Now, on the centenary of the 1917 revolution, time capsules are being opened everywhere - cheerful messages to descendants that were laid by enthusiastic Soviet citizens.
Although the fashion for such greetings from the "bright past" existed not only in the Soviet Union. In the 20th century, this was a craze in many countries: handwritten letters addressed to people of the future, newspaper clippings, memorable photographs, and the like were placed in boxes or boxes. Most often they were buried somewhere or poured with concrete in the hope that descendants would find the "treasure".
However, sometimes, instead of solemn greetings from the past, gloomy messages are found in capsules. From strange prophecies to corpses: today we will tell you about the most unusual and creepy finds that were found in time capsules by the inhabitants of the "bright future".
"I'm Dead:" Ghost Boy Scary Letter
In the summer of 2016, during construction work at a school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a 1968 time capsule was discovered. In a glass bottle there were letters from elementary school students. This has been practiced throughout the country for many years. Typically, students' letters contain many fantasies about the future. For example, about flying cars.
However, this time the content of one of the messages attracted close attention. Judging by the signature, it was written by a boy named Greg Lee Youngman. However, information about him has not yet been found. There is no data on such a student in the school archives. The text looks even weirder and more frightening:
Promotional video:
"I'm dead. I go to Montgomery School. This is the old name of the school. I was born in 1900. But now I'm dead. My favorite pastime is scaring the police. I play guitar. This is a string board in case you don't know. I am 10 years old. See you later, savages."
The frightening message could have been a dark joke from one of the students. Local journalists tried to find the mysterious boy or those who knew him, but their search was unsuccessful.
Dark greetings from psychiatrists of the past
In 2015, workers stumbled upon a time capsule abandoned by 1950s psychiatrists in an abandoned mental hospital in Indiana, USA. Inside were films recorded by doctors back in 1958. On the footage, experts of the last century talked about the bright prospects for electroconvulsive therapy, and also thought about how to effectively treat psychosis through artificial insulin shock.
Of course, it is easy to understand the desire of psychiatrists of that time to share their experience with colleagues from the future, but in modern times such methods of treatment cause nervous tremors and only confirm the difficult path of development of psychiatry.
Time capsule in the form of a bomb causes a commotion in Manhattan
And this surprise from the past has completely harmless content, albeit a frightening form. It was discovered in early July 2017 during renovations in Manhattan. Emergency services and sappers were called to the scene, and evacuation was carried out in nearby buildings. Soon, however, experts established that the found object, which outwardly resembled a bomb from the Second World War, poses no danger. As it turned out, a time capsule with a message to descendants was camouflaged under the bomb. More than 30 years ago, as a joke, the owner of the then popular Danceteria club buried it in the ground.
In the 80s of the last century, Danceteria was one of the iconic places in New York. It has featured such stars as Madonna, Billy Idol and Duran Duran. Entrepreneur John Argento, the former owner of the club, admitted that in 1985 he bought a dummy bomb in one of the New York military stores, collected “messages to the future” from club visitors in it for three weeks, and then buried it in front of the entrance to the institution.
“It was a bit of a joke. We thought someday someone would dig up this thing and think it was an unexploded bomb. Buried and forgotten - went to the next party."
The police carefully examined the contents of the capsule (only letters and photographs were found inside), and then handed it over to the ex-owner of the nightclub.
"The Islamic Threat and the Rise of China": Aussie Jokingly Writes Very True Prophecies
In the summer of 2017, a Sydney resident accidentally found a "time letter" under a tile in a bathroom wall. The plastic capsule, which contained photographs and a letter with amazing prophecies, was walled up in the wall 22 years ago by a former resident of this house. The content of the letter accurately described many global events in the modern world.
Greg Wilkinson wrote his message on Easter Sunday 1995. First, he told the details of his biography and indicated the state of affairs and the cost of FMCG at the time of writing, and then moved on to predictions for the future.
According to his forecast, in the future China was to become a semi-democratic state, reach the level of a superpower and become the main partner of the United States. It is interesting that in 1995 China was behind many countries in terms of the size of the economy, and now it has risen to second place in the world. Among Greg's predictions are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also wrote that the growing Islamic radicalism will become a global problem that will develop into a big war, which will end only when "both sides realize that their God does not want to continue it."
Journalists managed to find Greg Wilkinson, who is now 61 years old. After writing the letter, he argued with his wife when it would be found, he said. He himself was inclined to believe that the letter would be found closer to 2060, and his wife pointed to 2020.
Greetings from Auschwitz: a message from the death camp prisoners
In 2009, during construction work to demolish one of the buildings that were part of the Auschwitz concentration camp system, a bottle with a note signed by seven prisoners was found. The bottle was walled up in the wall of a building that housed warehouses used by guards at the death camp during World War II.
