I'm not an expert, but I grew up in Nova Scotia and my grandfather was actually a machine operator with the 1968 Triton expedition. So I've had an interest in Oak Island for a long time.

Obviously there's no conclusive answer if it's bullshit because one could simply say "Just because they haven't found anything doesn't mean it's not there!" But there are a lot of facts that suggest there's nothing there. Skeptoid did an article on Oak Island that seems to have taken a lot from the Joe Nickell article, which is comprehensive in its history but leans a little too much on trying to connect the mythology to a grander conspiracy. In my opinion, the best book on the matter from a mix of story and fact is The Secret Treasure of Oak Island by D'Arcey O'Conner.

Basically, the island is filled with tide-flooding sinkholes that resemble the "money pit", and in the articles there are numerous reports of them. The "underground tunnels" are also a natural feature observed elsewhere. The stone tablet marking the spot was never photographed and no one knows where it is today. In fact, a lot of the original evidence supporting the treasure hunt, such as the coconut fibres, was discovered in 1804 and did not survive to the present day. 1849 was when they last supposedly found anything of note, and that was only a few links of gold chain.

As early as 1911, people were suspecting the money pit was fraudulent. To me, the most damning evidence is that in 1949, people actually found "another money pit" on the island. It too was a sinkhole, supposedly with a stone tablet, and when they started digging it too had flats of logs at regular intervals. But nothing ever came of it, not even to say it was a bust, only that it went no further.

Every expedition has ended in either the company going broke, someone dying, or both. The Nickell article makes a case that a lot of elements of the expeditions were exaggerated or entirely invested to secure funding.

It's hard to prove a negative, so it will likely never been entirely confirmed Oak Island was a hoax. It's not a satisfactory answer to a kid who's dreaming of treasure in their own backyard, but it's what exists. The land is private now and there were likely never be another expedition.

The natural sinkhole theory seemed to be the strongest explanation. It's what O'Conner promoted, and it's what my grandfather believes is the explanation (he only told me this years after I stopped believing in Santa Claus). It will never be definitive, but it seems like the best answer out there.

I love the legend of the Oak Island treasure, but I don't understand how they can put a man on the moon and land spacecraft of other planets but can't figure out if there's anything at the bottom of that hole.

As a Lunenburger, Oak Island has always been a cock tease to everybody around here. It was even in our history books in school. The show is all sensational and special effects made for TV to make it interesting. If they really wanted to find out what was down there, they'd just dig it the hell out. I mean, we can build towers up to the clouds, and fly from place to place in giant metal tubes defying gravity, so you'd think somebody could engineer a way down to the bottom of the pit.

I would love to believe there's pirate treasure or the Ark of the Covenant or....______---whatever at the bottom, but we will never know until someone just says:" I'm digging that bitch out, and that's that." I mean, the most likely scenario is that it's a natural sinkhole and nothing is there other than junk. At the Oak Island Inn/Atlantica Hotel a few years back, they were doing some work down by the marina and one of the machines fell into a cavern/sinkhole in the middle of the parking lot. There's water running out of a crack in the pavement there constantly all year round. I'm not even sure they didn't just leave the machine in there and fill it over.

So, yeah, it may be bullshit, it may be something, we don't know, but it is damn interesting.

The thng you have to realize about Oak Island is that people have been trying to get at whats hidden there for 200 years. The treasure hunters from the past were not necessarily looking to comprehensively document the island for archeological reasons. They just wanted the loot. Because of this, a lot of information has passed down from treasure hunter to treasure hunter and a lot of the info is missing or thought to be apocryphal.

All though the TV show on History Channel seem to be taking a more methodical approach. The guys on the show are more about finding out what the island is all about rather than just get the stash no matter what.

My personal opinion is that you can't completely rule out that its a hoax, just like you can't completely say that there is treasure there.