Marty Lagina abruptly resigns from The Curse of Oak Island after a Season 12 dig uncovers a shocking, unexplained artifact in the Garden Shaft that triggers government intervention, leaving the team stunned and raising fears that the discovery is less a treasure and more a terrifying warning.

Marty Lagina, co-star of The Curse of Oak Island and one of the most recognizable figures in the long-running treasure hunt, has stepped back from the project following an extraordinary and still-controversial discovery made during the final weeks of Season Twelve.

The unexpected resignation has stunned fans, colleagues, and even longtime skeptics of the island’s legendary mystery.

While History Channel has not formally commented, multiple members of the production team have confirmed that Lagina’s departure came directly after a discovery inside the Garden Shaft—one described by crew members as “impossible,” “unprecedented,” and “not from any known historical period.”

The incident occurred on August 17, 2025, as the Oak Island team completed what was expected to be a routine exploration of a newly reinforced chamber beneath the Garden Shaft.

According to crew present that day, the team had drilled through an unusually compact layer of sediment before lowering a camera probe into a narrow void never previously accessed.

Moments later, the control room reportedly went silent.

Marty Lagina, who was overseeing the dig, was the first to notice what one operator called a “structured anomaly”—a smooth, geometric object embedded in the chamber wall, sitting nearly 32 meters below the surface.

The object, described in leaked internal notes as “a metallic formation with precise angular cuts,” did not resemble any known artifact recovered on the island in the past six decades.

According to one source, the object appeared to vibrate lightly when the camera approached, causing interference on the video feed.

Although the recording has not been publicly released, a technician who reviewed the footage that day claimed the object “looked manufactured, but not by any civilization we’ve studied.”

In an on-site microphone recording captured before the feed was allegedly cut, Marty Lagina can be heard saying, “That’s not right… that shouldn’t be here.

” A few seconds later, he instructs the team to pull the probe back immediately.

The crew attempted a second scan roughly an hour later, but during that attempt, seismic sensors positioned around the Garden Shaft recorded a sudden, localized tremor.

The ground above the chamber reportedly shifted by nearly five centimeters, prompting safety officers to halt all activity.

Although minor tremors are not unheard of on the island due to shifting groundwater and unstable tunnels, the timing of the movement raised immediate concerns.

Filming was suspended for the remainder of the day.

By the following morning, officials from Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources arrived unexpectedly on the island.

Multiple eyewitnesses say they conducted an independent assessment of the chamber and quietly confiscated all digital recordings related to the anomaly.

No explanation was given to the crew, but the officials ordered the Garden Shaft sealed until further notice.

Three days later, Marty Lagina informed the team he would be stepping back indefinitely.

According to close colleagues, Lagina had been unusually shaken after rewatching the restricted footage.

A longtime engineer and rational skeptic, he reportedly felt the discovery “crossed a line between archaeology and something else.

” In a private conversation recalled by one crew member, he said, “I came here for history.

I didn’t come here for this.”

His brother and co-lead, Rick Lagina, has not commented publicly on the nature of the discovery but acknowledged the emotional impact of Marty’s decision.

“He’s always been the grounded one,” Rick said during a brief statement on September 2.

“If he feels something isn’t right, we listen.”

Since then, speculation has spread quickly across fan forums.

Some argue the object may be an unknown colonial-era tool, a collapsed support beam, or a naturally formed mineral deposit mistaken for something alien.

Others claim the government’s swift involvement indicates the discovery was more extraordinary than officials are willing to admit.

Adding further fuel to the theories, satellite images from late August show restricted zones around the southeastern quadrant of the island—an area that has historically housed the Garden Shaft and its branching tunnels.

Security personnel have reportedly been stationed near the access points, though provincial authorities deny that any such presence is related to the Oak Island dig.

As of now, neither the production team nor provincial officials have confirmed whether Season Thirteen will continue without Marty Lagina.

For the first time in years, the fate of the project feels uncertain.

The mystery at the bottom of the Garden Shaft remains sealed—physically and bureaucratically—and those who witnessed the discovery firsthand maintain that the object found there may rewrite more than just Oak Island history.

One crewmember put it bluntly: “This wasn’t treasure.

This was a message.

And Marty understood that before any of us.”

If Season Twelve was meant to bring closure to the world’s most famous treasure hunt, it may instead have opened the most unsettling chapter yet.