A newly uncovered iron object surrounded by centuries-old artifacts on Oak Island’s Lot 5 has sparked excitement and suspicion, suggesting a long-hidden worksite that could finally explain who built the legendary Money Pit and leaving researchers stunned as the island’s greatest mystery shifts in a dramatic new direction.

For the first time in years, researchers on Nova Scotia’s infamous Oak Island believe they may be standing on the edge of a discovery capable of reshaping everything previously assumed about the island’s enduring treasure mystery.

During a survey conducted in early October 2025 on Lot 5—an area long overshadowed by the legendary Money Pit—a team led by longtime researcher Rick Lagina uncovered a buried iron object surrounded by fragments of seventeenth-century glass and pottery.

The combination of materials, depth, and context suggests not a random deposit, but the remains of a structured, intentional workspace that may predate the colonial era.

The find occurred approximately half a mile from the Money Pit zone, in what crew members describe as “quiet, undisturbed ground.

” Early geophysical imaging revealed an anomaly roughly eight feet below the surface—an anomaly distinct in shape and density from nearby natural deposits.

“It’s heavy, it’s old, and it wasn’t dropped here by accident,” metal-detection expert Gary Drayton said at the scene.

Using a combination of sonar and a handheld detector, Drayton pinpointed the iron mass and signaled for the archaeological team to begin excavation.

Within the first hour of digging, pottery shards appeared—thick, curved fragments in a mottled cream color that analysts believe may date to the mid-1600s.

Soon after, a piece of dark green bottle glass, hand-blown and bubbled with age, surfaced in a clump of soil barely two feet from the initial pottery.

“These items don’t belong in random fill,” archaeologist Miriam Collins explained.

“This type of assemblage suggests an activity zone.

People were working here.”

The iron object itself was unearthed the following afternoon.

Workers exposed the top of a rectangular, heavily corroded iron piece measuring nearly three feet across.

While corrosion prevents immediate identification, early speculation ranges from a structural bracket to the remains of a storage chest.

Drayton, known for his dramatic on-site reactions, told the crew, “This is one of the heaviest, deepest iron hits I’ve ever followed up on Oak Island—and it’s sitting in the middle of a clue cluster we’ve never fully understood.”

Those nearby artifacts include a lead shot found in 2023, a small stone alignment discovered in 2024, and a previously unexplained circular soil depression that some researchers theorized might be the remains of a turret-like structure.

With Lot 5 now revealing signs of human activity predating much of the known settlement era, the working theory is shifting: perhaps the Money Pit was not the primary installation, but rather the vault—while Lot 5 served as the operational hub for those who built it.

Rick Lagina acknowledged this possibility during an on-site briefing.

“For two centuries, everyone focused on the Money Pit.

But we’ve always suspected the island’s story is larger than one feature.

Lot 5 may be where the people behind all of this worked, lived, or staged their operation.”

That “operation” has long been the subject of heated debate, ranging from pirate caches to Spanish bullion routes and, most controversially, to the medieval Knights Templar.

While no physical evidence has yet linked any Oak Island discovery directly to the Templars, small hints—early European artifacts, carved symbols, unusual construction patterns—have kept the theory alive.

The Lot 5 discovery, positioned just meters from previously documented clues with possible European ties, has rekindled that conversation across the research team and the broader fan community.

The excavation is still in a controlled-dig status.

Teams are using brushes, small trowels, and vacuum units to carefully expose the iron object without damaging its structure.

Artifact recovery specialists from Halifax have taken soil samples for analysis, hoping to confirm the age and origin of the surrounding materials.

A preliminary report is expected later this month, though researchers caution that identifying the object itself may take far longer.

Meanwhile, Oak Island’s global audience is reacting with renewed intensity.

Online forums have erupted with speculation.

Some fans interpret the find as confirmation that a hidden workshop once operated on the island, potentially linked to European groups exploring or protecting valuable items.

Others argue the discovery could point to early colonial activity unrelated to treasure.

However, even skeptics acknowledge the unusual concentration of artifacts discovered in the past three years specifically on Lot 5.

Marty Lagina, always more cautious than his brother, offered a measured response during a recorded discussion.

“We’ve had exciting finds before.

Some led somewhere, some didn’t.

But this one—this one feels structured.

It feels intentional.

That’s what gets my attention.”

As excavation continues, the Oak Island team expects to survey adjacent ground to determine whether the Lot 5 feature connects to a larger system.

If further structural evidence appears—posts, stone footings, additional ironwork—it may confirm that this quiet patch of land wasn’t merely part of the island’s natural terrain, but a critical component of whatever operation carved its mark into Oak Island centuries ago.

For now, the discovery stands as one of the most intriguing developments in recent years, inviting new questions about what secrets remain buried beneath Lot 5—and whether the answers finally lie just beyond the shadows of the Money Pit.