A decade after the Triton Alliance officially ended their quest for the buried treasure, Oak Island was starting to catch the interest of the general public. The mysterious island was featured in an episode of the 1979 TV show, “In Search Of… ” The episode concerning the island earned the mystery a huge fan base, both locally and internationally.
With the intriguing stories and shocking discoveries about the many attempts to crack the case, Oak Island was receiving public recognition. In fact, people of all walks of life were curious about the elusive treasure and the legends that surround it.
The End of the Search
After seeing shocking images from below the shaft, the Triton Alliance sent divers to recover the objects, but they were in for yet another surprise: none of the items they’d seen on the camera could be found. The current in the pit was so strong that it caused sand and dirt to be constantly churning, making visibility a nightmare.
The divers were basically blind in their mission to find the items. They eventually gave up… and not a moment too soon.
Another Dead End
Just minutes after the divers decided to give up and go out, something terrible happened. The shaft fell apart. The group had no choice but to abandon their excavation.
Not wanting to give up as they were keen to recover the intriguing items they had seen in the camera images, the group tried to dig up the shaft again, but just like many who have tried before them, eventually ran out of financial support.
An Ownership Conflict
With a rumored amount of 2 million pounds buried on the island, it is not surprising that conflicts would arise. In 1983, the Triton Alliance and one of their members, Fred Nolan, battled over rights on certain parts of the island. The company sued Nolan over ownership of seven of the island’s lots.
Nolan was sued for damages that greatly affected Triton Alliance’s tourist business. His company appealed in 1989 but lost for the second time. As the legal battles took over, Oak Island fell silent for over a decade (1990 through 2005). Until the Lagina brothers finally came...
The Lagina Brothers
The treasure hunt journey of Triton Alliance in Oak Island was featured in a 1965 Reader’s Digest article, the same article that caught Rick Lagina’s interest when he was just 11 years old.
In 2005, the brothers saw an opportunity to enter Oak Island when they learned that a fraction of it was up for sale at around $7 million. They invested a fifty percent stake in a company called Oak Island Tours Inc. The determination to find the treasure they dreamed of as kids still lived on in their 50-years-old forms.