Oak Island, Nova Scotia

Now if you're really looking for mystery and treasure, I'd suggest Oak Island, Nova Scotia.

http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/OakIsland/

There something there, just no one knows what.

Wow, Heliograph, you beat me to it!

I've been meaning to post something about this as I've been intrigued
by Oak Island for almost 20 years now. Way back, I took a Humanities
course in college called "Quests" and we studied Stonehenge, Loch Ness,
the Atocha, Atlantis. The bulk of the course, though, was Oak Island
as the teacher had written a book on the subject called, "The Money Pit".

Have you ever heard of D'arcy O'Connor? Just like you, he was on
the "In Search Of..." program for the Oak Island episode. Listening to
this guy speak on the subject was truly fascinating.

Occasionally, I have given lectures about the island's mysteries to
my mother's high-school classes with diagrams and articles. The kids
sure do lap it up! (...as I'm sure most Indy fans would).

Heliograph said:

There something there, just no one knows what.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, there is a possibility that whatever is/was there
may have been retrieved along time ago without springing the
traps.

An old "treasure burying trick" was to tunnel down, then across
some distance and then back up again stopping just below the
ground's surface. This location was marked discreetly for a later
date when the *owner* would return and only have to dig down
a few feet to recover the cache. The original dig-hole was
usually hard to conceal so any other curious party would start
looking there and spring the booby-trap.

The tragedy is that the island has been a mess for a long time
from over 200 years of excavating. Some clues may have been
uninentionally destroyed.

The engineering and construction involved in the Oak Island system
is remarkable and never ceases to boggle my mind!

The History International channel just aired a "Treasure" episode the other day about "The Money Pit." I heard of Oak Island long before the episode, but it was still an interesting program to watch. Unfortunately I don't have time to go over the details of the show, but if you're aware of Oak Island you probably have an idea of what was discussed. (FYI - the dvd of the episode is available for purchase if you go to the History Channel website -- pretty sure the title was "Treasure - The Money Pit of Oak Island")

I was actually reading a book on the island...until I got my hands on The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons.

But I'm gonna get back into it soon. The first chapters have focused on the possibilities of how the treasure got there. Pretty interesting read...I'll post the title when I get home for those who are interested.

ROTLA said:

(FYI - the dvd of the episode is available for purchase if you go to the History Channel website -- pretty sure the title was "Treasure - The Money Pit of Oak Island")

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I recorded an episode from The Learning Channel's
"Treasure Islands" series in 1993. The title corresponds to the above but
I checked the History Channel website and the DVD is twice as long.
(50 mins vs. 23 mins)

There was also another program that same year on Discovery Channel's
"Treasure Hunters" but it was mired in goofy narration and interviews
about ghosts! The mystery of Oak Island is not superstition.

I wonder if what you saw is an expanded version of either show?
Of the 2 that I have, I'd be happy to make DVD copies for anyone.

SKAbatula said:

But I'm gonna get back into it soon. The first chapters have focused on the possibilities of how the treasure got there. Pretty interesting read...I'll post the title when I get home for those who are interested.

Click to expand...

Do it, man. I look forward to reading your review!
Personally, I think it was the Spanish or a group of pirates...

Here's a link to the book on Amazon.com:
The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar : Solving the Oak Island Mystery

As the title suggests, Steven Sora's belief is that the treasure is of the Knights Templar.

I will say that the book is very textbook-ish and slow. The author wants to make sure he crosses each and every possibility of how the treasure (if there is one) got to Oak Island.

EDIT: to fix my link...damn copy and paste!

The Templar Knights? Now, there's a theory I haven't heard before!
Thanks for the info. The link has several pages available to view
and it looks interesting enough. What made you buy it? The Templar
or the Oak?

I see that my old prof, D'Arcy O'Connor, has written a new book
"The Secret Treasure of Oak Island: The Amazing True Story of
a Centuries-Old Treasure Hunt" (2004). He's the man...(and saves
theories for the end where they belong).

Here's the reviews from Amazon.com:

"Staggering."--Kirkus Reviews

"Exhaustive and intriguing."--Publishers Weekly

"A splendid reportorial job."--Business Week

"A highly readable volume . . . the story builds from the first page to the last."--Christian Science Monitor

I went to the bookstore looking for a book on the Templar Knights...and I happened to pick it up. It wasn't until I started reading that I realized what Oak Island is. I had seen a documentary on the Oak Island mystery a while before I bought the book, but had forgotten about it.

