Gentlemen, we're on our way back.
Yeah.
I want to get to the bottom of it this year.
Said it before, but this year I mean it, OK?
We got to get it done, guys.
We got to get it done.
Absolutely.
I think it's going to be a good year, very good year.
NARRATOR: Summer has arrived in Western Shore, Nova Scotia.
It's about time to figure this out.
That's for sure.
NARRATOR: And with it, brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,
their partner Craig Tester, and their team
have returned with renewed determination
to solve the 227-year-old Oak Island mystery.
MARTY LAGINA: Gonna find some today?
GARY DRAYTON: Oh, we are, mate.
NARRATOR: Marty Lagina joins metal detection expert
Gary Drayton on Lot 8, located west
of the triangle-shaped swamp.
I've been looking forward to coming back here.
And this is what brought us here, this depression.
I love this tree.
Yeah.
We found some cool stuff here.
Yes.
NARRATOR: Of Oak Island's 32 four-acre lots,
Lot 8 has produced some of the most significant clues that
could potentially help the team solve the 227-year-old treasure
mystery.
Look at that.
That is a bobby dazzler.
NARRATOR: It was here in 2017 that Gary
and Rick Lagina discovered a semi-precious red garnet
brooch.
GARY DRAYTON: We just found a jewel.
RICK LAGINA: That's gorgeous.
I know you keep referring it to it as a brooch.
I have a different possible interpretation.
NARRATOR: However, one year ago, the team was astounded
when 32nd degree Freemason Scott Clarke suggested
that the garnet may be connected to one of the most
sacred missing treasures ever associated
with the medieval order of the Knights Templar.
SCOTT CLARKE: This garnet was actually the perfect color,
size, and general shape as one of the stones
from the Masonic Royal Arch High Priest breastplate.
The breastplate was used in a specific Masonic ritual meant
to mimic the retrieval of the Ark of the Covenant
from a secret vault underground.
Wow.
Well, it's time to dig, huh, guys?
Yep.
Let's do it.
NARRATOR: Following Scott's presentation,
Marty and the members of the team
unearthed a potentially manmade feature
constructed of large stones.
Just a big layer of rocks right across this whole area.
I think we need to go that way.
OK, mate, we'll go straight line towards the ocean.
OK.
NARRATOR: Now, Marty and Gary are hoping
to find clues that might explain the purpose
of the mysterious stone feature, as well
as evidence that something of great value
could be buried in the area.
Yeah, that's a diggable target.
[beep] Should be right there.
Try that.
[slow beeping]
[high-pitched beep] - We've got it here.
Mm-hmm.
No, look at this!
It's a ox shoe!
Well, what the hell?
There was never any occupation on this lot.
Yeah.
And it doesn't exactly look like farmland, does it?
Well, this may be more substantive here than perhaps
elsewhere, because if that spot there has significance,
then hauling things could have been
occurring between the water and back there.
So it'd be good to know what that thing tells us.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Because Lot 8 was never inhabited by farmers,
could Marty's assessment be correct that this oxen shoe may
be evidence of an operation to haul
cargo from the ocean to somewhere in this area
long ago?
If so, what kind of cargo could it be?
- Good start, mate. - Yep.
OK, bag it, and let's keep going.
OK.
Right.
Continue the line.
[slow beeping]
Proceed, partner.
Yep.
[slow beeping]
[beeping intensifies]
Yeah?
Yep, small target or a deep target.
[high-pitched beeping]
Just here, mate.
There's a root here, Gary, or something.
Yeah.
I have to sort of do it this way.
That will look like--
it should broggle it out, mate.
Try that.
[beeping]
[beeping intensifies]
Ooh.
Is there a big piece of something?
I'm not sure.
Come on out, you little bugger.
Wait.
It feels like a handle.
Ooh.
I got it.
Oh, my goodness.
What the hell is that?
[beeping]
That's it.
What is that?
I have no idea, mate.
We find some unusual things, especially at this site.
Back in business.
All right.
[inaudible]
Yeah.
It's a mystery find.
We could be looking at corrosion, right?
