Oak Island: Begining middle and the end.

[b3y0nd3r]

Since the 1970's show, "In search of" airing of "The Oak Island Mystery", I became interested in what this, "money pit, could be about. In this post, im going to give my analysis of what how I interpret the meaning, the things found, and the direction of the Oak Island Mystery(OIM). I encourage you to accept/challenge my observations, however I ask if you can refrain from tossing in your own theory on this thread.

The story differs between publications:

The story goes as I know it: Young Daniel Mcginnis in 1795, saw lights at night on Oak island in Nova Scotia. In the morning, he went to investigate and found a depression in the ground and a saw off tree branch above it. The next day, he and two other friends, John Smith and Anthony Vaughan, went to dig up what was buried. At the top, they found flag stones in a circular pattern. Then "laid" timbers, with coconut fiber and putty every ten feet. they got to 30 feet and quit.

From 1803-1805, the Onslow Company. Including Mcginnis, Vaughan and Smith were in the company. They got down to 90 feet, found a inscribed stone, a possible hollow vault, and then the pit was flooded the next day. You don't think much of this other than the implied, "trap". But I think differently.

According to the Mcginnis sisters(if real), they claimed that the three found three chests. They then produce an old piece of jewelry claiming it was from one of the chests. If this is true, the story looks much different. Perhaps they went back at night and dug a little further, recovered the chests and flooded the pit. it would make sense to flood it, because when they returned the next day, the evidence that they got the treasure would be overwhelming.

Some facts support this as they bought numerous plots of land on the island and I believe a few houses on the mainland(Need more research into the amount of wealth they had)..

What is strange, is that in 1845, Vaughn returned to look for the treasure with the Truro company. Vaughn would have been around 68 years old. If he had the treasure, he wouldn't have come back. I believe that he wasn't included in the night time dig with Mcginnis and Smith back in 1804. Why didn't Mcginnis and Smith also return or even attempt to find it after 1804?

1851 the Truro company runs out of money. They try again in 1859 to drain the pit with steam pumps but that doesn't work.

!851-1897 various companies dug multiple tunnels and pits. Destroying any evidence of what could be down there.

1897-1970'S More diggings with various finds(IMO most were from previous digs). At this point all that was possible was speculation as most evidence was destroyed.

And to me, this was the begging.

You have the Oak Island show on history channel and this is the middle. Almost all the things being discovered on this show are not significant. According to something I saw, they have five years to find whatever is there. Next year is year five. So they started the massive dig in the original money pit. What fruits will that bear?

Let's say they find the treasure(if it's still there). What will happen with future generations? Will they believe that the treasure was found? Is this something that will be an eternal quest?

The end is, there will never be one. I think they will always still think that there is something there. Because the OIM is not about treasure. Not really. It's about a desire for man to find or accomplish his dreams.

 

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[Dave Rishar]

According to the Mcginnis sisters(if real), they claimed that the three found three chests. They then produce an old piece of jewelry claiming it was from one of the chests. If this is true, the story looks much different. Perhaps they went back at night and dug a little further, recovered the chests and flooded the pit. it would make sense to flood it, because when they returned the next day, the evidence that they got the treasure would be overwhelming.

This assumes that they somehow knew that there was something worth recovering just beyond where they'd dug to, that no one else knew about it, and that they had a way to flood a pit that large overnight. This is of course possible, but there are simpler explanations. I favor simpler explanations.

What is strange, is that in 1845, Vaughn returned to look for the treasure with the Truro company. Vaughn would have been around 68 years old. If he had the treasure, he wouldn't have come back. I believe that he wasn't included in the night time dig with Mcginnis and Smith back in 1804. Why didn't Mcginnis and Smith also return or even attempt to find it after 1804?

That could be it. Or it could be that Mcginnis and Smith realized that there was nothing down there. Or it could be that the story has been corrupted over the centuries, which is easy to believe when one compares contemporary accounts to the story as it's told today. A fairly pessimistic theory is that the entire thing was a scam from the start, becoming a scam that's gone from generation to generation. In any event, the story that the sisters told contradicts your theory - if the three of them found three chests, none of the three were cut out of the deal. Of course, that story may be wrong as well.

