Oak Island

In 1795, three young men decided to dig for Captain Kidd's treasure. Out in Mahone Bay there were 365 islands, one of which was Oak Island. There they found an odd depression in the soil and came back armed with shovels. They began the world's largest and longest treasure hunt. At two feet they found flagstones that were brought from the mainland. At ten feet an oaken platform. At twenty and thirty feet more platforms barred the way. When they exhausted their own capability they quit. Years later a company was formed to further the excavation. At 90 ft., an inscribed stone described a treasure just forty feet below. But shortly after water rushed in to flood the tunnel. This booby trap to date, has not been beat.

Remarkably, the water was from the sea, carried through an underground tunnel system and protected by a false beach. The beach had clog proof drains covered by coconut husks and eel grass. Modern engineering has been unable to hold back the tide.

Modern science, however, has dated wood recovered from the pit to 1575 (plus or minus 85 years). Who had the skill back then to engineer the money pit? The Templars were aided by the Cistercian Order who were founded by St. Bernard and whose engineering skills are still evident in bridges of Europe. Another secretive order, the Priory of Sion, had as grandmaster, Leonardo da Vinci who was a military engineer with a specialty in advanced hydraulics.

With the year 2000 just ahead, a consortium of businessmen are amassing money and modern technology to assault the Money Pit. Will their knowledge be a match for the secrets of the Knights Templar? Stay tuned.