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Well, the most perplexing one that is regional to us, here in the
Northeastern North American continent, is the "Treasure of Oak Island."
I'm sure someone out there is much more well versed in it than I
but I'll attempt a thumbnail synopsis.
Oak Island is located closely off shore of Nova Scotia. In colonial
times, lights on the unihabited island made settlers from the mainland
guess that pirates visited it. In the 1700's, 2 farmboys rowed over to
the island and found under a large tree a depression in the ground. The
tree had a limb that looked like it had been used as a winch. They dug
down but were stooped at a level by heavy beams.
Further diggings, right up to the present have revealed a series of
levels blocked by beams, samples of palm fronds have been recovered,
linking the dig to travelers from the Carribean (e.g. pirates, perhaps
even Captain Kidd or Blackbeard). An ingenious system of tidal tunnels
floods the lower depths of the "money pit" making excavation dangerous,
expensive, and a wonder at 18th century know-how.
I believe several people have died in the pit, the search has
bankrupted people and became an "obsession" with them. A large
operation that was basically, if I recall the show correctly, strip-
mining the entire area had yet to reach the bottom or yield any
"treasure".
I'm sure someone can update and amend anything I wrote amiss.
BillM
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