"Curse of Oak Island"

[gran398]

Damn good thinking!

CAS will solve this riddle

[fitz73222]

I just watched the first episode, and all I've got to say is, forget what's down there in that hole, what's going on with that slightly out of place driftwood on the beach!!??  :)  It's clearly yet another booby trap!!

The show is entertaining overall, and I'll stick around to learn about the history of the island, the theories and the expeditions, cause that stuff is really interesting.  Like FJ said, it will likely be a lot of buildup to an anticlimactic series finale since we haven't read any news to the contrary.  It's still better than the tired scripted pawn stars fodder, and it's leaps and bounds better than the ridiculous Ancient Aliens and MonsterQuest shows.  History channel has really gone downhill...

Couldn't agree more Jesse, SOP for History Channel these days. Let's create a show where we can have the audience draw engineering conclusions based on 150 years of speculation and keep them in suspense for weeks, sells commercials though. I think I'll wait until they actually find something (if ever) and then someone will put together the facts and we can actually learn something.

[gran398]

Episode #2 tonight at 10 EST.

[Aswaff400]

I just watched the first episode, and all I've got to say is, forget what's down there in that hole, what's going on with that slightly out of place driftwood on the beach!!??  :)  It's clearly yet another booby trap!!

The show is entertaining overall, and I'll stick around to learn about the history of the island, the theories and the expeditions, cause that stuff is really interesting.  Like FJ said, it will likely be a lot of buildup to an anticlimactic series finale since we haven't read any news to the contrary.  It's still better than the tired scripted pawn stars fodder, and it's leaps and bounds better than the ridiculous Ancient Aliens and MonsterQuest shows.  History channel has really gone downhill...

that pic reminds me of the episode of southpark http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-ep ... anksgiving

[CLM65]

The flooding side tunnels remind me of this little historical gem...a little lengthy, but certainly worth watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlrGkeOzsI

[wingtime]

The flooding side tunnels remind me of this little historical gem...a little lengthy, but certainly worth watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlrGkeOzsI

OOPS!  

[Curious]

I remember reading about this too, many moons ago.  I seem to recall it being in a children's book story.

[FJStretch]

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT

I still think there is an argument on either side but I read up on some history of the Oak Island and the "Money Pit".

There was a scientific study performed a few years back that indicated the pit was a natural phenomenon. They think it is a sinkhole (common in region) and the platforms were formed by flood events that periodically carried logs, etc., into the hole. Then natural erosion and rain events would bring soil down and cover the logs, etc. Years would pass and then another flood event would bring more logs down (forming another platform) .. And the process would repeat itself.

The box drains were argued to be constructed as part of a salt mine operation that was believed to have been in operation many years prior and have nothing to do with the flooding of the pit. Not much of any supportive information was provided on this and I would really like to hear more details.

The presence of coconut fiber was confirmed but carbon dating is sometimes not very accurate in marine environments.... But that fiber certainly pre-dates 1795, when the pit was first discovered. One must understand that the date rendered would only indicate the date of which the fibers were harvested. Theoretically, it could have been harvested 600 years ago but brought to and placed on the island 100 years ago... Coconut fiber was commonly used in the past as a durable packing material and had many other uses. I could speculate someone needed a place to dump the material and an open pit seems like a perfect spot. They found this coconut fiber on the beach at Smith' Cove and it has been determined the cove is indeed man-made. Interesting enough, in my business this stuff (coconut fiber matting) is often used to stabilize lakeshore or other water environments that have been cleared for replanting (shoreline restoration). Perhaps they brought the fiber in to stabilize the shoreline during their work. However, that coconut fiber is pretty old and I really don't know whether coconut fiber is stored for long periods or reused in a way that would bring dated fiber to Oak Island (e.g., for the salt mine operations or any other such activities).  

I'm sure there is still room for argument from either side but the show is not sharing all the facts (at least not yet). The show portrays the platforms as being of formal construction (I.e., parallel logs stacked against one another to form a flat surface). which seems to conflict with the results of a scientific study that indicated the pit was a "natural phenomenon" and not man-made. I would be very interested in hearing about the specific appearance of the platforms. Do they consist of parallel logs that are secured to some extent or are they just piles of wooden debris and logs that would be consistent with the deposition of debris during flood events?

[Capt. Bob]

Here's a little more rain on the parade.

Assuming the sinkhole theory, my current abode resides in a county (Leon) noted for the same geological occurrences. Leon Sinks is fewer than 20 miles from the coast and is littered with sinkholes.  Go slightly north to Lake Jackson and one encounters a formidable sink that completely drains the lake periodically.

