock. Before 262 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: sending anyone down However, Blankenship and Tobias decided to use 263 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: a camera to first investigate what was down there. With 264 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: the team set up on the edge of Borehole ten X, 265 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:50,679 Speaker 1: they gathered excitedly around a bulky TV monitor. As the 266 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: camera was slowly lowered down, They watched with profound anticipation 267 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: as it dropped deeper through the casin, through the pitch 268 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 1: black of the water, and finally out into the open 269 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: of the chamber below. Squinting at the monitor, they see soft, 270 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: angular shapes beginning to emerge from out of the darkness, 271 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:18,159 Speaker 1: things which seemed foreign to the surrounding geology, all covered 272 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: over in a thick layer of silt, and one shape 273 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: more recognizable than the others, protruding from out of the mud, 274 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: the arm of a skeleton. Believing they had finally unearthed 275 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: the location of the fabled treasure, the Triton team employ 276 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: a diver to take a closer look. In October nineteen 277 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:48,399 Speaker 1: seventy one, Alan Sagar, a retired lieutenant commander and former 278 00:20:48,480 --> 00:21:02,359 Speaker 1: demining expert, answers the corn with the casing too narrow 279 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: to where an oxygen tank Segar is forced to hug 280 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: a small bottle of compressed air to his chest as 281 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: he is lowered manually on steel cable into the pipe, 282 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: and with no radio communication, Segar and the crew have 283 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: only the cable with which to give each other signals. 284 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: At ninety feet down, feeling the chill of the water 285 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,919 Speaker 1: at his feet, Segar tugs on the cable for the 286 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 1: winch team to stop adjusting his mouthpiece. He gives another 287 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: two tugs and is soon descending again, dropping steadily until 288 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: he is completely submerged under the water in total darkness. 289 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: He soon descends past the hundred and fifty foot level, 290 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: then two hundred feet, until finally he emerges out the 291 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: bottom end and into the cavity. Segar takes a moment 292 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 1: to compose himself before turning on the camera, the images 293 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,880 Speaker 1: of which are being fed back live to the surface, 294 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,919 Speaker 1: and points it into the space. Turning on his torch, 295 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:21,400 Speaker 1: he directs it into the gloom. Suddenly he can see everything. Unexpectedly, 296 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: the cabin that stretched off at some distance behind was 297 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 1: much bigger than had been first assumed. On the floor 298 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: of it, just as the previous footage had revealed, there 299 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,960 Speaker 1: appeared to be a number of oblong containers and a pole, 300 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: perhaps the handle of a tool poking up from out 301 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 1: of the soft mud, and sure enough, there to the 302 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: side of it, the arm of a skeleton reaches up 303 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: out of the silt. Back on the surface. Crowded around 304 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: the monitor, a nervous excitement is spreading throughout the team 305 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: as they struggle to contain themselves. But then Sega takes 306 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,119 Speaker 1: a step forward into the cavern, instantly sending a vast 307 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: cloud of silt billowing up into the space, blocking out 308 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:15,159 Speaker 1: the light. Realizing he can no longer proceed, Sega has 309 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: little choice but to get back into the pipe and 310 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: head back to the surface. Once in place, he tugs 311 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,440 Speaker 1: twice again on the cable and is greatly relieved when 312 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,399 Speaker 1: moments later he feels it taking his weight and lifting 313 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: him upwards, but just over half way, with Saga still 314 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:40,439 Speaker 1: submerged some distance under water, he has the strange sensation 315 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: that he is being pulled back into the pipe. He 316 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: realizes with horror that it is the suit, caught on 317 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: one of the welds in the pipeline. Unaware of what 318 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 1: has happened, the workers above continue to winch him up, 319 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: but with Segar's body unwilling to budge, the suit is 320 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: beginning to pull apart, and now the breathing apparatus is 321 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:13,119 Speaker 1: coming undone as well. Sega pulls furiously on the cable 322 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: while simultaneously struggling to free himself, when finally something dislodges 323 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: