West Point recently opened a lead time capsule that’s been sealed for nearly 200 years. Believed to have been placed in 1828, there was much fanfare in finding out just what was left by our ancestors. Would there be letters from history? Washington’s dentures? A copy of the original Declaration of Independence? Rumor has it that Nic Cage was in the bushes waiting to steal it if there were.
Well…taking a cue from Geraldo…they found it empty except for dust and dirt. From Army Times;
The tension Monday in West Point’s Robinson Auditorium could be cut with a knife. A nearly 200-year-old lead time capsule sat center stage in a room brimming with anxious onlookers, its sealed lid slowly prying open as an archaeologist slid a gleaming blade from one side to the other.
A symphony of whispers and nervous laughter reached a crescendo as the surgeon’s tool approached its final cut. Inside the box’s mysterious one square foot of space could be anything — personal tokens of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, under whose monument the capsule was found, antiquated medals or coins, human remains, even a Christmastime leg lamp to proudly display in one’s bay window.
With one last incision, the lid wiggled free. The archaeologist reached for a flashlight, the cube’s dark interior preserving its final moments of secrecy. Top officers, senior historians, libraries, archivists and museum curators leaned forward, the oxygen in the room suddenly in short supply.
“Silt,” the archaeologist said. Just silt.
In what could either be the most dazzling illustration of an anticlimactic “hurry up and wait” gathering or one of the best pranks in military history — perhaps both — the culmination of a centuries-old mystery at the U.S. Military Academy amounted to little more than some dirt.
“The box didn’t quite meet expectations,” the container’s glove- and mask-clad handler said, sheepishly, as the auditorium’s tension swiftly relented to profound awkwardness. “Potentially, it was something small and organic that may have come apart over time, but we’re just not certain.”
The cube, which in recent months became the subject of numerous announcements, an unsealing save-the-date video and a YouTube livestream, was discovered during renovations earlier this year in the base of the campus’ Thaddeus Kosciuszko monument. The shrine stands as an homage to the Polish general and engineer who helped strengthen American defenses during the American Revolutionary War.
X-rays of the box conducted by the institution’s Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering after its discovery were inconclusive, the academy said, adding to the intrigue of Monday’s sediment-rich unveiling. The lead object is believed to have been placed there in 1828, just 26 years after the academy was founded.
“This time capsule is truly a unique discovery, and we are excited to open it and see what the cadets left us nearly two centuries ago,” U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland said ahead of Monday’s deflating unveiling. “The capsule’s contents will certainly add to the West Point story and is another example of past generations of cadets gripping hands with present and future generations.”
Academy staff said they expect to sift through the silt and will research a marking on the underside of the container’s lid in the near future, but for now, it appears as if the container’s contents — and its generational ties — are merely dust in the wind.
I think the answer is obvious. Our Army’s earliest engineers left us a message. It just broke down over the centuries, as things tend to do, so we can’t read it any more. That message? Why it’s the same message soldiers have been leaving us for millennia.
Military version of Al Capone’s vault– paging Geraldo Rivera!
I remember watching the vault opening on my cathode ray tube TV
I rememberl the furnature cabinets those cathode ray tube
TV’s came in. Hell, you could have buried Al in one.
Did you have that little square record player with the round record holder adapter that fit those 45RPM records and a bunch of those round plastic discs that fit in the 45 record hole???
Perhaps the original copy of FM 21-20 self-destructed?
That right there is the definitive picture of the term “Army wide”.
Broad spectrum.
High bandwidth.
If given the command “Rear, March!” she’d beep.
We know what happened to Violet Beauregard now.
Yeah, the bitch in the photo ate her.
It said don’t allow women to vote unless they get to be drafted.
Clintin’s server data?
I didn’t know you could xray lead.
And if they did would they have kept a lid on it?
If Superman knew that, how come the X-ray techs didn’t know that. Up Up and away.
