NARRATOR: Rick Lagina, Dave Blankenship, Charles Barkhouse, and Doug Crowell head to the Money Pit area where the team from Choice Drilling has begun a new coring operation.

It’s exciting thinking about whether we’re going to find a debris field today. You know, I’m pretty much absolutely convinced that it is a tunnel.

The tunnel leading from Shaft Six? It’s as good a chance at Six as we’ve encountered up until now.

NARRATOR: In an attempt to avoid the booby traps that thwarted efforts to dig deeper down into the original Money Pit, in 1861, a team of treasure hunters dug a second shaft some 18 feet west of it.

They hoped that by digging deep down in dry ground and then digging back toward the Money Pit and under the treasure vault they could successfully retrieve whatever lies hidden there.

Unfortunately, at a depth of 118 feet and just one foot shy of their target, the tunnel, known as Shaft Six, suddenly filled with seawater.

Shortly thereafter, a number of thunderous crashes were heard deep underground, leading the workers to speculate that the tons of wood cribbing in the original Money Pit had collapsed and that its treasure must now lay scattered across a massive flooded debris field.

Three weeks ago, while searching for possible tunnels, the Oak Island team made a discovery at a depth of 109 feet—

That’s wood.

NARRATOR: –a discovery that suggested they had located Shaft Six.

That’s the edge of your timber. Yeah. Good morning. Morning. And it should be a good morning.

Yeah, let’s hope, for sure.

NARRATOR: If the team can verify that the wood they found came from Shaft Six, they may be closer than ever to locating the original Money Pit and hopefully an underground debris field littered with incredible artifacts and treasure.

Using a specialized sonic drilling rig which generates powerful vibrations to pulverize earth and other obstacles, the team will extract core samples at intervals of 10 feet.

The spoils will then be collected into plastic sleeves to be carefully searched for any important clues or valuable objects.

What are we at, 118?

Yeah 118, Charles. 118. This is the critical one right here. Show me the money.

That’s a piece of wood. There’s a piece of wood. Oh. It’s somewhat vertical. Ah. Check that out. That’s wood.

Hey, Rick?

Yeah? Come take a look at this. Well? I hope you got good news. A big piece of wood. Vertical too. We’ve must have clipped the edge—just the edge of a tunnel.

Say, there’s your tunnel. Six. That’s it, Six. That’s the saving grace of the hole.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Finding what the team believes to be the western-most edge of Shaft Six has offered a much-welcome breakthrough.

It suggests that by continuing to drill east of the site they will be able to follow the tunnel to the Money Pit’s precise location approximately 18 feet away.

Today was a good day on Oak Island. It’s obvious that it’s the end of a beam. So we’re in a tunnel, and I’m very excited to exploit this find.

I’m happy we found evidence of a tunnel at a proper depth, which correlates to the previous hole.

Well, now we have three data sets that indicate there is indeed a tunnel there. This needs to be investigated. Which means we got to go back and scrutinize what geo tech there is around where this suggests the Money Pit would sit. It supports further investigation.

So it was a good day. This was a win today.

NARRATOR: At the wash table near 10x.

STEVE GUPTILL: For data sense, Northwest, the Money Pit, we went to 150, 160 feet, if I remember correctly.

NARRATOR: Surveyor Steve Guptill and treasure hunter Michael John are sifting through the spoils from a borehole known as E 5.25.

[music playing]

MICHAEL JOHN: Steve, look at this.

STEVE GUPTILL: Oh, wow. You know what that looks like to me? I think that’s a cannonball, or a grapeshot of some sort. So yeah, I don’t know how old these can date. I know they can date old, but a grapeshot or a small cannonball, that’s about the size.

MICHAEL JOHN: That’s right, yeah.

NARRATOR: A small cannonball or possibly grapeshot. Used as artillery in both land-based and naval warfare, dating back to the 15th century, grapeshot was made of materials such as metal, stone, or clay, which were tightly packed into clusters and fired from cannons, in order to cripple and sink warships on the high seas.

Is it possible that Michael has now discovered a piece of artillery, that may be connected to that very weapon? And in a borehole that might also be near or even intersecting the original Money Pit.

All right, prepare to astonish me. Here we go.

NARRATOR: Arriving on the heels of this potentially important discovery are Marty Lagina and archaeologist Dr. Aaron Taylor.

MARTY LAGINA: What the hell is that?

AARON TAYLOR: It’s got an interesting weight to it, hey? Do you have any ideas?

AARON TAYLOR: Right now I’m not sure. Let’s hear yours. Grapeshot, some sort of weapon.

Grapeshot?

MICHAEL JOHN: Yeah.

