Freaky Friday Files: The Oak Island Mystery
- ashey9111
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Hello! Happy Friday. For this edition of Freaky Friday Files, I thought we could explore the Oak Island Mystery. This is a series of stories and legends mainly to do with buried treasure and sometimes unexplained objects found on/near Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. Enjoy!
PIN IT
The Oak Island Mystery
So, Oak Island is in Canada, and since the 18th century, there have been reports/rumours that there is buried treasure hidden on the island. Galloway (2015) says, "In the late 1700s a teenage boy named Daniel McGinnis explored the inland areas of Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, and found an unusual depression in the ground. Some reports also say he noticed an old block and tackle hanging from a sawed-off tree limb, just above the dip in the earth. The area was known to have been frequented by pirates in earlier years, an idea which had no doubt occurred to the eager young man. McGinnis found this reason enough to being digging with the help of two of his friends." The only thing these boys found while digging was some log platforms underground, and to them, this meant that there must be something else under here, as they believed someone had buried something intentionally. Because of this, the promise of wealth lingered over the island, and the area where they dug became known as the "money pit". Over time, more men came and dug deeper into the money pit, and one day, some men found a stone with a strange inscription. Thanks to a professor of languages (I assume a linguist), James Leitchi translated the inscription, and it read "Forty Feet Below Two Million Pounds are Buried," further perpetuating the rumours about treasure.
Since the 18th century, many excavations have taken place, but no "big" treasure has ever been unearthed.
So, what are some theories about Oak Island?
The Templar Treasure - There is a theory that the Knights Templar, who fled persecution in the 14th century, transported sacred artifacts to North America (potentially the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant). Evidence for this theory is that Masonic symbols have been found on Oak Island and that there are similarities in architecture on the island with known Templar sites.
Pirate Treasure (Captain Kidd) - Many people believe that Captain Kidd buried his treasure on Oak Island before he was captured/passed away. Some "evidence" that supports this theory is cryptic carvings on the island and places that say literally "X marks the spot". As well as gold chain links and Spanish coins being found on the island and they had early accounts of booby-trapped shafts on the island which were also common in pirate law.
Shakespeare's Lost Manuscripts - Some people believe that hidden on Oak Island are original manuscripts of Shakespeare, likely smuggled from England by someone called Francis Bacon. Theorists have drawn links between handwriting similarities.
A Natural Geographical Phenomenon - Scientists argue that there's not a money pit at all, and it's a sinkhole of sorts, which has been incorrectly perceived as man-made.
Marie Antoinette's missing jewels - there is no proof of this, but it is speculated because she instructed her maid to flee with her jewels when an angry mob of Parisian working women stormed the Palace of Versailles. It is claimed that the maid fled from London to Nova Scotia.
I believe that Oak Island is now privately owned by the Lagina brothers, who even created a reality TV series about the island's mystery called "The Curse of Oak Island". In the show, they found some things like basic artifacts, but no BIG BIG treasures.
Some possible explanations for this mystery include, as mentioned above, natural sinkholes and industrial activities, such as tar-making locations and salt production sites.
There's also an alleged curse on the island's treasure, which claims that 7 men will die in search of the treasure before it's found.
Is there really something down in this money pit? Or was it all a big hoax? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading!
Ash x
References
SAVE TO PINTEREST
