HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / REALITY TV

Did Vikings reach Nova Scotia? 'The Curse of Oak Island' team slammed for 'wacko theories' linking Templar Knights and Vikings to Nova Scotia

Professor Adriano Gaspani, an archaeoastronomer, assured the cast of 'The Curse of Oak Island' that the stone cairns were constructed by the Templar Knights

NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA: During the most recent episode of 'The Curse of Oak Island,' the lads discover that the Templar Knights erected the stone piles discovered on Lot 15, providing evidence that the medieval order existed on the island in the 13th century. As viewers see the Lagina brothers grow more convinced that some significant human activity happened on the island in the 13th century, they appear to have some reservations about the notion, which may have led to the existence of Vikings in Nova Scotia at the time.

The men hypothesize that these people were pre-Colombus Europeans from the medieval Order of Templar Knights. Last week, Rick Lagina decided it was time to hire archaeoastronomer Professor Adriano Gaspani to study if the stone cairns on Lot 15 were created in accordance with the stars.

Adriano hoped to be able to tell who manufactured them and when. This week, Adriano boldly told the men that the stone cairns were created by the Templar Knights.

If genuine, this may totally alter North American history and could lead to the discovery of ancient Christian treasures such as the Ark of the Covenant on Oak Island, which has many followers skeptical. Rick, his brother Marty Lagina, Craig Tester, and the rest of the crew met with Adriano via video conference in the war room.

Nolan's Cross is also somewhat related to this hypothesis. On X, viewers found the latest finding all over the place as they write, "Well, well, well. That was another freak show of an episode. Wacko theories. The return of the Adze. Vikings. Templars. We are all over the place." Another user chimed in, "Laird and Emma are biting their tongues over the Templar / Vikings connection." 

One user asked, "So perhaps we could have... Templar Vikings???" A fourth user took a jab at the theory saying, "The Egyptians built the treasure vault for the Vikings."

One quipped, "Templars and Vikings, what a party!" Anotheer joined in on the fun, "History: The Vikings are their own people and have nothing to do with others. History Channel show:" 

Some joked, "VIKINGS and TEMPLARS? Why not toss in the MINNESOTA VIKINGS?"

Rick Lagina presumes significant activity happened on Oak Island in 1200s

Archaeoastronomy is a scientific subject that studies how ancient stone structures were constructed to coordinate with stars or other celestial objects. The Great Pyramid of Giza and Stonehenge are two well-known instances of this.

Archaeoastronomers like Adriano can date the construction of these monuments by observing how they match with modern stars. Last year, Adriano told Rick that Nolan's Cross was most likely erected about 1200 AD.

Last week, Rick proposed that Adriano works on two more stone structures: the stone triangle on the south beach and the stone cairns, popularly known as the pirate piles, on Lot 15. The stone triangle contained beach stones that purportedly pointed to the original Money Pit, but were unfortunately destroyed in the 1960s.

The cairns are made up of five pyramid-shaped structures that point toward the marsh. Rick wants to give Adriano the coordinates of both of these stone features so he can figure out if they were aligned with the stars and when they were erected.

Rick Lagina visited Italy to see once-forts for the Knights Templar

In 2022, Rick and team members visited a number of places in Italy that were formerly strongholds for the Knights Templar, a medieval order of military monks who, according to some, made multiple excursions to Oak Island between the 12th and 17th centuries to hide rare holy relics.

During their tour, they examined a variety of carved symbols discovered on and surrounding Oak Island throughout the years, as well as visited with Adriano about Nolan's Cross, a megalithic monument of six stones discovered by Fred Nolan in 1981. According to Adriano's 40 years of experience in archaeoastronomy, the rocks in Nolan's Cross were strategically placed on Oak Island to line up with specific stars in the night sky.

Furthermore, by researching the historical locations of certain stars, he was able to estimate the time period when they were built. Adriano has prepared a report on the possible origins of other megalithic stone formations discovered on Oak Island over the last two centuries, including the remains of five pyramid-shaped stone piles on Lot 15 that were first documented by Fred in the 1960s, and the stone triangle, which was unfortunately destroyed by searcher activities in 1965.

What did Professor Adriano Gaspani's report say?

Similar to Nolan's Cross, Adriano believes that the five stone heaps on Lot 15 were built long ago to align with certain stars, including the sun, as well as the moon's location in the night sky. Therefore, by calculating how long ago the piles' locations were exactly aligned with those stars in reference to the position of the moon, he may estimate when the piles were formed.

Adriano presented the Oak Island crew with an incredible scientific report in the war room. He thinks that Nolan's Cross and the five stone heaps, or cairns, on Lot 15 were built by the same group of individuals over 800 years ago.

As Adriano alluded to in The Templar Order, this might explain why the crew has discovered several engravings in historic Templar strongholds around Europe, including on Oak Island. Could it explain who built the paved area in the marsh, as well as Nolan's Cross, the stone cairns on Lot 15, and the stone triangle?

It might also determine who is responsible for the high-trace evidence of gold, silver, and other metals discovered at the Money Pit location. 

‘The Curse of Oak Island’ drops new episodes at 9 pm ET on the official History Channel.