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presents numerous interesting l[illiam S. Crookertheories concerning

l'yl"_: not be a treasure. He suggJstsburied "whatt' on Oak Island

""n "iri.i,i'.*uization might

and "why".He does not make any startr- lll:j,'#Ji.fi:iilgil,li:i:

ing revelations or plovide any ihe elaborate ,,money pif'wassound answers but he does in- designed to house the waie.

- dulge in educated speculation Ev-er sinee the money pit wascompelling the reader to con- discovered on the island'in tZg5sider the theories he introduces. .many people have clung to theHg lcarefully examines many [.ji.i thrt ;i16. bottom of thepossibilities, even delving into pit a sreat treasure is to beufology.as he seeks-to-d"rsnel iouna, a treasure skillfullymany pirale myths which have planted there by pirates Mr.long Deen crculatlng. Crooker said. But many people

"I'once went'along with the hae "treasure on their bralns"herd, believing pirates did bury when they're digging and any-treasures beneath Oak Island thing they find they manage to

i but much conflicting evidence attribute to piiates he said.and information have led me to Furthermore the money pitdispel myths about pirates in was' constructed skillfully

Denies evidence shows piratesburied treasure at Oak Island

There is no real evidence thatpirates did bury treasure be-neath enigm4tic Oak Island butif greatriches do fie concealedthere, they are more apt to bethe valuables of a lost civiliza-tion, William S. Crooker said inan interview.

Mr. Crooker, Nova Scotia sur-veyor and engineer recentlycotnpleted a book entitled "TheOak Island Quest" in which he

this book." he said. enough to ensure that anything"If I favof any theory of what buried there would remain so for

may be buried there it's the Lost many generations. Mr. CrookerCivilization theory." . questions why a pirate would

In the 15ffi's when the Incas have buried a treasure so sec-were evacuating their cit ies urelyif hehopedtorecoverit intheyhadtodisposeofvastquan- .his generation: He said it wouldtities of treasures and it seems have taken pirates a mrmber ofplausible to Mr. Crooker that yearstocompletesuchanelabo-Oak Island may have been the rate engineering project.ehosen spot. . "Oaklslandisoneofthegreat

But Mr. Crooker said it may , mysteries of the.world and I do

not think it has received theattention itdeserves. . . Icannothelp ,but think it is somehowlinked with the mysteries of theGreat Pyramids or Easter Is-land," he said.

Mr. Crooker said it could be agteat tourist atttaction but helamented the manner in.whichincessdnt digging has totally de-vastated the island.

"Any topographical re-semblance to its original topog-raphical nature is strictly conin-cidence," he said.

"They are tearing the islandapart," he said. But if the gov-ernment took it over a greattourist attraction eould becreated and it could be one "bigbooming business".

Digging is still underway onthe yr mile long by 7z mile wideisland. Triton Alliance is drillingnear the Site,of the originalmoney pit and Fred Nolan whoowas the middle se.ctioq of theisland continues to drill. ButMrs. Crooker said the troublewith all diggers is thatanyinfor-mation they discover followsthem to the grave. They refuseto tell anyone what they havelearned thinking when they runour of funds they'll eventuallyrenew their resources and con-tinue the search.. The problemMr. Crooker said is they seldomdo corne back.

"People like me only getperioheral information . . . if thegovernment took the island overmaybe people would begin toreveal what they have learnedand the secret of Oak Islandmight slowly dissolve, he said.www.oa

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