At the end of the day, we have several versions of the story commonly told today, one or two different versions that were told back when this would have been in recent memory, and no solid evidence that any of them are factual.

 

[Honest Samuel]

I believe in the story, but, because of water problems, no treasures will be found.

 

[Auhunt]

It gone an nobody buries treasure that deep. It a waste of money for the investors .an if find something it was planted as it been dug up twice so it fake.

 

[n2mini]

I think if the 3 original guys found anything their families would have told these stories for years to come, why not money is gone, they are dead why keep it a secret at that point. As was mentioned why go back looking years later if you already found something. The Laginas have already been on the island for over 5 years from the time they have bought into this. Supposedly spent 7 million dollars before digging their first shovel of dirt..

 

[b3y0nd3r]

"This assumes that they somehow knew that there was something worth recovering just beyond where they'd dug to,"

They were at the top of a large vault. I would assume that there was treasure underneath and would be so excited, that I would go at night to find out.

"A fairly pessimistic theory is that the entire thing was a scam from the start,"

The point of the scam would be to get money from investors, not get in the pit and dig themselves.

"because of water problems, no treasures will be found."

Some students way back came up with a freeze ring idea that would freeze the water. Water is not an obstacle anymore.

"nobody buries treasure that deep"

That's rather relative isnt it? It could be buried that deep because they do not want to expose the world to it again.

"their families would have told these stories for years to come, why not money is gone, they are dead why keep it a secret at that point."

There are hundreds of such treasure stories we won't ever hear about. There is secrecy for many reasons.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

"nobody buries treasure that deep"

That's rather relative isn't it? It could be buried that deep because they do not want to expose the world to it again.

Works for me. Presumably this whatever arrived by ship. They crossed an ocean - and every sailor knows "the abyss" is one way when they sew you in canvas with a ballast stone and commit you with the words:

UNTO Almighty God we commend the soul of our brother departed, and we commit his body to the deep; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the sea shall give up her dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his glorious body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.

No better vault exists.

 

[n2mini]

"This assumes that they somehow knew that there was something worth recovering just beyond where they'd dug to,"

They were at the top of a large vault. I would assume that there was treasure underneath and would be so excited, that I would go at night to find out.

"A fairly pessimistic theory is that the entire thing was a scam from the start,"

The point of the scam would be to get money from investors, not get in the pit and dig themselves.

"because of water problems, no treasures will be found."

Some students way back came up with a freeze ring idea that would freeze the water. Water is not an obstacle anymore.

"nobody buries treasure that deep"

That's rather relative isnt it? It could be buried that deep because they do not want to expose the world to it again.

"their families would have told these stories for years to come, why not money is gone, they are dead why keep it a secret at that point."

There are hundreds of such treasure stories we won't ever hear about. There is secrecy for many reasons.

But the one family has come on the show. ( descendents of McGinis I believe it was ) Sure she might have just wanted the air time but I'd think if they were trying to hide a family secret she wouldn't have bothered coming on the show at all..

 

[b3y0nd3r]

But the one family has come on the show. ( descendents of McGinis I believe it was ) Sure she might have just wanted the air time but I'd think if they were trying to hide a family secret she wouldn't have bothered coming on the show at all..

THESE days, especially when you are older, you seek attention and or notoriety. Perhaps they are too old to care about secrets, or they just wanted to be in the lime light, like you said.

 

[Real of Tayopa]

b3yond3, you posted --- Perhaps they are too old to care about secrets, or they just wanted to be in the lime light, like you said.

Who's too old ? I'm only 93. and have visions of Booze, broads, and pure whoopie.

 

[Eldo]

Works for me. Presumably this whatever arrived by ship. They crossed an ocean - and every sailor knows "the abyss" is one way when they sew you in canvas with a ballast stone and commit you with the words:

No better vault exists.

You sure bout that?

......the Masonic Vault of Records......seems like the Library of Alexandria was moved to Vermont......LOL

 

[franklin]

Wrong again

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Why would they go from the most public of structures that shared all knowledge like never before to a pit?