So it was kind of a bonus that the book involves both!

Here's a link for those who are interested:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...002-2590931-9779205?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

I guess I should have posted a link, eh? Thanks for taking the slack!

Good ol' D'Arcy. His book, "The Money Pit", was written about 25 years
before so hopefully he's found some new meat to chew on.

I've always wanted to know more about this one guy, George Green.
He was a "cigar-chompin' Texan" and his 1955 operation at Oak Island
was brief and insignificant (apart from the discovery of English bone china).
However, the next year Green abandoned the digging and got involved
in the search for Noah's Ark! Later, his decapitated body was found in
the South American jungle while on expedition to find El Dorado...

Grisly, I know, but fascinating...George Green was the "real deal".

Hey, Stoo, off topic...but, I like your avatar!

Sucks to be George Green, one could say that he was "a head of his time".

Aaron H said:

Sucks to be George Green, one could say that he was "a head of his time".

Click to expand...

perhaps he couldn't shoulder the responsibility of being a team leader....

sorry, this is a good thread, I don't want to side track it. please forgive me.

Nothing like a little *slice* of dark humour now and then...
Glad you like the avatar too, Aaron. (As a matter of fact,
I just dug up the perfect matching photo and added it to
My Profile - goofy but I figured what-the-heck?).

More Oak Island Bizarre Biography Trivia:

The group who took over after poor Mr. Green were The Restalls.
(The family who suffered the infamous carbon monoxide tragedy
causing four deaths). Before their Oak Island days, Bob Restall,
his wife and two sons made their living in a travelling show
riding motorcycles around each other in "The Globe of Death".
One of those huge, spherical, steel cages...
Still, I feel sorry for Mildred. She lost half her family.

Is there anyone out there interested in BUYING THE ISLAND?
For the last 40 years, the search has been undertaken by
Dan Blankenship (who himself had a sensational scrape with
death in one of the shafts) and financed by Dave Tobias.
Along with shareholders, they formed Triton Alliance and
have made many revealing discoveries over the years but...
In 2003, Blankenship reportedly asked $7-million for it and
considering Tobias lives right here in Montreal, I could act
as the go-between.

Well, I'll step up to the plate

I'm willing to offer something in the five figure range (two of those figures right of the decimal point.)

My wife's Canadian and I think we have a dormant account up there with some funny money in it.

Since my ancestors are from Mahone Bay, I'm sure we can throw in some ghosts to haunt the place. One ancestor started the Canadian Temperance Union and several others were rumrunners so it could get lively.

Triton seems to have stalled. None of these recent owners sound very scientific.

Oak Island

Hello,

I'm a new poster here, found you through a Google Alert I maintain looking for Oak Island hits.

I am a member of a forum which readers of this thread might be interested in, the "Oak Island Treasure" forum at http://forum.oakislandtreasure.co.uk

I am also a member of the "Oak Island Tourism Society", found here: www.oakislandsociety.ca, a group dedicated to renewing tourism on Oak Island.

I am not affiliated in any way with the forum other than as a member, but it is in my opinion the best Oak Island resource on the internet. Many people who are very close to the Island and it's story post there, including the above mentioned author, D'Arcy O'Connor.

Feel free to drop in and say hello, and I'll take a look around your forum too

Dave

Thanks! And welcome to the Raven, Dave...

Stay tuned for Indy IV...Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Oak Island!

Dave said:

Hello,

I'm a new poster here, found you through a Google Alert I maintain looking for Oak Island hits....

Dave

Click to expand...

this may be off topic, and if so, Dave you can PM me; but how did you set it up for google to "alert" you?

~Pale Horse

Thanks, Dave, for taking the time to post the links! Much appreciated.
I see that at least one participant of this thread has already joined...

SKAb - I rented "National Treasure" tonight and there is a reference
to the Knights Templar/Oak Island theory in the DVD Bonus Materials.
In a pre-production animatic of the opening back-story sequence,
there is a narration which mentions the treasure was thought to be
hidden "near Nova Scotia". Not an idea that I subscribe to but it
reminded me of your book!