The Curse Of Oak Island: The Mystery Of 'Aladdin's Cave' Explained
Many discoveries have been made and holes dug throughout the 11 seasons of History's popular "The Curse of Oak Island," but none more mysterious than an underground cache that has been affectionately dubbed "Aladdin's Cave."
Aladdin's Cave was discovered on Oak Island almost a year prior. In the premiere episode of Season 11, it is teased that later in the season scientists on the "Oak Island" team would use sonar tech to uncover a unique area below the money pit area, about 230 feet underground. Due to the presence of wood in the area, the crew speculates that the anomaly could be a man-made structure with a chamber containing some sort of treasure.
"That makes the cave even that much more important," a team member said in a voice-over interview. "We are not leaving this island without having a go at this Aladdin's cave. I want to know what this thing is."
The term "Aladdin's Cave" may bring to mind Disney's 1992 animated movie "Aladdin," which sees the titular character trapped underneath the desert in a cave full of treasure. However, the Disney film is adapted from a Middle Eastern folk tale, and the first known use of the term Aladdin's Cave was possibly in the 1850s. The term is meant to describe a place containing a vast collection of unusual objects.
What's inside of Aladdin's Cave?
Aladdin's Cave was teased at the start of "The Curse of Oak Island" Season 11, but it wasn't until Episode 6, "The Grand Opening," that Rick and Marty Lagina were finally able to get a look inside. "The expansiveness of Aladdin's Cave is quite interesting, it's very exciting," Rick said in an on-camera interview.
Scientists scanned for possible tunnels, vaults, and large objects underground using devices called muon detectors, which identified a potential target in the deep cavity known as Aladdin's Cave. The team snaked a high-definition camera into the chamber, which was completely submerged in water, to search for more evidence of potential silver and gold. While they did not find any evidence of the metals upon first look, they were able to identify some wooden fragments that may suggest a man-made structure.
Sonar expert Blaine Carr was brought to Oak Island to use a 3D sonar device to determine the exact dimensions of Aladdin's Cave, including the presence of any possible tunnels. "This is a very exciting thing, and it's important to see whether it's man-made or not," Marty Lagina explained. "I think there's a chance the treasure might be placed there, which would answer a lot of questions."
As is to be expected with "The Curse of Oak Island," the sonar imaging of Aladdin's Cave resulted in more open-ended questions than concrete answers. The crew concluded that there was potential for a man-made structure built into a natural, underground cave. However, the full size of the cave and the contents within it were not verified.