Divers have been searching Lake Michigan for the wreck of the French ship Le Griffon for years.
One man thinks he's found it, but to be sure he needs help from a high-tech investigative firm in West Michigan.
Using a laser, members of Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence are scanning the wooden beam believed to be from Le Griffon. A laser tracker sends an image of where they're scanning to a computer creating a 3D model of it.
The French vessel arguably sank in the waters of Lake Michigan centuries ago and since the age of 13 it has been Steve Libert's mission to find it.
For the past decade Libert's team has made several Lake Michigan dives on the ship wreck they believe to be the vessel.
Steve Libert with the Great Lakes Exploration group said, "It's a lifelong dream that we always wanted to do. It's the most sought after ship probably one of the most sought after in the world if not the number one in the great lakes."
Now that he believes he has, he's working on proving that this is in fact a piece of Le Griffon through markings on the wood. And that's where hexagon comes in.
"A lot of the stuff we do is a lot of industrial stuff we measure a lot of air planes and cars so this is the first time we've had a chance to scan something historical that might actually have meaning."
"it's really important i think in history it's great going back so many centuries and finding history and treasure."
And they're doing it all for free.
If this does turn out to be "Le Griffon" it will probably be taken to a museum in Houston where it will sit next to its sister ship "La Belle."