In a note written in pencil on a label from under a bag of cement and placed in a glass bottle, the names and surnames of the prisoners - six Poles and one Frenchman, their personal numbers and place - the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Auschwitz - are given.
“Everyone is between the ages of 18 and 20,” says the note, which was handed over to the concentration camp prisoners museum.
In 1940-1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest Nazi concentration camp, where people were massacred. The exact number of those killed in Auschwitz is still unknown, since before the Red Army attacked, the Nazis destroyed all the documentation of the camp, and before leaving Auschwitz they carried out mass executions of prisoners.
It is believed that millions of people died in the camp: some were tortured and poisoned in the gas chambers, others died of hunger and as a result of medical experiments.
Dead brothers of Peter Pan
In 2010, an American woman discovered a travel chest in the basement of her Los Angeles apartment building that looked like it was at least 80 years old. At first, the woman was very happy, but when she opened the time capsule, her enthusiasm instantly disappeared.
Inside were newspapers and junk from the 1930s, several books about the adventures of Peter Pan, a fan club membership card for this wonderful children's tale, and some Peter Pan-themed mementos. However, the most "striking" contents of the box turned out to be the embalmed bodies of two babies wrapped in newspaper.
The most interesting thing is that the name of Janet M. Berry was engraved on the box, which is strikingly consonant with J. M. Berry - the name of the author of the beloved book. This finding caused a great resonance, the police even carried out DNA analysis. However, experts did not reveal any relationship between the writer and the corpses in the basement, so the origin of the "dead brothers of Peter Pan" remains a mystery.
Weird sticky find in the garden: curse or blessing?
In 2016, a Costa Rican Reddit user dug up a strange object in his backyard, which was a tightly closed metal container. At first he thought it was money, drugs, or an ordinary message to descendants from people who once lived here. But when he opened the vessel, it seemed to him that he was in some strange horror movie. The container was filled to the brim with the sweet-smelling thick, sticky liquid in which the photograph was floating.
Many Latin Americans believe in brucheria, a special form of magic that uses natural elements. Therefore, the Costa Rican was sure that his find was associated with some kind of magical ritual. When the owner of the house came, he told his tenant that the woman in the photograph lived in this house about 15 years ago. He also suggested that she was a victim of corruption or curse. Then they decided to immediately burn the strange find.
However, some commenters on the Reddit post stated that it may not have been corruption at all. Judging by the sweet smell of the contents in the jar, it could have been honey, and the ritual itself was carried out rather for a blessing, in order to "sweeten the life" of the couple shown in the photograph.
Conserved Parisian apartment as a time capsule
The next message from the past is different from the rest. This spacious apartment in Paris, full of dust-covered personal belongings, exquisite furniture and art, has been untouched since 1939. When you look at this interior, you get the impression that a time machine transported you to another era. Discovered in Paris in 2010, the luxurious apartments have remained untouched for seven decades.
The owner of the apartment, a French actress, fled Paris at the very beginning of World War II and never returned there. For 70 years, she continued to pay the rent for the apartment, but did not tell any of her relatives about her. Relatives learned about abandoned housing after the death of a woman at the age of 91.
The experts described all the property in the apartment, among which many personal items were found, such as hair brushes and letters. In addition to them, other interesting objects were discovered: a life-size stuffed ostrich or Mickey Mouse. The media dubbed the unusual apartment a "time capsule".
“One gets the feeling that we were in the Sleeping Beauty Castle, where time stood still more than a hundred years ago,” admitted the auctioneer Olivier Chopin-Janvy, who performed the autopsy of the apartment.
Everything around was as if frozen - at one moment the experts seemed to step into the past. The air was filled with dust and spider webs were everywhere. A heavy dressing table and curtains, huge mirrors completely in curls, ornate armchairs - all this transfers not even to the beginning of the 1940s, but to the beginning of the 20th century.
Eyes and nails in a teapot: hello from the Japanese at the Expo 70 Capsule
In 1970, electronics giant Panasonic built a capsule kettle in Osaka, Japan, which was supposed to remain closed for 5,000 years. The main container was filled with a blanket of inert argon gas to protect the contents, but the project leaders also built a second, "control" capsule, which will be periodically opened, inspected and cleaned to help keep the project alive.
The first discovery of one of the most famous time capsules in the world took place in 2000, and the rest will take place at intervals of 100 years. In total, each capsule contains a cargo of 2,098 culturally significant objects. If the two capsules from recent world history survive before the scheduled opening date in 6970 AD, their future owners will find an extensive collection of films, seeds and microorganisms, as well as glass eyes and blackened nails of survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing in Hiroshima.