Arizona Town Opens Time Capsule, Can’t Find Brandy

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - A piece of history – and a mystery – came to light in Somerton, Ariz. last weekend.

Twenty-five years ago, people in the town buried a time capsule. On Saturday, they unearthed it. However, one thing was missing, reports the Yuma Sun .

A bottle of brandy.

"I was surprised when we opened it. There was a bottle of brandy, and right now it's not there. What happened? I don't know. When we buried it, the bottle was there. I thought it was going got be," Pancho Soto told The Sun .

Soto was part of the crew that buried the capsule in 1985.

The other items: photographs, an old VHS tape and a 1981 Time magazine with a President Ronald Reagan on the cover were all accounted for.

Undeterred by the vanishing brandy, Somerton plans to create a new time capsule that will be opened in 2035.

Although they have been around in various forms for a long time, the phrase "time capsule" has only been used since the late 1930s. They can range from the silly to serious and often capture an eclectic snapshot of personal and cultural touchstones.

The International Time Capsule Society 's Web site said the cast of the TV show "M*A*S*H" buried a capsule with items from the sitcom in 1983. The site noted that a construction worker found the capsule shortly after the show ended. In his memoirs, "M*A*S*H" star Alan Alda wrote that he told the man to keep the capsule.

The ITCS 's site also lists the most-wanted but never found capsules. These missing treasure troves include an original cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol that may have been laid by George Washington.