When the Astrodome was built in 1963, Houstonians did what all sensible, red-blooded Americans do whenever they break ground on a new building: They buried a time capsule. Unfortunately for those of us here in the 2015, nobody can find it.
According to the Houston Chronicle, even the bomb squad has been enlisted to help find the missing capsule. But searches with ground-penetrating radar have so far revealed nothing. The best guess for where it could be? Underneath a retaining wall behind home plate.
Nobody has a complete list of what’s inside the capsule. But a time capsule’s size is usually the best place to start when guessing. Thankfully, we have the photo above which gives us some hints. Not many hints, mind you, but we can guess that at the very least it has something more than just time capsule staples, like a few coins or some newspaper clippings. All we really know for sure is that it contains items from the consulates of 20 different countries. Which is something, right!?! (Sorry, time capsule nerds are easily excited.)
The Astrodome used to be home to the Houston Astros, but the team moved to Minute Maid Park in 2000. Since then there have been dozens of proposals for what to do with the building, from using it for the 2012 Olympics (which went to London, of course) to renovating it for use as a general convention complex.
At this point it seems more people are just content to tear the Astrodome down. But whether they tear it down or not, we’re holding out hope that they can find that damn capsule. Items from 20 countries, guys!
Image: The burying of the time capsule at the Astrodome construction site, March 27, 1963 via Houston Post, annotated by Andrew Liszewski