Cooper's Treasure

Man: THIS LIFTOFF MARKED THE BEGINNING

OF GORDON COOPER'S 22-ORBIT FLIGHT.

SPACE IS BEING EXPLORED FOR THE BENEFIT OF MANKIND.

Darrell: AFTER HIS MERCURY FLIGHT, GORDON WENT BACK INTO SPACE

AND TOOK THOUSANDS OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BAHAMAS,

AND THEY ALL LINE UP WITH THE CHART

THAT GORDON GAVE MY DAD AND I.

GOING IN!

THIS IS GORDON'S LIST OF 11 WRECKS.

YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH SILVER THAT IS?

WE'RE LEAVING NOW.

WE COULD ACTUALLY BE ON THE TRAIL

TO ONE OF GORDON'S MOTHER LODES.

-I HAVE SOMETHING HERE. -OH, YEAH!

WE COULD BE LOOKING AT AT LEAST 45 TONS OF TREASURE.

WHOO-HOO!

-LET'S ROLL. -LET'S GO.

I'VE GOT 8 WEEKS, AND EVERYTHING IS RIDING ON IT.

I CAN'T FAIL THIS MISSION.

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

AFTER MAKING HIS OBSERVATIONS FROM SPACE,

GORDON CAME RIGHT HERE TO THE BAHAMAS

TO FOLLOW UP ON HIS FINDS.

Cooper: THE GROUND READING ON PRESSURE IS 1-3-5-0...

Darrell: BUT BACK IN THE DAY WHEN GORDON WAS DIVING

ON THESE VERY SITES,

IT WAS A DIFFERENT WORLD.

TODAY, WE HAVE SATELLITE IMAGERY AND GPS COORDINATES.

BACK THEN, GORDON WAS THE SATELLITE.

IF GORDON HAD THE TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE TODAY,

HE WOULD HAVE FOUND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS

WORTH OF TREASURE BY NOW.

THIS IS WHY I'M REVISITING THE SAME SITES.

I'M DOING IT WITH THE TECHNOLOGY THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE.

I BROUGHT MYSELF A FLEET OF SHIPS,

STATE-OF-THE-ART EQUIPMENT AND INSTRUMENTS.

IT'S STILL NOT EASY.

I'VE GOT OVER 200 SQUARE MILES OF OCEAN,

INCLUDING 500 YEARS OF HURRICANES AND STORMS

BREAKING UP THE SHIPWRECKS THAT WE'RE FINDING,

BUT I AM OUT HERE TO FINISH WHAT HE STARTED.

WE'RE FOLLOWING A TRAIL OF ARTIFACTS

HOPING THAT IT WILL LEAD US TO ONE OF THE SHIPWRECKS

ON GORDON'S LIST OF 11,

AND WE JUST MADE OUR FIRST BIG FIND.

THIS CANNON MATCHES UP WITH ONE OF GORDON'S ILLUSTRATIONS

WHERE HE ACTUALLY DRAWS A CANNON, BALLAST PILE,

AND SEVERAL WRECK SITES.

IF IT'S FROM A PERIOD THAT MATCHES

ANY OF THE TREASURE WRECKS ON GORDON'S LIST OF 11,

IT COULD BE THE FIRST STEP IN FINDING ONE OF THESE SHIPS.

I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THIS THING BACK UP ON DECK

TO FIND OUT HOW OLD IT IS,

WHAT IT'S MADE OF, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY,

IF IT'S FROM ONE OF THE SHIPWRECKS

ON GORDON'S LIST OF 11.

Perna: READY TO DEPLOY THE MAG, JIM?

YEAH.

WHILE DARRELL AND ERIC ARE DIVING ON OUR LAST MAG HIT,

MIKE AND I ARE OUT SURVEYING FOR NEW TARGETS.

BEAUTIFUL BOTTOM, JUST NOT SEEING ANY TARGETS.

LOVE TO SEE A WHOLE PILE OF SHIPWRECK LAYING RIGHT THERE.

JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE A GENERAL COORDINATES,

IT'S NOT AS EASY AS JUST GOING OUT THERE

AND JUMPING RIGHT ON THE SITE.