Over the years, locals have attempted to "plug the sink" with anything they could find. First timber, rocks, wagons and tons of lake bottom. Later they would try old cars, trucks, concrete bags and again trees (we live in a forest here). The last opening resulted in construction of a coffer dam surrounding the sink and again locals calling for (and throwing chit in) the sealing of the hole with a re-enforced concrete structure covering yet again tons of lake bottom to be deposited in the hole. During this time (prior to environmentalist lobbying the coffer dam removal) locals tried stuffing home appliances down the hole.

Point is, 1000 years from now, archeologist digging around a dry lake bed north of of Tallahassee might find all manner of "high tech engineering" in the mysterious Jackson's Pit.

Fodder for yet another series.

Just random thoughts.

[seabob4]

Point is, 1000 years from now, archeologist digging around a dry lake bed north of of Tallahassee might find all manner of "high tech engineering" in the mysterious Jackson's Pit.

Fodder for yet another series.

Just random thoughts.

Like John Pinette on the low carb diet...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLdNTMa1xZA

Love watching the dude!

[gran398]

Great points all.

Of course, it is more fun to believe the pirates/Knights Templar/ French Jewels, etc. theories...but for sure it could be a sinkhole. Unfortunately, regarding the shelves of timber every ten feet...they are long gone.

Here is the account of early "Money Pit" history from the trusted leader in internet fact, Wikipedia. Link appears in first entry above.

In 1795, 18-year-old Daniel McGinnis, after observing lights coming from the island, discovered a circular depression in a clearing on the southeastern end of the island. Adjacent to the clearing was a tree with a tackle block on one of its overhanging branches.[3] McGinnis, with the help of friends John Smith (in early accounts, Samuel Ball) and Anthony Vaughan, excavated the depression and discovered a layer of flagstones a few feet below. On the pit walls there were visible markings from a pick. As they dug down they discovered layers of logs at about every 10 feet (3.0 m). They abandoned the excavation at 30 feet (9.1 m).[3]

This initial discovery and excavation was first briefly mentioned in print in the Liverpool Transcript in October 1856. A more complete account followed, again in the Liverpool Transcript,[3][4] the Novascotian,[5][6] British Colonist,[7] and A History Of Lunenburg County[8] (the last source based on the Liverpool Transcript articles).

About eight years after the 1795 dig, according to the original articles and the memories of Vaughan, another company examined what was to become known as the "Money Pit." The Onslow Company sailed 300 nautical miles (560 km) from central Nova Scotia near Truro to Oak Island with the goal of recovering what they believed to be secret treasure. They continued the excavation down to approximately 90 feet (27.43 m) and found layers of logs or "marks" about every ten feet (3 m) and layers of charcoal, putty and coconut fibre at 40, 50 and 60 feet (12, 15 and 18 m ).

According to one of the earliest written accounts, at 80–90 feet (24–27 m), they recovered a large stone bearing an inscription of symbols.[4] Several researchers apparently attempted to decipher the symbols. One translated them as saying: "forty feet below, two million pounds lie buried." The symbols currently associated with the "forty feet down..." translation and seen in many books first appeared in True Tales of Buried Treasure, written by explorer and historian Edward Rowe Snow in 1951. In this book he states he was given this set of symbols by Reverend A.T. Kempton of Cambridge, Massachusetts.[9] Nothing more is known about Kempton's involvement in the Oak Island tale. The pit subsequently flooded up to the 33-foot (10 m) level. Bailing did not reduce the water level, and the excavation was abandoned.

Investors formed The Truro Company in 1849, which re-excavated the shaft back down to the 86 feet (26 m) level, where it flooded again. They then drilled into the ground below the bottom of the shaft. According to the nineteenth-century account, the drill or "pod auger" passed through a spruce platform at 98 feet (30 m), a 12-inch (300 mm) head space, 22 inches (560 mm) of what was described as "metal in pieces", 8 inches (200 mm) of oak, another 22 inches (560 mm) of metal, 4 inches (100 mm) of oak, another spruce layer, and finally into clay for 7 feet (2.1 m) without striking anything else.[4]

[MarshMarlowe196]

Here is the account of early "Money Pit" history from the trusted leader in internet fact, Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is pretty darn accurate. It's said to be as reliable as information obtained from Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Anyone can edit and add information, but that information requires citations, and if there are no citations given, the Wikipedia article will state this, so you can be confident that what you're reading is almost always spot on. Everyone is fact checking everyone, so any bad info doesn't stick around for long. Even the author of Skeptic Magazine has said Wikipedia is about 99% accurate, and he makes a living being skeptical.