While taking down his parent's rotting barn, a man claims to have made a very unexpected discovery - he found a 128-year-old time capsule. But he has been left with more questions than answers after opening it up to see what was inside.
The unnamed man explained how he came across a Mason jar under all the rubble. He stopped what he was doing and opened it up to find a newspaper dated August 10, 1894, an issue of Ayer's American Almanac, a notebook or storybook which has been severely damaged over time, and a single black shoe.
Inside the issue of Ayer's American Almanac, he found a list of all the standards of American medicines used in the 1890s. Copies of the medicine book have been known to sell for around £20 to £50 online, depending on their age and quality.
However, the man, from Henry Country, in Illinois, America, couldn't get his head around the fact somebody included a single shoe. It left him wondering why they included it in the first place.
Sharing his discovery on Reddit, his nephew wrote: "My uncle uncovered a time capsule from 1984 under the rubble of my grandparent's barn.
"We had to take down and old cattle barn that my grandparents had - they were farmers.
"As we were recycling the barn wood and cobblestone foundation, he uncovered the Mason jar that was under one of the stones."
Commenting on the find, one user said: "I love this kind of stuff. Whoever buried this would never have believed that not only would it be rediscovered over 120 years later, but that almost anyone in the world could get a glimpse."
Another user added: "Kudos to them for encasing it in concrete, amateur time capsules almost never stay dry this long."
A third user joked: "Cool! But would it have killed them to leave a couple of gold coins in there?"
It comes after a man discovered a secret room hidden behind a bookcase in his new house.
While he had viewed the house before buying it, he didn't notice the secret room and there was no mention of it on the listing.
It wasn't until he unpacked all of his belongings into the new home that he finally got a real look at the property.
Sharing his surprise on Reddit, he wrote: "Our new house has a secret panic room that wasn't included in the listing. Built in 1978 and I love this place."
The secret room is only accessible through a sliding bookcase in the renovated basement - but it didn't have anything "too exciting" inside it.
He added: "There were lots of expired canned food, some logs, and a bunch of rubbish that I've been tossing.
"We've been using it as storage for six months. We are going to sell, donate and trash stuff to start framing it."
Do you have an unusual story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reacplc.com.
