Man's Metal Detector Sounded Deep In The Woods. Then He Dug Up This Mysterious Chest‏

Old coins, soda cans and the occasional piece of gold jewelry – metal detectors can, of course, turn up all kinds of trinkets, both worthy and worthless. Now and again, however, they uncover something truly unexpected and original, and this is the story of one such find.

Netherlands Forest

This treasure hunter goes by the online name of Cornetto153, and his YouTube channel,“World War II Relic Hunting,” showcases the old battlefields of Europe and the treasures they contain. In January 2016, Cornetto153 was combing a forest in the Netherlands, filming an episode for his show, when he stumbled upon an unprecedented object.

Something Unusual

His past discoveries include artillery shells and ammunition dumps – the decaying remnants, essentially, of skirmishes between Allied and Nazi forces. On this particular expedition, though, Cornetto153 had located the indentation of what appeared to be a foxhole or machine-gun position. Buried nearby, however, there was something altogether more unusual.

Big Signal

“Over here,” he said, casting his metal detector over the wet mulch of fallen leaves. “I got a very big signal.” What could possibly be producing such a large signal? An unexploded bomb? An artillery cannon? Or perhaps it was something the nature of which he could never have guessed.

Something Big

“I already tried to dig it out, but look at it,” he said, tapping the surface with the head of his shovel. But whatever lay hidden beneath the earth was apparently very solid and quite large – and so Cornetto153 set about clearing the leaves.