MARTY LAGINA: That’s pretty interesting.

MICHAEL JOHN: Yeah, it is. Isn’t it? Yeah, I think so too.

MARTY LAGINA: You know, you could be right. Maybe it is grapeshot. I think it’s a cool find. We need to get a lot of eyes on that, and somebody might know what it is.

When I see this little rock, cannonball thing, I know immediately who needs to have a look at it. Gary needs to have a look at it. He’s found such things before. And Laird needs to have a look at.

AARON TAYLOR: It’s definitely worth collecting. I’ll tell you what, even if it’s nothing, I’ll put it on my desk. [laughing] [music playing]

NARRATOR: Later that afternoon, in the Oak Island Research Center.

MARTY LAGINA: Hey, guys.

GARY DRAYTON: Hey Marty.

NARRATOR: Marty Lagina meets up with Oak Island historian, Doug Crowell, along with Gary Drayton, and archaeologist Laird Niven, to share the team’s latest discovery.

MARTY LAGINA: I still think this little artifact here, you guys haven’t seen it yet, but I think it’s something. Have you seen this, Gary?

GARY DRAYTON: I’m hoping that it is something similar that I’ve recovered in England. Yes it is. I was hoping that this stone was exactly like this.

[music playing]

MARTY LAGINA: What is it?

GARY DRAYTON: This is a dress stone or a gun stone. This is really, really old. This is a projectile, mate.

MARTY LAGINA: Is it?

GARY DRAYTON: Before the days of cannon balls, iron cannonballs. They called them dress stones, because the guys were out looking for stones of a certain size. They become known as gun stones, but it is a projectile. It was fired out of a blunderbuss on an old ship. Yeah.

NARRATOR: Dating back to before the 17th century, a blunderbuss is a firearm with a short large caliber barrel, that featured a flared muzzle. Known as the predecessor to the modern shotgun, the blunderbuss was a single shot weapon that utilized gun stones, iron musket balls, and other projectiles.

Incredibly, it was also a type of weapon long associated with the pilgrims who founded the Plymouth Colony. Could this discovery actually be evidence that helps corroborate James McQuiston’s theory of who might have been behind the Oak Island mystery?

MARTY LAGINA: I get energized when they actually turn up something.

GARY DRAYTON: Yeah, that’s fantastic. Here we go. We got a core. See what lady luck gives us. Yeah.

NARRATOR: Terry Mathison and Charles Barkhouse are supervising the core drilling operation of the team’s latest borehole in the C-1 cluster, known as CD4.5.

What you got, Adam?

CHARLES BARKHOUSE: 78.

TERRY MATHISON: Thanks, Adam. Let’s open her up. We got some wood here, Terry. What’s the proximal depth? That’s 78. What do you want to call it, 75? 75. Call it 75. Let’s see what’s going on.

CHARLES BARKHOUSE: Yeah. We went from very dense [inaudible] tilt into a section of beam or wood, some kind of a timber, meaning boding well for that being in place, an in-place structure. A tunnel, perhaps. It’s possible, yeah.

NARRATOR: A possible tunnel found at a depth of 75 feet in bore hole CD4.5? Because the team has recently drilled through another believed tunnel, some 15 feet deeper in this area, could that mean they have now encountered yet another man-made structure? If so, might it possibly lead to the source of the silver and gold they have also detected?

Hey Scott, check it out. Hey, guys. Hey, Scott, we just pulled on the part and got a kind of interesting find here.

SCOTT BARLOW: Yep. Well, if there’s any metal in this, that pinpointer will find it. All right. [music playing] Find anything? I’ve got a hit here, but I’m trying to determine whether it’s a screw in the table or– You want me to lift it up?

CHARLES BARKHOUSE: Yeah. [beeping]

SCOTT BARLOW: Welp. Yeah, there’s something in here. Something there.

CHARLES BARKHOUSE: Yep. [beeping] It’s in this piece, whatever it is. A little piece of metal. What the heck that is, I don’t know.

NARRATOR: A metal object also discovered with possible evidence of a wooden tunnel some 75 feet deep in bore holes CD4.5? Great find, Charles. We’re very interested in this C-1 cluster area because we’re getting a lot of wood hits and we’re finding pieces of metal. Bag it, tag it, and have Kelly look at it? Yep.

But what’s even more interesting about it is we have no historical record of any work being done in this area.

Hey, Rick. Hey, guys.

NARRATOR: After being alerted of the new potentially important discoveries, Rick Lagina arrives to inspect them and receive a detailed report.

So CD4.5, we hit wood at about 74 and 75 feet, and we also found a chunk of metal. This was at 75 and 1/2 feet. It’s encrusted, so it’s really hard to tell what it is, but it does have some weight to it.