I'm afraid it burned to the ground. And what bits were salvaged to the Serapeum were later destroyed by Christians and Muslims. Jerks.

Your Giza Sphinx predated the Library of Alexandria by about 2,500 years and the gap of a missing stone would not have held hundreds of thousands of scrolls and books.

And the Masons came along about 1,800 years after that - about 300 years ago . . . tops.

 

[Dave Rishar]

They were at the top of a large vault. I would assume that there was treasure underneath and would be so excited, that I would go at night to find out.

And only those three (or two, depending on the theory) knew about it? If no one was there but them, why not keep digging? If others were there, how did the others not know?

The point of the scam would be to get money from investors, not get in the pit and dig themselves.

You've basically summarized the history of the Money Pit excavations from the beginning until now with the first part of that statement. It's a cynical theory, but it's the only one that I know of that accurately describes what's happened so far. As I've said in the past, I'm not convinced that it was always a "dirty" scam. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people were really convinced that something was down there. When the money ran out and more was needed, a recovered artifact would be just the thing to renew interest and get the money flowing again - and that's exactly when those artifacts (which can't be sourced today, which raises doubts as to whether they were recovered or not in the first place) were unearthed. They may have been white lies, but they were probably lies regardless.

We had a hole with chiselled sides, wooden platforms, ships putty, and a cipher stone that didn't make sense and didn't fit with the narrative, but they didn't know that back then so no matter. Today we can't seem to locate any of that. Either it's all gone, or it never existed in the first place. We don't even know where the original hole was. Did all of this stuff get lost over the years? Did it ever exist at all?

 

[n2mini]

Do you really think the Restall Family moved to and lived on the island without power as a ruse to make money off investors? Sure they may have lied about stuff to get more money to buy fuel and food but they truely believed something was there... No way they were actually making any money off it and the mom was probably broke when she left..

 

[b3y0nd3r]

"And only those three (or two, depending on the theory) knew about it? If no one was there but them, why not keep digging? If others were there, how did the others not know?"

Im not saying they "knew" anything. They may have figured that, whatever was there, they were gonna see it first.

Here is the way I see it. They hit what sounds like a large wooden vault but it was getting dark. It was time to go home for the day like they have been doing the past few weeks. At this point it was a routine, "business as usual", type ending of the day but, they all agreed to get started at a certain time in the morning.

Now, Mcginnis, maybe felt he had a right to what was down there and convinced Smith that they are close to the treasure and "lets go back" to the island in a few hours. Remember, the only way on the island was by boat(maybe a 15 20 minute row).

They go back, dig a foot or so and hit timbers. Lift the timbers and find the vault. Take what they can and flood the pit(how is a whole different thread).

Just a theory, but a plausible one if, the Mcginnis sisters are telling the truth.

I DON"T think they are. I believe a different theory all together, but, the Mcginnis sisters story trumps my story. If they never told it, this thread wouldn't be here.

BTW I like the debate!

 

[Not Peralta]

b3yond3, you posted --- Perhaps they are too old to care about secrets, or they just wanted to be in the lime light, like you said.

Who's too old ? I'm only 93. and have visions of Booze, broads, and pure whoopie.[/QUOTE Amigo, you dirty dog:laughing7 You lecherous old reprobate,

NP

 

[boogeyman]

b3yond3, you posted --- Perhaps they are too old to care about secrets, or they just wanted to be in the lime light, like you said.

Who's too old ? I'm only 93. and have visions of Booze, broads, and pure whoopie.

Ahhh, you're just an addict! You've done more in your first 30 years than 90% of the rest of us, So until day 0 you'll still be looking and having visions and some of the best recollections ever! Yup! addicted for life!


Check your PMs

 

[b3y0nd3r]

"Too old to care" meaning not concerned with trivial matters at that stage of their life.

 

[Honest Samuel]

I feel young, I am only 74 years old. The brothers found wood, now, they stop, because they have to decide what to do next. Their plan was to dig up the treasure. This show is a joke and so are the brothers. I believe the story, and also the water tunnels which next week, the brothers will find a lot of water, but, no treasures.