Shortly after purchasing his new home, John Sims began to hear rumors about something mysterious buried in the backyard of his new property in Tucson, Arizona. Life in his new home started out as normal and serene, but as time went on, it turned out to be one of the strangest discoveries of his life.
This man dug a hole in his backyard; he was not ready for what he discovered there. The old owner of the place had heard those same strange rumors; however, he did not have the courage or the time to corroborate that they were true.
On the other hand, the new owner was very determined to find out what was buried in his backyard that was causing people to talk. So, taking a tool, he started digging in no fixed direction, and as he did so, he found something that would eventually change his life.
Mr. Sims knew that the purchase of that property was going to be a good one, especially when he discovered that the previous owner of the house was a friend of his. However, the anonymous message the man gave him along with the sale stuck in John’s mind. What did his friend mean when he said there was something supposedly buried in the backyard? He thought about it continuously while he imagined what could be that mysterious thing that surrounded his new home. The truth is that he knew nothing much, but what was buried there would soon attract the attention of the whole country.
During the sale, John’s friend had made it very clear that he was completely unaware of what might be hiding under the floor there. All he could say was that there was more than met the eye and that he never had the courage to dig it up. At first, John tried to ignore the strange rumor. He began the move without worries and did all his things as expected. In spite of everything, curiosity gradually got the better of him to the point that the desire to know what he was standing on consumed him at every moment, even taking over his nights.
What had he buried there? This feeling did not disappear with time; on the contrary, it took hold of him more and more. He felt more and more compelled to unearth the secret and bring the truth to light. Besides, if it was all a lie, he had to know it too.
When they closed the deal and finalized the sale of the property, John had half-jokingly asked them to bring a shovel to dig up whatever was there. They both laughed because they knew that this job required more planning than that. However, John soon had an idea. John was more than determined to find out the truth. The plan he devised would end up taking a little longer to get started than he expected, but he had never been so convinced.
When he first put his plan of action into action, the possibilities of what could be buried there were endless, and these thoughts overflowed his mind with wonder. John wasn’t worried about ruining his backyard; he knew that every sacrifice would be worth it if he got to find out exactly what was waiting for him in the end. As soon as he had all his tools ready, he started digging, saying goodbye to his new pristine backyard.
What did John find? He had not been digging for long when he realized that his project would be much more complicated than he thought. The Arizona heat was really debilitating, with temperatures up to three digits. Despite this, John kept digging day after day because his goal was to get what he expected, and he was determined to do it. Although his efforts were arduous and constant, unfortunately, he had been rewarded with nothing but dirt. Lots of dirt. He had been digging for several days and still had nothing to show for it.
Was his friend playing a practical joke on him, or maybe the information was not correct to begin with? John’s mind was a whirlwind of questions, and they all swirled around and around. One part of him considered giving up, but the other urged him to continue, feeling that he was overlooking the discovery of a lifetime.
John began to excavate different areas of his yard. The yard was now completely destroyed, and John became increasingly distressed yet still found absolutely nothing. And there was a possibility that whatever had once been buried there was now destroyed by the passage of time. John again had intentions of abandoning everything at that very moment but decided it would be best not to despair and come up with a new plan.
And it was there, in the middle of a sudden burst of thoughts, that he came up with another possible way to find out what was hidden underneath. John decided to go to the city records office, where he found the original records of his Tucson home. Although the papers were faded and old, he was able to see the detailed schematics of his house and was impressed to note that there was something else marked in the yard area. In the official documentation for the property, it stated that in 1961, a company called Widatec Pools had built something in the right corner of the backyard.
John was really confused. Why would a pool be built underground? What he would discover next was nothing like what he was expecting. With renewed courage and new information in hand, John decided it was time to take things to the next level of searching. So, he hired a team of professional consultants armed with highly sensitive metal detectors to search the area. Now it looked like things were getting really serious.
The team began the search process; however, they were getting no further than the same disappointing results that John had become accustomed to. He was beginning to question himself once again when the detectors went off, marking the beginning of what would be a much, much longer journey than he had imagined.
John was on the trail. The detectors had been activated at two different points in the yard, so he quickly marked them with an X made of chalk. The search was no longer completely blind, and the X marked the location.
The team that John had hired helped him to concentrate on his search. He was now certain that there really was something down there waiting to be brought to light. He was immersed in joy and with renewed energy that moved him to dig once again. This time, it wasn’t long before he found
…the gold. Of course, not literally speaking, but what he found would end up being worth far more than money could buy.
It was clear that everything that they had found there was made of metal. John thought at first that it might be an old septic tank, in which case further snooping around could lead to disastrous consequences. He knew he had to be very careful, as it could be a pipe or any other kind of equipment which he did not want to damage or break. Now that he had finally found something, John would soon realize that what was buried there was not a septic tank; in fact, it was something completely different.
It was hard to tell what it was at first, but as they dug and removed the dirt, it all took shape. John thought he had discovered an entrance to something. He kept cleaning and removing debris, and it soon looked like an old rusty hatch. After applying a little force, he saw that it still worked, so he set about opening it.
