Arizona Man Digs Up Buried History in His Own Backyard

When the previous owner mentioned to John that something might be hidden below the surface of the yard, he had no choice but to explore. But even in his wildest imagination, he could not have dreamed up what he discovered when he started digging around.

After the sale was completed, John’s friend told him not about a defect of the house but of a mystery. He explained that there were strange tales about the house which told of something hidden beneath the backyard decades ago.

As John moved into the house, the prospect of discovering its secret buzzed in the back of his mind. With the realization he couldn’t rest until he figured out what was buried underneath his new home, he set off to accomplish this task.

However, he quickly figured out that a single shovel wasn’t going to cut it. As John didn’t even know what he was digging for, he decided that his best approach was to take things one step at a time.

John had to figure out how to start. He decided just to start digging with his shovel and go from there. Any holes could be fixed later and if the yard looked a bit disheveled, so be it.

Doing manual labor in these kinds of conditions would not entice many people. However, this did not deter John. Imagining discovering something that had been potentially lost for ages, he kept digging. His optimism greatly helped him continue the difficult task.

The possibility that he could have accidentally ruined whatever he was trying to find came to his mind. With the sun beating down on his neck and doubt clouding his mind, he decided to call it a day. He was discouraged but not ready to completely abandon his quest.

He obtained copies of Tucson’s city records and searched through as much information as he could find. He then came upon records concerning his new home. He finally had concrete information to go off rather than rumors. He knew this would aid him in his search throughout the grounds.

The records revealed that in 1961 a company named Whitaker Pools requested to operate on the land where John now resides. However, John did not see a pool anywhere around his home. What did this mean? Why would a pool company work on his property but not install anything he could visibly see? These questions added to the mystery.

John recruited a team of professionals who came prepared with all the necessary equipment, such as metal detectors. He hoped, with the help of people who were more knowledgeable than him about digging, he would finally be able to crack the mystery that had been consuming him.

Fear crept in that the search was going to fail, and all his efforts would have been for nothing. Then the sound of a detector beeping caught his ear, and he was ecstatic. He was one step closer.

His search had finally come to unearth evidence that there was at least something to the tales about his backyard. He was finally beginning to make progress in this intrepid quest.

The first hole did not result in any discoveries, and he moved on to the second. He quickly found he could no longer dig any further, as he had scraped something metal. John was closer to getting answers to the questions burning inside him.

If this turned out to be the case, John would have to take extra precautions while he continued digging. It could be dangerous, and repairs would be very costly if he broke the tank. He certainly wanted to avoid a large and unnecessary expense on his new home.

He then tried to uncover the object by clearing away the remaining debris. The mystery was starting to become clearer, and this enticed him to continue his work. His excitement rose as the object became visible.

He realized it was an entryway, but to where? Did this mean there was an underground chamber of sorts? The idea of a secret bunker was intriguing, but what was its purpose? The most important question, though, was how to open it?

As he finished clearing the entrance of the remaining dirt upon it, he discovered a passageway covered with a lid. John managed to lift it off, but his instincts from working at the fire department were to proceed with caution before he entered the hatch.

There is the possibility of the air being filled with poison or other harmful substances that can seriously harm someone. As an extra precaution, John was going to ask others to be near and above ground, as the area could collapse or he could get stuck.

John peered downwards into the hatch and strained his eyes to figure out what he was looking at. He wasn’t sure what he was seeing. He had to focus and take in everything around him. What exactly was he seeing?

His eyes were finally able to make out what they were seeing. What seemed to be unintentional now had a clear purpose. The blades were a winding spiral staircase which led further down into the dark ground. It started to become clear that this enclosure was built purposely.

However, the rational side of John won over his impulses. It would be incredibly dangerous to walk down a structure where he had no idea of its condition. A compromised step could lead him tumbling down the stairs to his death. Begrudgingly, he knew he had to be patient again.

He also finalized his team to monitor him once he was able to go down the spiral staircase. It consisted of his friends, whom he knew he could rely on. His plan to guarantee his safety was set in motion.

With the aid of his team, they developed a plan to navigate the enclosure without risk. Little did John know that his patience would result in an incredible discovery. He and his team also recorded their progress, making their discoveries accessible to others as they continued.

Upon closer examination, John and his team found out the staircase was in terrible shape. The metal was so rusted that it was clear the steps were unsafe to stand on. While they were having some hiccups, they were getting closer and closer to its secret.

After adding concrete to secure the entry and re-barring the spiral staircase, they were confident about eliminating risks concerning the enclosure. The idea of a collapse was no longer something they needed to worry about.

John and his team installed an electrical line to light up the entirety of the enclosure. It would also allow them to make any repairs on the enclosure once they reach solid ground.

The team set up a pipe at the opening of the enclosure. This would allow clean air into the enclosure, negating anything toxic that could be lurking nearby. They were nearing the time when John could finally take his first steps down the staircase.

The answer to John was obvious. Using a long ladder, he safely fastened it to the entrance to bypass the stairs. Was he finally going to descend into the enclosure?

John realized he was likely the only human in decades to be in this enclosure. The past had hidden it from the world, only for him to rediscover it. He began his descent, and his mind started to wonder what he was about to see. Anticipation surged throughout his body.

He gazed around in awe at the large room he stood in. All of this had been underneath the homes of many of the previous owners, who never knew what was hidden beneath them. As John looked around, he saw a series of tunnels. There was even more for him to explore.

However, he was not standing in anything close to a pool. John remembered that the year it was built was 1961. He thought that maybe the year could be a clue as to why this had been built in the first place. Suddenly, he realized the connection.

Fear had gripped the world during the Cold War, as tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union reached a boiling point. It was not uncommon for people to build bomb shelters.

