AGE AT THE TIME OF INCIDENT:APPROXIMATELY 24 YEARS OLD
BACKGROUND: MR. BLANKENSHIP REPORTS SEEING A STRANGE PHENOMENON JUST OFF-SHORE AT OAK ISLAND AND THEN DISAPPEARING FROM SIGHT.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
TESTIMONY:“Well, one of Dad's partners called Dad and said, "The island's on fire." - On fire, yeah. Sure enough, there's about a 10-15-foot fireball over the water, and it slowly moved onto shore right at Triton Shaft, where we were working at the time. I've never seen anything like that. Nope. But it was like the sun- Flames shooting out of it. See, it was a fireball, and it... Real fire…I don't know. But it's one of the weird things that has happened on the island.”
Mr. Blankenship then proceeds to show where the incident took place. In traveling to the scene of the sighting, he relates that strange occurrences happen in an area of the swamp that is located on the southern part of the Island. While passing the swamp, Mr. Blankenship states that, “Right in here is when it doesn't work.”, referring to various pieces of electrical and mechanical equipment that have malfunctioned at various times during his work on Oak Island.
Oak Island Tours – 1970’s Tour Map
Mr. Blankenship then arrives at the site of the incident at the Triton Shaft at the northeast part of Oak Island. He states this was in the early 1970’s and that he had not been in the area for very long. The informant came to Oak Island from Miami, Florida in 1972 to assist his father, Dan Blankenship, in treasure hunting activities. After being alerted to the fire, Mr. Blankenship was on the mainland and came a little way in from the road to see if there was anything burning from his vantage point.
From the mainland Mr. Blankenship observed the “Fireball” coming right over across the water towards the shoreline on Oak Island. Mr. Blankenship then reports that he races in his truck over to the island which took approximately, “Two Minutes” in his estimation. Upon arriving at the scene, Mr. Blankenship says that the “Fireball” then disappeared and left no visible evidence of it ever being there.
Mr. Blankenship states, “There was no burn mark, no nothing. That, I can't explain. Because I've seen it, and there are two other people that can confirm it. And... nothing.” Mr. Blankenship said he was not scared, but more in disbelief. “I don't know what to think. I mean, you see it, then you get over here and there's nothing. Then you start doubting yourself, whether...did you see it or not?”
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
RELIABILITY OF INFORMANT: Mr. Blankenship has the reputation of being honest and in some descriptions, “brutally” honest. Mr. Blankenship is not one to lie or tell stories that aren’t true. It is not in Mr. Blankenship’s nature to make up stories and try to gain attention by promoting them. Mr. Blankenship is known as a very private person and would not come forward and bring attention to himself if the incident did not happen from his perspective. Mr. Blankenship has related other strange occurrences that have happened on Oak Island during the time he has lived there.
OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONS:Investigators propose that Mr. Blankenship and others merely witnessed an optical illusion that was facilitated by the reflection of sunlight on the water. Investigators also believe that if there was a fire, it may have been from an area of oil or another accelerant that was on the top of the water that was somehow ignited and then extinguished itself when it came to the shoreline.
OFFICIAL CASE STATUS: CLOSED
UNOFFICIAL EXPLANATIONS: There have been reports of Unidentified Flying Objects witnessed in the Oak Island area through time. The most famous occurrence being the 1967 Shag Harbor sighting. Strange objects in the sky were reported in Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Halifax and finally a crash site located offshore near Shag Harbor, Nova Scotia. Although, Mr. Blankenship does not report the “Fireball” was flying in the air but moving across the water.
Another strange phenomenon that has been reportedly sighted in Mahone Bay is the ghost ship called the Young Teazer. Witnesses have reported seeing a strange light in the water that, upon getting close enough to it, appears to be a ghostly apparition of the American Privateer that was sunk in the area during the War of 1812. Although, Mr. Blankenship’s report involves “fire” and something that looks like the “sun” with “flames” coming from it.
New Atlantis – Francis Bacon- “The Scientist”, 1964
Another possibility involves scientific experimentation by Sir Francis Bacon explained in his book, “New Atlantis” page 20. Bacon describes certain scientific inventions by Rosicrucians living on a utopian island in the Pacific Ocean. One of these inventions involved fire. Bacon describes engine houses where new technology was developed.
Bacon writes, “. We represent also ordnance and instruments of war, and engines of all kinds: and likewise new mixtures and compositions of gun-powder, wild-fires burning in water, and unquenchable… We have ships and boats for going under water, and brooking of seas; also swimming-girdles and supporters. We have divers curious clocks, and other like motions of return: and some perpetual motions.”
Although the book is labeled as fiction, it’s conceivable that Bacon was using Oak Island as a location to test and develop some of his new technology that he described in his novel. This “wild-fire burning in water” may have been unwittingly triggered during work on the island.
UNOFFICIAL STATUS OF THE CASE:OPEN WITH INVESTIGATION PENDING