I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, JIM.

WE RAN A LOT OF LANES OUT HERE, JUST NOT SEEING NOTHING.

WELL, STARBOARD?

SURE AS HOPE THEY'RE FINDING SOMETHING OVER THERE.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE MAGNETOMETER IS NOT FINDING ANYTHING,

SO WE NEED TO MOVE ON.

WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING ON.

COME ON, DARRELL.

THIS OBJECT HAS BEEN UNDERWATER FOR 300 OR 400 YEARS,

AND IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO BRING IT UP

WITHOUT DAMAGING IT AT ALL.

Darrell: ANY DAMAGE TO A CANNON, AND THE VALUE GOES DOWNHILL.

THAT CANNON IS BADASS.

CABLE UP.

HERE, LET YOURS DOWN A LITTLE BIT.

YEAH.

ALL RIGHT.

HELL YEAH!

WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?

WHOO-HOO!

REAL BADASS CANNON, REAL NICE SWIVEL GUN.

DUDES, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS.

I LOVE IT.

THE CANNON IS NEAR THE REST OF THE WRECKAGE LINE

THAT WE'VE BEEN FOLLOWING, AND THAT'S GREAT NEWS.

IF WE CAN DETERMINE WHAT KIND OF VESSEL IT CAME FROM,

WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO MATCH WHAT WRECK IT IS ON GORDON'S LIST

AND WHERE THE REST OF IT WENT.

THESE WERE DECK GUNS.

THESE WERE BASICALLY PERSONNEL GUNS.

WHEN THE BOATS GOT CLOSE TO EACH OTHER,

THEY'D START FIRING THOSE, CLEAR THE DECK.

IT FIRES A SMALL CANNONBALL AT THEM.

BUT THEY'LL PACK ANYTHING INTO IN THE DAMN THING.

THEY'LL LOAD THE THING FULL OF FORKS OR WHATEVER IS ON DECK

JUST TO THROW SOMETHING OUT THERE.

THIS CANNON IS AN AMAZING FIND,

BUT IT LEAVES A LOT OF QUESTIONS THAT WE WANT ANSWERED.

IT'S LEADING US THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

WHERE THERE'S THIS, THERE'S MORE.

IT'S A HELL OF A GOOD SIGN, MAN.

YEAH, THIS IS AWESOME.

ARE YOU KIDDING?

WHOO!

WHOO!

AH!

SO WE DROPPED THE BUOY, AND WE FOUND SOMETHING.

NUH-UH.

THAT'S COOL.

REGARDLESS OF WHETHER GORDON GAVE ME HIS CHARTS,

HIS PHOTOS, HIS ILLUSTRATIONS,

TO FIND THIS CANNON IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS ENTIRE OCEAN,

I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW THRILLED I AM.

GOT TO KEEP IT WET.

THE CANNON ABSOLUTELY HAS TO STAY WET.

DO YOU WANT TO SLIDE IT OUT FIRST?

IF YOU TAKE THE CANNON OUT OF THE WATER,

AND IT DRIES OUT, IT'LL START FALLING APART.

-ARE YOU GUYS READY? -YEAH.

CLEAR.

Darrell: THERE'S REALLY A LOT OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS,

BUT PRIORITY NUMBER ONE IS TO CONSERVE IT, PRESERVE IT.

OKAY, MOVE UP.

-GO FOR IT. -BACK.

THAT'S THE MOST WE CAN GET HANDS ON IT.

-LINE COMING TO YOU, RANDY. -WATCH THAT BAG.

-LET HER DOWN SLOW. -YOU CAN LAY IT RIGHT HERE.

-DOWN SLOW. -EASY.

GOOD JOB, GUYS.

THAT'S HISTORY, RIGHT THERE.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE HAPPY.

I MEAN, HOW CAN I NOT BE HAPPY? LOOK AT IT.

Darrell: FIRST THING WE WANT TO DO IS, WE WANT TO SEE

WHETHER IT'S BRONZE OR IRON.

Schmitt: AN IRON CANNON WITH PROPER PROVENANCE

COULD BE WORTH ANYWHERE FROM $10,000 TO $50,000,

DEPENDING ON WHAT SHIPWRECK IT'S FROM.

