John Sims
When John Sims decided that he was ready to be a homeowner, he found out that his friend was selling his house in Tucson, Arizona. He knew that his friend took good care of the house the whole time that he owned it, so he thought that it would be a good investment. After buying the house, he heard rumors about the property from people in the neighborhood. He thought that it was a joke at first, and didn’t think much of it.
John’s Friend
John’s friend admits hearing the rumors under the ground, as well, but he never investigated them. He was sure that the rumors that were just old made up stories that the neighbors told the new people moving into the neighborhood. He told John that he wasn’t sure if the rumors were actually true.
Curiosity
Over time, John’s curiosity started to get the best of him. He knew that the chances of him finding something buried in the back yard were 50/50, but he couldn’t get it out of his mind. He asked his friend to get a shovel and help out, and his friend started laughing. John was only half kidding. He really wanted to know what, if anything, was hidden under the ground on his property.
A Major Project
John finally decided that he had to get to the bottom of the mystery. He knew that digging up the yard would be a massive project, and it would mess up his backyard. John didn’t care much for the appearance of his yard, to begin with, so he wasn’t too worried about digging it up. Unfortunately, the job wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought. The summers in Arizona are known for being extremely hot. Even though he was determined to figure out what was hidden under the ground, he discovered that he couldn’t spend as much time outdoors as he wanted to. It was just too hot. He also realized that maybe the shovel would be enough to dig up the yard. He needed some heavy machinery.
Coming Up Empty
After digging hole after hole, John was coming up empty. Finally, he realized that there could be another way to find out what was hidden under his yard. He went and found the municipal records of the area where his property was located. He went through the documents until he found one for the records of the structure of his house. According to the documents, a company called Whitaker Pools built something on his property in 1961. He was a bit confused. And he wasn’t sure why a pool company would build something under the ground. He decided to do some more research to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Hiring Help
Now that John had this information, he was more determined to figure out what was hidden in the yard. He hired consultants to search the yard with metal detectors. The team searched but found nothing. When they were loading up their equipment, one person still had their metal detector and was search the yard, and they got something. The metal detector went off twice in two different spots. Now, he had an idea of where he needed to dig, and he used spray paint to put an X in the two areas where the metal detector signaled. Finally, he was getting somewhere.
Hitting Metal
When John’s shovel made a loud clanking sound, he knew that he finally found what he was looking for. At one point, he thought that it was a septic tank, and thought about giving up. After thinking about it for a minute, he realized that he had to keep digging.
A Hatch
After removing all of the dirt, he realized that he hit a cover. After removing the cover, he realized that it was a hatch that he was looking at. When he looked down, he first thought that he was looking at fan blades. Soon, he realized that it was a spiral staircase. He thought about taking the stairs down, but he was worried that it could be dangerous.
Safety
John worked as a fire department captain and was well trained in rescue. This job gave him the knowledge that he needed to keep himself safe. He decided to bring a team together to help him figure out what was inside the hatch. He and his friends made a plan, and they decided to reinforce the hole, making it safer for them to go into. It was a lot of work, but for John, it was worth it so that he could figure out what the hatch was for.
Fall Out Shelter
When he finally got into the hatch, he discovered that it was a nuclear fallout shelter. Back during the Cold War, the tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union were severe. John learned that during this time, Whitaker Pools expanded their business and started building fallout shelters for worried Americans. He also learned that there were plenty of fallout shelters all over Tucson. He felt something under the ground when he starts digging he found this. Finally, he figured out the mystery. He decided to make it into a Fallout museum, and he started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to get relics to put into the shelter.