and he is suddenly free, once again being pulled steadily 324 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:37,199 Speaker 1: up to the surface. After Segar's close call, nine are 325 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: the divers aretasked with helping to retrieve the apparent items 326 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: from the cavity at the bottom of hole ten X, 327 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: but none are successful. In nineteen seventy six, Daniel Blankenship 328 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,640 Speaker 1: tries to enter the cavern himself. However, having only made 329 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,959 Speaker 1: it halfway down the pipe, Blankenship hears the ominous sound 330 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,879 Speaker 1: of creaking deal which is followed by a cascade of 331 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 1: debris falling on his head from above. Sensing imminent danger, 332 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: Blankenship demands an immediate evacuation. Miraculously, he has pulled free 333 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: just as the casing collapses completely below him. When the 334 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: twenty seven inch wide steel piping is dug out later, 335 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 1: they discover a section of it has been entirely closed 336 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:32,359 Speaker 1: in to some The cavity at two hundred and thirty 337 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: five feet deep, and the items allegedly spotted in it 338 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,920 Speaker 1: is the strongest evidence that a genuine horde of treasure 339 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,960 Speaker 1: has been stashed away on the island. Others have questioned 340 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,360 Speaker 1: whether it may have in fact only been created by 341 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: dynamiting that had been carried out by the Triton Alliance 342 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:58,640 Speaker 1: some time prior to its discovery. Either way, like all 343 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 1: others before them, Blankenship and Tobias will leave the island 344 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:08,679 Speaker 1: empty handed, and though many others even to this day 345 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: have since attempted to unlock the island secrets, it resolutely 346 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,879 Speaker 1: refuseth to give them up, or so it was thought. 347 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,440 Speaker 1: In a startling revelation that has only recently come to light, 348 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,040 Speaker 1: it was claimed by Fred Nolan that in nineteen eighty, 349 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: whilst digging in a region just above the south shore 350 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: known as the Swamp, he discovered three old and empty 351 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 1: oak chests. Then something else came to light thanks to 352 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:53,919 Speaker 1: the extensive research carried out on the subject of the 353 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: Oak Island treasure by the Fantastic Blockhouse Investigation Team, it 354 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: seems those empty chests just might have been rediscovered before. 355 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: In fact, all the way back in seventeen ninety five. 356 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: According to Carlmoscha, who had taken part in some of 357 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: the earlier excavations. In nineteen twenty five, his grandmother Lucy Vaughan, 358 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: a descendant of Anthony Vaughan, one of the first discoverers 359 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: of the pit, had taken him into the basement of 360 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: her home and shown him an old looking chest made 361 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: of oak. Opening it up, it was revealed to contain 362 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: twenty five white canvas bags, each stuffed with gold coins 363 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:46,479 Speaker 1: that she said had come from Oak Island. And then, 364 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: in a two thousand and seven newspaper interview, a descendant 365 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: of Donald mckinnis made a similarly startling revelation. In the 366 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 1: weeks after Donald uncovered the first signs of the pit 367 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety five, he John Smith and Anthony Vaughan had 368 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 1: in fact also uncovered three separate chests stuffed full of loot. 369 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,480 Speaker 1: It had long been believed in the McKinneys, now known 370 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: as McGinnis family that on finding the treasure, the men 371 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,880 Speaker 1: had sworn to secrecy, agreeing never to reveal the truth 372 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: of it to anyone. After all, there's no telling what 373 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,880 Speaker 1: lengths people will go to when told there is treasure 374 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: to be found. Thank you to Andrew Maddocks for bringing 375 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: this fantastic story to my attention. If you enjoy listening 376 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 1: to Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you can 377 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 1: now go to Unexplained Podcast dot com Forward slash Support. 378 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:57,600 Speaker 1: All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated. 379 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: All elements have Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain smith. 380 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes. Feel free 381 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 1: to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding 382 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have 383 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 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