When John Sims bought his new home in Tucson, Arizona, he didn’t expect to make an extraordinary discovery. It all started with an intriguing rumor about something mysterious buried underground revealed by the former owner of his new home. As the rumor has it, John’s backyard contained a secret that contained frightening memories. So, without any direction, he started digging feverishly in his garden. What he was about to discover was much more than he would have dared to imagine. Read here to discover what this incredible discovery was in the American’s backyard!
1. Moving day
John Sims bought a new home in downtown Tucson, Arizona. The previous owner was a friend of his, so he knew he didn’t have to worry about the property he was buying. However, when his friend gave him the keys to his property, he also sent him a strange message.
There was a mystery around the property, something huge to discover. John had no idea that his friend’s enigmatic message would be the beginning of a series of events that would soon make the whole state speak.
2. Rumour has it that
John’s friend gave him a clue about the garden. He said that the house John had acquired was larger than it seemed. The rumor was that there was something buried underground.
Now that John owned the property, he could do whatever he wanted. But even as he was about to move his things into the house and organize them as he wished, the gears in his mind began to move. The desire to know more about this secret consumed him.
3. Getting Started
It took him a little longer than expected to start digging in his garden, but John was determined to find out what secrets his backyard was hiding. He wondered what he would find in this one. The possibilities were endless. Even if it meant ruining the clean and orderly appearance of his backyard, it didn’t bother him.
4. Official documentation
John had found what could be a key resource: municipal documents for where he lived in Tucson. He went through old documents until he hit the jackpot. In addition to the construction of his house, there was something else.
According to the documentation, it seems that Whitaker Pools (a swimming pool company?) built something there in 1961. But even if it was in the files, it was still weird. Why would a swimming pool be underground? What he was about to discover would be truly incredible.
5. One more step in the right direction
John decided he had to do his backyard expedition less instinctively. After all, he now had documentation. He wanted to do things smartly, so he hired consultants to come up with metal detectors.
The team arrived with the appropriate equipment, and they combed the backyard together. At first, there were no results, and at every moment of calm, he waited, tense, to see if anything could trip them. Then, suddenly, the sensors went off.
6. Marked territory
To John’s delight, the metal detectors that the experts had brought with them were triggered not once, but twice. John took some chalk and marked an X in the grass of his backyard on the two areas that had triggered them. He wouldn’t move forward blindly anymore.
The professionals had helped him focus his research and, moreover, he now knew that he was not looking for something that could not be found. Filled with expectations, he started digging. It didn’t take long for his shovel to hit something hard. What did he come across?
7. The moment of discovery
At first glance, John had discovered a kind of entrance in his backyard, in the shape of a trapdoor. He bent over to remove the dirt that covered it, dug even deeper and opened the cover.
He was careful not to inhale too much. Who knew where it was going? There was a strong possibility that mold spores would escape from the opening or, even worse, that there would be toxic gas emissions. John took a careful look inside – and was amazed at the sight he got.
8. A downward spiral
Inside the hatch he had just discovered three feet under the grass in his backyard, John Sims found what looked like a series of sharp blades. After further inspection, however, he realized that it was a spiral staircase going down.
9. First explorer
Once the soil was removed from the spiral staircase, John was able to explore what was hidden in his garden. When he reached the lower echelons of the ladder, John knew that he was the first person to see this show in more than half a century. He went down into the well and was excited to discover that there was a whole complex underground.
It had not been backfilled with soil and would not require further excavation. The part was in relatively good condition. John went through the floor of the structure and a dome-shaped door.
10. Historical relic
What John Sims had in his garden was a shelter from nuclear fallout! It was built during the height of the Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the resulting mass paranoia.
Whitaker Pools, behind the scenes, had expanded its business model to build something that Cold War-era people wanted in their backyards other than swimming pools: air-raid shelters.