As he turned the hatch, it gave away while John held his breath for fear of inhaling toxic fumes, mold spores, or perhaps something worse. He didn’t know what to expect to find there as he remained with his eyes fixed on the darkness beneath his feet. It was after a while when his vision came into focus that he was perplexed by his new discovery.
Inside the newly found hatch, buried a few feet below the garden, John saw what appeared to be a group of blades of some kind. However, when he looked closer, he could see that it was actually a spiral staircase leading down into the depths.
John felt a sudden fear. Where did those stairs lead to? Wherever it was, John had to find out. John didn’t plan to just walk into the well; he knew he had to take precautions, even though he was excited, as it could turn out to be a terrible idea if something went wrong. On the other hand, the shaft seemed to have deep damage in different areas, which would make the descent a more dangerous task.
John decided to be prudent. He knew he could not proceed alone or without a plan. To his own good fortune, he had gained a lot of experience during his years as a fire captain, dealing with confined spaces, fragile structures, and unsafe buildings, which would now come in handy in achieving his desires. John opted to formulate a plan of action before exploring the monumental discovery in his garden. He relied on the same methods that had brought him to where he was now and would allow him to carry out his plan safely.
The first thing he did next was to put together a team. John called several of his best friends and told them about the discovery. Motivated by curiosity and intrigue, they didn’t think twice about agreeing to help, and soon they were at the house, digging up dirt and making sure everything went according to plan.
John’s experience of rescuing in the midst of structural collapse hazards made him take every precaution necessary. He knew that if the old lid collapsed, it would mean the end of anyone inside, so he had to find a safer way into the structure.
John was anxious to know what secrets that subway structure held in his head. It was all becoming too real, but before doing anything, he had to think about the safety of himself and his friends. A journey into the unknown brings with it many questions. Consequently, John made his friends aware of the risks that this trip would bring and gave them the opportunity to withdraw from this potentially dangerous venture. However, all of them were fully determined to go all the way and unravel the mystery hidden in the depths.
Together, they devised what actions to take to go ahead with the plan. Not knowing what they might find in the bowels of the earth, still, they tried to prepare for anything. But, as they would soon discover, they could never have prepared for what was to come.
The plan was initially based on repairing large areas of the exterior concrete structure, which was crucial as it supported the rusted interior staircase, which could easily give away at the first step. Ensuring their death. John’s confidence grew as the group continued to work day after day. He had already overcome many obstacles to get where he was, and he wasn’t about to take a step back at this point. He was willing to do anything to discover all the secrets of that place.
They worked tirelessly to lay completely new layers of concrete from scratch to be on the safe side. Once inside, they secured the hatch bar so the structure would not fall on them. Although their imagination fueled them throughout the process, the work was no easy feat. They soon realized that they would need to maintain an almost constant flow of concrete to achieve the required stability. In addition, they had several factors against them that hindered their progress. As Jon experienced early on, the summer heat was intense in Arizona and had a direct impact on their job performance.
In addition, they did not know what impact this factor might have had on the structure itself. So, they decided to cover the opening with a tent to ensure that it was adequately protected and that it would also provide them with protection from the intense rays of the sun. They installed sonotube cardboard scaffolding, making sure that none of the original design would be damaged.
They spent a few more days working, and at last, it looked like they were ready to take the plunge. However, one last task was still required before they could find out what they were so desperate for. The team knew that they would need a power line to access once they were in the depths. And the last part of their master plan was the installation of such a line, which would help them light everything and make use of any electrical tools that might be needed in there.
In addition to this, to ensure that they were never short of breath, they also installed a fresh air pipe to ventilate the space properly. After 50 years of mystery, the cavern was about to be explored once again. Things looked much better now than when John discovered the structure. As the team was widening the entrance to the capsule, all their hard work was finally going to be rewarded. Although they still had some deep work to do inside the chamber, it wasn’t until this point that Jon Sims felt safe enough to begin the descent. A moment they had waited for for months, and they still didn’t know what might finally be awaiting them down there.
They could feel that they were close to solving the mystery once and for all. However, they were aware of the existence of some obstacles. Although they had heavily reinforced the structure on the outside, almost nothing could be done with the rusty stairs from above, so they still could not be trusted with much weight.
John would not let this detail put all of his efforts behind him. He would find another way in. For the only way he would work on the stairs was from inside the structure itself. He paused to think about all the possible options he had for getting down. Apart from the stairs, the place was too narrow and too deep to jump. Besides, any overhang in the infrastructure would mean more than certain death.
He finally opted to get hold of a portable ladder and insert it into the cavern through the top of the hatch. The moment he had been waiting for since his friend first revealed the mystery to him had finally arrived. It was time to answer all the questions and put an end to so much ordeal. With the energy of excitement and nerves, he began to descend into the dense gloom.