I mean, it could be inside there--
Oh, it definitely is, mate.
I mean, this is a prime candidate for the CT scan.
We can see straight through this.
That's why I couldn't describe it when I got me hands on it,
and I'm like, what?
Yeah, you said it feels like a handle.
Yeah.
Yeah, because that's how I pulled it out.
I put me hand around it, and I think, [gasp]..
I was thinking it was a pistol.
Oh.
I was hoping.
But my hope is that this is somehow
connected to the musket.
You know, Gary, it's possible.
I mean, just looking at this butt end here,
it's possible this is a portion of a pistol.
NARRATOR: A metal fragment of a possible pistol or musket?
One year ago, while searching this same area,
Gary and Marty discovered an iron flintlock
from a musket that may potentially date
back three centuries or more.
This end feels a little lighter than that end.
NARRATOR: Could this be another part
of that same ancient weapon?
If so, just who left it here?
This is fantastic.
It's cool, though.
Bag it and tag it.
Put that in your top pocket. You're going to be bent over.
Yes.
Next lane coming up.
Yes, sir.
CARMEN LEGGE: Come in. RICK LAGINA: How are you?
CARMEN LEGGE: Oh, not too bad. Yourself?
RICK LAGINA: Good.
NARRATOR: At the Oak Island Research Center,
Rick Lagina, Jack Begley, and Craig Tester
meet with blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge to get
his assessments of the mysterious artifact
found one day ago on Lot 8.
We've got a bit of a puzzle for you.
That is this object right here.
My brother and Gary found it.
It was found on Lot 8.
And we have run some geophysical investigations there,
and they're showing some anomalous feature.
Oh, OK.
So they found that.
NARRATOR: Earlier today, archaeologist Emma Culligan ran
the artifact through the team's state-of-the-art
SKYSCAN 1273 CT scanner.
The device emits non-destructive X-ray radiation that penetrates
encrusted materials that build up
over time on an object's surface to reveal a computer
image of its finer details.
RICK LAGINA: Heavily encrusted.
That's why the CT scan should help.
[laughing]
That is what the CT scanner showed.
Oh, yeah.
And that helps you?
Yes.
Interesting.
What would be their typical use?
Like hauling wood out or also hauling ground material up?
Lifting cargo?
NARRATOR: A bunk hook used for lifting and hauling
logs or heavy cargo?
Could Marty and Gary have found more evidence
that something of potential value could be buried on Lot 8,
as theorists such as Freemason Scott Clarke have suggested?
So it's somewhat of a unique design.
So I've never seen one in the modern era.
RICK LAGINA: Oh, really?
OK.
So then this is probably older than 1795 then?
Personally, I can't come up with any activity
that we know of that would necessitate
a hook such as that.
Oh, wow.
7 to 8 tons is a lot.
Well, what's this doing on Lot 8?
We'd expect something on the east drumlin like this.
How much hauling and work do we know that was done on Lot 8,
like in our records of the history of Oak Island?
Whether it was from the searchers or depositors,
I mean, that'd be a useful hook to have.
But this was found in the middle of the lot.
Interesting.
RICK LAGINA: I see.
We would have to have this conserved
before it could go in the XRF, since it's so heavily
encrusted with something.
We will definitely put a location on here, and--
Very interesting.
That could date back quite old and give us great evidence
for the Lot 8 area.
I mean, we found some weird things around there.
RICK LAGINA: When you have an item that, according to Carmen,
the design could be as far back as the 1500s,
we know it was used for extremely heavy loads.
Why not try to gain a further understanding of not only
that particular item, but what other items
we might find in the lot?
There's only one way to figure that out,
and that's to devote the assets and the time
necessary to try to figure out what that mystery might be.
There's more work to do.
It's an interesting item, certainly found
on a lot we don't know a whole lot about,
and we need to know more.
So thank you for the information.
We appreciate your time.
Appreciate your insight.
Very good. All right, see you later.
RICK LAGINA: Thank you. CRAIG TESTER: Thanks, Carmen.
RICK LAGINA: Appreciate it.
CARMEN LEGGE: See ya.