Mhm. It does. It does, yeah. It’s hard to say what it is.

SCOTT BARLOW: Yeah.

RICK LAGINA: Certainly not from the rig. No, no, no. Another mystery.

TERRY MATHISON: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Although finding evidence of a tunnel along with metal at a depth of 75 feet in the Money Pit area offers the team hope that they could be close to a major discovery.

Three weeks ago while drilling in bore hole D2, just 13 and 1/2 feet to the southwest at a depth of some 90 feet, they also obtained evidence of another wooden tunnel that dated to as early as 1488, as well as a mysterious piece of metal that contained a significant amount of gold.

Is it possible that both of these potential tunnels could be connected to the original Money Pit? I think, based on everything we’ve learned, the interesting metals in D2, perhaps this will be a surprise as well.

So I’m going to take this onto the archaeology trailer and then put this under XRF.

OK.

RICK LAGINA: All right, thank you guys.

TERRY MATHISON: See you, Rick.

RICK LAGINA: Yup.

NARRATOR: Later that afternoon, following their discovery at CD4.5.

Hey. Hey.

NARRATOR: Rick and Charles meet with Rick’s brother Marty and professional conservator Kelly Bourassa at the archaeology trailer.

What do you guys got?

I found another piece of metal. This could be good. The unusual thing is 75 and 1/2 feet because the tunnel horizon is 86 to 93. So what’s that doing there?

Yeah.

RICK LAGINA: Let’s see it. Huh.

KELLY BOURASSA: Looks cement-like on the surface. I don’t think there’s much cleaning that can be done. Nonetheless, we can still test it with the XRF.

RICK LAGINA: OK, see what it says.

KELLY BOURASSA: Absolutely.

NARRATOR: Using an X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer, or XRF, Kelly will conduct a chemical analysis of the encrusted object.

The device works by emitting non-destructive radiation, which can identify the elemental composition of metal objects.

There we go.

RICK LAGINA: Iron, that’s not a shock.

Yeah.

MARTY LAGINA: Whoa. Au. That’s gold. [laughs]

RICK LAGINA: How about that?

NARRATOR: The Laginas and their team have gathered at the 10X drill site to pay tribute to their late friend and partner, Dan Blankenship.

OK, we’re all here in honor of Dan Blankenship. And the island, of course, was a big part of Dan.

Dan is a big part of all our lives. Rick did this beautiful plaque, and it’s all made from basically the island.

NARRATOR: Along with Dan’s son, Dave Blankenship, and daughter, Linda Flowers, they have placed Dan’s old drilling rig as memorial to him at the site of what Dan considered his greatest breakthrough in the 50 years he tirelessly worked to solve the Oak Island mystery—borehole 10X.

I think it’s—I’ll borrow from Lincoln—altogether fitting and proper that we do this little ceremony.

And I don’t think he would have wanted a whole bunch of words here today because he wasn’t that sort of guy. I think he would—Few, few words. Few words, yep.

Dan was a big part of our lives for, gosh, the last 15 years or so. I mean, the first role he played, he was sort of this enigmatic—almost like a superhero to Rick and I years ago when we’d read about things.

I would think that my father would feel like we are all family. We’re the Oak Island family right now. I think he would be happy.

It’s a happy day today to see this plaque and to know that he’s gonna be remembered. Hopefully, when people visit the island in the future, they will look at that sign and remember the man, the individual—a very unique, one-of-a-kind individual that will leave a lasting legacy here on Oak Island, and indeed, in all of our lives.

Where his footsteps seem prudent, we’re trying to follow and extend them. It’s been a great year. Thanks for all the hard work. For Dan, I really thought this year we’d have Dan’s breakthrough.

Well, we didn’t. We didn’t do that, but we sure have come up with a lot of information.

NARRATOR: In a year that saw some of the most amazing discoveries ever made—from medieval tools and artifacts to incredible new evidence that something of great value could very well lie buried in the fabled Money Pit, in addition to extensive made structures in the swamp dating back as much as centimeters—Rick, Marty, and Craig have not only validated more than a decade of hard work and personal sacrifices.

Oh my god, you’re too strong.

NARRATOR: They have now come closer than ever to revealing the truth behind Oak Island’s incredible mystery.

Charles, my man, keep the faith. I know you will. I never lost it, and I never will.

NARRATOR: Theirs is a story that will surely change history as we know it, just as it has changed their lives and the lives of everyone around them forever.

You know, 1200AD people working in a swamp on Oak Island—that’s crazy. There’s a wonderful story written here. I’ve always wanted to turn the last page on Oak Island. And it’s certainly not there yet.