I
hadn’t really gotten into this season’s Oak Island other than to note that they
have found the money pit. By that I mean they’re planning to dump two million
dollars into the ground where they believe the original hole had been dug. It
means that they are throwing two million into the ground and I will wager big
dollars that when all is said and done, they’ll have another big hole in the
ground but no treasure. They will have spent two million creating a money pit.
But
what got me was their diving down into a well some twenty miles from Oak Island
where they believe they found a “Templar’s Cross” suggesting the Templars had
been there hundreds of years ago. As a diver was lowered into the well, he
found symbols marked on the rocks used to line the well. On one of these they
called a “King’s Mark” which, it seems to me, they attempted to relate to the Templars.
 |
| Broad Arrow Mark found in Australia. |
The
thing is, that mark, or one like it, apparently didn’t come into use until
Henry VIII created the Office of Ordnance. Then this broad arrow mark was used
to mark objects bought by the King’s money.
More
importantly, it became widely used around the world. There are no indications
that the Templars used it for anything and the fact that it appears on a stone
in a well in Canada is of little real significance. It was used to mark trees
here in North America (which I know includes Canada so don’t point that out)
and in England and Australia used to mark prisoner’s uniforms. It marked roads
and government property. It marked lots of things and is quite common.
The
point here is that there was nothing to link the broad arrow to the Templars
and no real reason to become excited when it was found on a rock in Canada.
This is just more hype to keep us tuning in and after so long with so little to
show for it, I probably won’t be one of those watching any more. There is too
much nonsense and too little pay-off, except for those involved in the production
and broadcasting the show. They’re the ones reaping the treasure.
Sure, most things that are brought to the table by outsiders, or the many Templar links for example are tenuous. I think if you look hard enough at just about anything you will find weird 'coincidences'. But the thing about the Oak Island mystery is that there is always just enough to keep you going. Its like the Roswell case in that sense. For instance, the Spanish coin they found in the swamp, or the coconut fibre at Smith's Cove. Things that are not easy to dismiss. On the other hand, they have done so many drills way down deep into the original money pit, and come up with basically a small piece of parchment and a chain link. In one of the earliest efforts they hand drilled down to hear what they heard was coins tinkling - but surely some evidence of that would have come to the surface by now.. yet not a single coin has been found in the money pit, and the chain link I think was likely salted. To me the biggest mystery of all on the island is that of Samuel Ball: hardly anything can be found about him yet he lived on the island and had considerable wealth, even apparently purchasing things on the mainland with Spanish coins. If this is so then it lends credence to the swamp discovery, and one could even propose there is no mystery left as he found the treasure on his lot, kept quiet about it so as to not pay tax, and gradually used up the loot. That they are pouring so much more money now into the money pit is to me astounding, but if they even things up with what they make from the show then great, I don't mind watching to see what they dredge up. Its fun. But the belief Rick and Dan for instance have in particular that something is down there is to me befuddling, after so many years and so many digs I would tend to feel the complete opposite.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteYou know what I do. I own www.sweepstakestoday.com. I sell online sweepstakes advertisement for many Fortune companies including the History Channel and Discovery.com. There are more. However, if you understand what I really do is to turn advertisement into entertainment. I make these Fortune 500 exciting to the public.
The same thing happens with the Oak island Show. The money they invest in drill holes in the ground is really another form of reality game show entertainment. They win the ratings hour by getting the people who watch the show to root for the brothers on to find treasure. That's the hook. Sure they add some history in, and personal stories and ideas about the Templar's. But the hook is the game show type entertainment to find treasure.
Last, there are a bunch of people who want the brother to find prove that the Templar's were there before Columbus. That's the second hook to the show.
So who wins? The networks.