We all love stories about pirates, buried treasures, and unexplained mysteries. But what do all three of these things have in common? The Oak Island Treasure Pit.
Instead of treasure, the only thing anyone has ever found are strange traps, man made flood tunnels, logs, and secret codes.
Many excavations have been done over the centuries, yet the treasure has yet to be found. What is the treasure, exactly? That’s just it; nobody knows. There is, however, an alleged “secret code” written in a strange inscription that was found on a tablet down inside the money pit. Experts claim to have successfully deciphered the code. It allegedly reads: "Forty feet below two million pounds are buried.”
Whether there really is two million pounds buried far below the earth’s surface is yet to be determined. There are no known records, maps, or even slight hints about the treasure pit and its contents. The first known record of the pit’s discovery was in 1795, when a teenage boy named Daniel McGinnis came across a round depression on the island’s southeastern end. A ship’s tackle block sat on an overhanging branch of a nearby tree. Curious, Daniel and some of his friends began to dig. Around every ten feet or so, they came across logs. Finally, after thirty feet, they gave up.
Several other attempts over the centuries have been made to uncover the secret once and for all. How is it, that with modern technology, we are still unable to discover secrets that were hidden centuries ago? A lot of time and effort was obviously put into making this strange money pit. Millions of dollars have been spent on excavations over the years, and some of the treasure hunters unfortunately lost their lives in the efforts. Who would have had the technology and knowledge to built such a complex structure centuries ago, and what exactly were they hiding? One would think that they were hiding something very important considering the lengths they went to do it.
Is the translation of the inscription correct? Is there really two million pounds hidden well below the earth’s surface? And if so, who put it there? Some believe it was pirates. Others believe it was French soldiers trying to keep money out of the hands of the English during the French and Indian War. One theory goes as far as claiming that Sir Francis Bacon was behind it all. Sir Francis Bacon was a very intelligent man who was fascinated with secret codes and strange inscriptions. He was a very eccentric, yet enigmatic figure, and some even believe that he was the one who wrote Shakespearean plays.
It’s because of this belief that he was the true author of Shakespearean plays that leads people to believe that he may have hidden evidence down inside the Oak Island Treasure Pit. While it does seem far fetched, the entire Oak Island Treasure Pit itself is an enigma. Whatever “treasure” is buried deep down under the earth’s surface, we may never know. Still, we’ll continue to be intrigued and speculate. We can only hope that whatever the treasure is, it will be something that goes beyond anything that we’ve ever imagined