▁that ▁the ▁pit ▁could ▁have ▁been ▁d ug ▁by ▁ex iled ▁Kn ights ▁Tem pl ar ▁and ▁might ▁be ▁the ▁final ▁rest ing ▁place ▁of ▁the ▁Holy ▁Gra il ▁or ▁the ▁Ark ▁of ▁the ▁C oven ant . ▁ ▁Another ▁theory ▁holds ▁that ▁the ▁Ros ic ru ci ans ▁and ▁their ▁reported ▁leader , ▁Francis ▁Ba con , ▁organized ▁a ▁secret ▁project ▁to ▁make ▁Oak ▁Island ▁the ▁home ▁of ▁its ▁legend ary ▁v ault ▁with ▁ingen ious ▁means ▁to ▁conce al ▁ancient ▁manuscript s ▁and ▁artifact s . ▁Research ers ▁and ▁crypt ograph ers ▁such ▁as ▁Pet ter ▁Am und sen ▁and ▁Daniel ▁R onn st am ▁claim ▁to ▁have ▁found ▁codes ▁hidden ▁in ▁Shakespeare , ▁rock ▁form ations ▁on ▁the ▁island , ▁and ▁cl ues ▁hidden ▁in ▁other ▁ 1 6 th - ▁and ▁ 1 7 th - century ▁art ▁and ▁historical ▁documents . ▁According ▁to ▁Daniel ▁R onn st am , ▁the ▁stone ▁found ▁at ▁ ▁contains ▁a ▁dual ▁ci pher ▁created ▁by ▁Ba con . ▁ ▁Other ▁theories ▁Author ▁Joy ▁Ste ele ▁suggests ▁that ▁the ▁money ▁pit ▁is ▁actually ▁a ▁tar ▁kil n ▁d ating ▁to ▁the ▁historical ▁period ▁when ▁" O ak ▁Island ▁served ▁as ▁a ▁tar - making ▁location ▁as ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁British ▁naval ▁stores ▁industry ". ▁When ▁marine ▁bi ologist ▁Barry ▁F ell ▁attempted ▁to ▁have ▁the ▁symbols ▁on ▁the ▁stone ▁translated ▁during ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 7 0 s , ▁he ▁said ▁that ▁the ▁symbols ▁res emble d ▁the ▁Co ptic ▁alphabet ▁and