Demolitions crews in Albuquerque, New Mexico just discovered a time capsule from 1968 near a former primary school. And based on the messages discovered inside, some kids of the late 1960s had a pretty creepy vision for the future. Or, perhaps, a creepy vision of their present.
Glass bottle time capsule from 1968 that was discovered in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Screenshot via KQRE)
Some of the letters discovered in the 1968 capsule are, of course, from kids who wrote about their favourite TV shows (Lost in Space) and their favourite bands (The Monkees). But one kid named Greg Lee Youngman wrote about how he’s actually dead. He signed the letter with, “See you later savages.” It reads:
I am dead. I go to Montgomery School. That is the olden school name. I was born 1900. You auto now I dead. My favourite subject is spooking the police. I play the guitar. In case you don’t know what it is, it is board with strings on then. I am 10 years old. See you later savages.
It could not be confirmed by press time whether Greg Lee Youngman was now, in fact, dead. And I suppose it also couldn’t be confirmed by press time whether Youngman was also a ghost who liked playing guitar in 1968.
Whenever kids make time capsules, they’re often told to write messages to the future. This usually gives us a pretty unvarnished perspective on tomorrow in the way that only kids can. Even when kids of the 1960s and ’70s predicted a world of flying cars and jetpacks, they also predicted dystopian governments and not being able to breathe the polluted air. Other times, the kids pretend to be ghosts who were born in 1900 and enjoy “spooking the police”.
Messages written by children in a 1968 time capsule that was discovered in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Screenshot via KQRE)
The building where crews found the time capsule, Montgomery Elementary School, was built in 1955 but became a school district administration building by the 1980s. A number of people, now in their ’50s and ’60s, showed up yesterday, believing that this might be their class time capsule. But lots of people left disappointed that it wasn’t the capsule they created — showing just how many time capsules are buried every year on school grounds all across the US.
Albuquerque Public Schools is currently scanning all the time capsule letters and plans to publish them on their website. If you’re Greg Lee Youngman (ghost or otherwise) we’d love to talk with you.
[Albuquerque Journal and KQRE]