Hard tack from the mess hall. Somebody laid a bet that it would still be hard and inedible 200 years later. Don’t they look silly now?
Murphy’s Law strikes again.
“Silt,” the archaeologist said. Just silt.”
No, he said “Shit”.
It was the original GO ARMY BEAT NAVY poster. And just like Navy’s hopes for victory in future contests, it turned to dust.
“Note from Class of 1828…All General Officers Can Get Fucked”
We are trying to reach you about your wagon’s extended warranty.
Looks like the Army put more effort into this than things like, oh, lets see…lethality, pay raises, safety, family issues, addressing food shortages, etc.
And yet another Nothingburger.
I hope at least they had a transgender, minority cadet do the honors.
That marking on the inside of the lid? It says “Psyche!”
KIllRoy was here!
Killroy was here!
It could have been worse
Like how bad? (Asking fer a friend, ya know… )
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AlienatedIndolentBaiji-size_restricted.gif
Not bad if you don’t look according to Dr Jones
True.
Universe Symbolically Making (an) Analogy
Unbelievably Satirical Metakarmic Assplay
Useless Sanctimony Manufacturing Atrophy
U Such Much Ah-nüss
Such = Suck
Undiagnosed Subversives Masticating America
Unctuous Suck-ups Massaging Avarice
It was a crude drawing of a hand, index finger and thumb tips touching with the remaining fingers extended, similar to the (now racist, apparently) “ok” sign but with fingers pointed downward.
Gazer.
Surprised it wasn’t a piece of paper with 1820s dick graffiti on it.
That would be at the Naval Academy. It was very difficult to draw “Ocean Penises (Penii?) with a sailing ship.
In reality, the Cadet above was looking at his career….
Or a huge, steaming pile (formerly) of Phil Monkress.
The cadets probably were initially going to leave a fine claret or Madeira. But, being Engineers, they drank the wine and buried an empty box! Essayons and well played, boys…🍾🍷
It was full of artifacts from people who would eventually go Confederate. The “eradicate it all” crowd got to the capsule before Geraldo could and turned it to silt. Shhh.
We might be jumping the gun Found this online
This photo, provided by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Aug. 30, 2023, shows West Point archeologist Paul Hudson display an 1800 Draped Bust Dollar, one of the coins found in the lead box believed to have been placed in the base of a monument by cadets almost two centuries ago, in West Point, NY. The nearly 200-year-old West Point time capsule, that appeared to yield little more than dust when it was opened during a disappointing livestream earlier this week, contained hidden treasure after all, the U.S. Military Academy said Wednesday. (U.S. Military Academy at West Point via AP)
© Provided by The Associated Press
A
nearly 200-year-old West Point time capsule that appeared to yield little more than dust when it was opened during a disappointing livestream contained hidden treasure after all, the U.S. Military Academy said Wednesday.
It was just more hidden than expected.
The lead box believed to have been placed by cadets in the base of a monument actually contained six silver American coins dating from 1795 to 1828 and a commemorative medal, West Point said in a news release. All were discovered in the sediment of the box, which at Monday’s ceremonial opening at the New York academy appeared to be its only contents.
What did survive were a 1795 5-cent coin, an 1800 Liberty dollar, 1818 25-cent coin, 10-cent and 1-cent coins from 1827, and an 1828 50-cent coin. There was also an Erie Canal commemorative medal dating to 1826.
I need the 1795 Half Dime, and 1800 Dollar, To fill out my US Type Coin collection.
Nice!
That’s typical media jump-the-gun reporting there.
Maybe naval Acadamy cadets stole the contents…
I can guaranteeeeee the participating Navy boys had a grand ceremony, burying the capsule with tender words of faithful commitments to their brethren Army compatriots, promising that when the box is opened in, say, 125 years, the contents within will prove the grace, love, and enduring brotherhood among the all powerful military branches of the United States.
It’s the 1825 equivalent of a Bronx Cheer 😝