What he found far exceeded his craziest expectations. When he touched the bottom of the structure, John thought for a moment that he must be the first person in over half a century to be there. As he went deeper into the tunnel, he was amazed to discover that it was, in fact, an entire complex hidden underground. And what was better, that space had not been filled with dirt, so for the moment, they didn’t have to remove any more dirt, something John had initially feared.
After passing through the main entrance hall, John came upon an incredible dome-shaped room. But what he saw was truly alarming. The roof of that room was composed entirely of some kind of fiberglass, battered by the passage of time. John immediately realized that despite all the effort, the structure was still not completely safe. There was still a lot of work to be done before the building could be considered stable.
On the other hand, fiberglass could cause severe respiratory problems and damage bare skin, so they had to get rid of it as soon as possible. However, at that moment, he didn’t think much about such things. His mind was almost exploding with excitement, imagining everything there was to discover in this hidden chamber.
Despite more than half a century of deterioration, the structure was still in incredible condition. All the walls around it appeared to be perfectly intact, which made Jon surmise that its original inhabitant hadn’t really made enough use of the structure. He probably didn’t use it, even though he had built it. There was no furniture or decoration of any kind in the open room where he stood. And although he knew that the building was built by Whitaker Pools, he had every reason to suspect that the purposes of the building were ones very different from what might be expected. It was obviously not a swimming pool.
What John Sims discovered buried in his backyard was a real nuclear shelter built at the time of tensions between the United States and Russia. When the Cold War was in full swing and tensions were at their highest, many people, driven by paranoia and mass fear, made this type of structure proliferate throughout the country. John figured that the pool business must have been hard-hit in the 1960s era when people’s concern was none other than an impending nuclear attack.
It seemed that Whitaker Pools wanted to get in on the action somehow and decided to build private bunkers for their customers on the side of their homes. In those days of the Red Scare, many considered that having a contingency plan for a possible nuclear war was a very smart move to make. And it turns out that the Tucson area was one of those sites that was filled to bursting with such shelters, like the one John found in his backyard.
Those who, at the time, created the same nuclear shelters like the one John had just discovered were considered responsible and concerned family men. The threat of nuclear war between superpowers was genuine then, just as many consider it to be today. John’s finding is highlighted by another important, little-known fact about the Tucson area.
The Arizona town of Tucson was once home to 18 different heavy ballistic missile silos. Each of these nuclear-capable projectiles was 110 feet long and more than 10 feet wide. They had enough explosive force to destroy 900 square miles of terrain and could be launched at U.S. enemies in just a moment. Each missile included nine megaton nuclear warheads, and they were closely guarded secrets in the days of the war.
Now, it was all just a distant memory, but was there a chance that any of the missiles were still in the area? During the 1980s, when tensions between the USSR and the United States began to cool, most of these weapons of mass destruction were rendered useless, and so were the nuclear bunkers, which were now almost entirely sealed, which explains why the one in John’s backyard was now underground.
John had made a remarkable discovery from a historical standpoint, and he did not know what impact this finding would have on the national community for weeks to come. Because of its year of creation, 1961, the shelter he was now in had to be the direct result of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was probably the closest the world had ever come to all-out nuclear war.
Once the mystery was unveiled, John decided to make his discovery public through a post on the popular Reddit forum. The news went viral almost immediately, and thanks to this, he was able to connect with many other Tucson residents who, like him, had shelters on their property.
As the story reached the ears of more and more people, John and the whole team of his friends who had helped him unearth the bunker were busy thinking about what they could do with it now. Several of them suggested turning it into a wine cellar or a bar, but John had a totally different vision. He knew that to achieve his goal, he would need the help of his new online audience.
John hoped to bring the place back to life and turn it into a living memorial of the Cold War. With this purpose in mind, he decided to create a GoFundMe page to raise funds. He told people that he hoped to bring the shelter back to the splendor of its best days and even go further. What he would do would be to redo the main hall and the upper entrance, as well as restore the tunnel that connects them both and replace the old staircase with a stable and safe one. In this way, people who wanted to visit the monument and take a walk through the nation’s past could do so.
His incredible discovery had brought him to this point, and his new backyard museum project was just the last step. After six months of hard work and waiting, he hoped to have items to display in his museum, such as ham radios, Geiger counters, hygiene kits, and many other items typical of shelters like the one he found. In addition, he began to research more about the Cold War period and to learn more about life at that time.
John’s story was widely shared on social media. This was a great help in raising funds for the restoration. As the work progressed, he shared the progress with his donors online. The first job on the list was to replace the old stairs with more solid materials. This made getting in and out of the bunker a much easier task.
Today, the shelter is completely transformed. The discovery John Sims made in his backyard was life-changing. Despite all the difficulties he went through and the slow process of moving forward, John never gave up, and today he sees before him the fruit of his sacrifice consummated.
The fascinating story of John Sims is one that is rarely seen today. In fact, relics of the past are scattered throughout the country, still waiting to be rediscovered. The entire process Mr. Sims went through in Tucson, Arizona, teaches us something: having a vision is nothing if we don’t put it into action until we see it realized.