Fiberglass is extremely unsafe, as it is toxic to inhale and can irritate the skin. Not to mention the glass was falling apart. John knew this was something that could easily be repaired. Nothing could stop him now that he had connected the dots.

Builders accustomed to designing pools realized that building a bunker wasn’t all that different. Both were underground and typically built in a yard. All they had to do was close the top. It is known that a company named Catalina Pools installed 500 bunkers by 1961.

Some people who found underground bunkers transformed them into living quarters, or dedicated spaces for art and music. However, John was going to do something else. He wanted it to be unique, as it was a treasure he had sought after for so long.

John started to become more interested in these bunkers, as well as the Cold War. He decided he was going to convert his bunker into a museum. He understood that this meant more work to complete this task. He had to decide what his next steps were, and how to accomplish them.

John wanted to start repairing the entry to the shelter, as this had to be done prior to making any changes to the ground floor of the bunker. He stated that the entrance needed a large amount of concrete. He also wanted to completely replace the spiral staircase. The cost of this was around $2,000.

John continued to share his progress online. He posted updates about how the stairs could be used in lieu of the ladder. A photo he posted of the staircase showed it painted a bright blue.

John stated that he was heavily invested in his research into the Cold War. The fear must have been substantial if people went out of their way to build these shelters. It appeared that the bunker and the history of the war had impacted John.

Many of these items were vintage and extremely valuable, so it is surprising to see that they were all in good condition. John’s hope was that the museum would be a reminder of the lengths war had driven people to survive. 

After rebuilding the rickety stairwell, he poured concrete around the shelter, but progress was stalled for years before he started to build the structure around it. He was not deterred from his project!

The outlook is often visited by tourists and hikers who want to see the stunning views of the Tucson valley and the Rincon Mountains. This small 15 ft by 15 ft structure was the inspiration for John’s museum.

He used Shapr3D to draw his ideas and worked on nailing down the dimensions and shapes. The roof panels, door, and body of building were all imagined on John’s iPad before they were built in his backyard.

He found some metal window frames at a reclamation sale and used those for his shelter. Many of the materials he used were recycled!

He also had the walls and siding basically completed and got started on the roof, which was basically its own project in itself.

A fresh coat of paint on the windows and doors really made the structure come together. He also tested out a brick pathway from the front door at this point but ended up deciding against it.

He even added a string of lights around the roof so it would sparkle at night. We have to assume John is extremely proud of his work on this passion project. We admire the effort he put in and the research he did to preserve such an incredible piece of history.

Chirs and Colleen Otcasek bought a home in Woodland Hills in 2013. They noticed a hole in their backyard but thought nothing of it. One day however, their curiosity got the better of them, and they decided to do some investigating.

Well, it led to a perfectly preserved nuclear fallout shelter from 1961. Similar to John’s story, Chris and Colleen were incredibly surprised to find a piece of history hidden beneath their own property.

This blast from the past was complete with vintage items and a fully stocked pantry. These supplies were all left in the shelter in case nuclear disaster led the family from the 1960s to live or hide within the shelter for a period of time.

To sustain a family for that long, the shelter had designated sleeping areas, a hand-crank air filter, and a water tank. At the time, Kaufman even offered to build each of his neighbors their own fallout shelters, but they declined.

They also found containers full of medication and sleeping pills. An emergency kit also included important supplies such as ointment, gauze, and foot powder. The family was truly prepared for it all.

These items found from the 1960s included a few board games and dozens of copies of Analog Science Fiction & Fact magazine. With a perfectly preserved shelter, these items all represent a unique moment in US history. As for the Otcasek family currently residing in this home, they have no intention of getting rid of the bunker. Chris Otcasek even said, “I’ll leave it for the next people. It should last forever.”

While James began his typical garden pruning routine, he heard a mysterious hissing sound coming from his yard. While investigating where the strange noise was coming from, James’s wife, Sarah spotted a large green lump in the corner of their backyard.

James tried jumping on it and poking it with sticks and umbrellas, to no avail. It was clear that some sort of liquid was trapped beneath their grass, but they were having trouble releasing the built up pressure.

It took quite a while for all the water to release from the lawn bubble. James and Sarah continued to jump and press on the lumped grass in order to help release the built up water tension.

They began to dig around the black plastic to learn more. This wasn’t just an old, discarded plastic garbage bag, it was something much thicker and much bigger.

James went back to where the lawn blister first began and decided to cut the tarp in that spot. Right where he cut, he felt a solid object in the ground. He dug around some more to uncover wooden planks hidden under the grass. The strange mystery that began with a hissing, bubbling lawn was about to take quite the turn.

James and Sarah were curious what they might find. Before buying their new home, they even looked over the property’s blueprints, but nothing indicated there would be something hidden in their own backyard.

James and Sarah were certainly quite nervous as they had no idea what to expect or if it would be safe to venture inside. James began his descent and was careful with every step. The deeper he went, the darker it became. They grabbed their flashlights and continued their adventure.

The smell underground was an unpleasant one, smelling of sour milk and fermented fruit, but this discovery was an exhilarating historic find. There were dusty wine bottles all over that were almost a century old. It’s likely this hidden cellar existed in the time of prohibition.

When the people who created the secret wine cellar left their property, they simply covered up it’s entryway with a large tarp and grass seeds in an attempt to conceal their illegal project. James and Sarah experienced that strange lawn blister because there was no true ground there to soak up the rain, which caused water to pool between the grass and the tarp layers. Another wild backyard discovery left these ordinary homeowners shocked.

It’s truly incredible to hear these stories and wonder just what other magnificent finds may be hidden in one’s backyard! Perhaps it’s time to start digging.