A BRONZE CANNON COULD FETCH ANYWHERE UP TO $200,000

TO $250,000.

Sinclair: WE'RE ON A RESEARCH VESSEL,

THAT HAS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF EQUIPMENT,

AND RIGHT NOW ALL I NEED IS WHAT'S IN THE PALM OF MY HAND.

SO IT'S IRON.

WELL, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S ONE, THERE ARE TWO, RIGHT?

OH, YEAH, THERE'S GOT TO BE ONE ON EACH SIDE.

TO THE RIGHT BUYER, THIS IRON CANNON IS WORTH UP TO $50,000,

BUT IF WE CAN HELP FIND THE SHIP THAT THIS CANNON CAME FROM,

IT COULD BE WORTH UP TO TWO TIMES MORE.

Sinclair: EVERY PIECE LIKE THIS REPRESENTS, YOU KNOW,

A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT BY WHOEVER OWNED THE SHIP.

THE TIME PERIOD, THOUGH, COULD BE A BIG DEAL.

YEAH, I BELIEVE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT SOMETHING

THAT PROBABLY CAME FROM THE 1700s.

THERE IT IS.

Darrell: NOW, BASED ON THE AGE AND RANGE OF THE ITEMS OF THE WRECKAGE

THAT WE HAVE FOUND SO FAR,

WE COULD BE SITTING ON WRECKS TWO,

THREE, FOUR, SIX OR NINE FROM GORDON'S LIST.

AND BASED ON THE ERA AND TONNAGE OF THE TREASURE

FROM EACH OF THOSE WRECKS,

I THINK WE'RE LOOKING FOR GALLEON-TYPE SHIPS.

THE MORE TREASURE LISTED, THE BIGGER THE BOAT IS LIKELY TO BE.

NOW, PERHAPS A DOUBLE- OR TRIPLE-MAST SHIP

FOR THE LIGHTER LOADS OF 13 TO 19 TONS OF TREASURE,

OR UP TO FOUR-MASTED SHIPS FOR EVEN THE BIGGER PAYLOADS

BETWEEN 25 AND 45 TONS OF TREASURE.

THAT'S WHAT I BELIEVE, AND I THINK WE'RE ON IT.

IT GIVES US A GOOD REASON TO STAY IN THAT AREA

AND REALLY SEARCH IT OUT WELL.

THIS CANNON IS THE BEST FIND THAT WE'VE FOUND SO FAR,

BUT IT'S CREATED MORE QUESTIONS THAN IT HAS ANSWERS.

I NEED TO FIND OUT WHETHER IT'S SPANISH OR ENGLISH.

WHAT I'M HOPING IS THAT IT'S ENGLISH, AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY.

GORDON WROTE THIS LETTER BACK IN 1997,

"THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF A VERBAL ACCOUNT

GIVEN TO ME BY KIP WAGNER, APPROXIMATELY 1966."

HE IS ONE OF THE GRANDFATHERS OF TREASURE HUNTING.

HE'S A BADASS.

"KIP WAGNER WAS FOLLOWING UP ON SOME MUSEUM INFORMATION

RELATING TO THE LOSS OF THE GOLDEN HIND

."

THE GOLDEN HIND WAS THE FLAGSHIP OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE,

ONE OF THE GREATEST BRITISH EXPLORERS OF ALL TIME.

"AFTER EXPLORING THE AREA FOR SOME TIME,

KIP FOUND THE EDGE OF A GOLD OBJECT..."

GOLD OBJECT,

"...PROTRUDING UP OUT OF THE DEBRIS.

HE FINALLY GOT A LINE AROUND IT,

AND UPON WINCHING IT UP ONTO THE BOAT,

HE DISCOVERED THAT IT WAS A SOLID GOLD TABLE,

HEAVILY ENGRAVED WITH SOME STONES INSET.

SINCE HE WAS ON A BORROWED BOAT,

HE DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE AWAY THE LOCATION

UNTIL HE COULD SECURE A LEASE.

HE BUT THE TABLE BACK IN THE DEBRIS AND COVERED IT UP.