I know another, there was a 50 year time capsule with a 1957 Plymouth Belvidere car in it new in 1957 and opened in 2007. That sure was a disappointment, it was in there but… no one knew water fills underground rooms? Really??? Even in 2007 people were dumb enough to think it would be like new, with no drains, no humidity control, etc. It was just rust pile. Anyone know where the car is on exhibit now? They built them near this town is why they picked that car if I recall right.
About 10 years ago Fox had a special with Zahi Hawass where he was supposed to uncover some vault under the Sphinx live. They were billing it as if they were going to find the meaning of life in there or something else that would completely alter our understanding of history. In the end I think they did find a skeleton in there, which I suppose would be interesting to Egyptologists, but it was nothing spectacular.
Also a number of David Blaine stunts could probably fit into this. One that stands out for me happened a few years ago. He had been hanging upside down for something like a week, and at the end he was supposed to perform some amazing stunt. Well, when the time finally came he just disappeared - and I’m not talking about literally vanishing into thin air or dematerializing or anything else that would actually be kind of cool. I mean the lights just went out and when they came back he was gone. The worst part of it was the announcer gushing about what a spectacular feat this was.
And to top it off, it was all made even more disappointing when I found out later on that he wasn’t even hanging upside down the entire time. He was taking breaks.
What a tool.
I remember when the late Peter Gimbel spent millions of $$-and almost died, recovering the safe from the wreck of the Andrea Doria (sunk in 1956). They opened the safe on TV-it contained a few worthless papers and about $50 in old italian banknotes.
The funny thing (no not funny) is that divers lose their lives diving to the wreck-the prize? Some worthless old china!
Another example of this – Iben Browning, who predicted an earthquake would hit the New Madrid fault on December 2 or 3, 1990.
I had the good fortune to address a student group at nearby Southeast Missouri State University shortly before the date, and got one of the biggest laughs of my life when I told the students I was glad to be there one last time before the earth swallowed them.
There was no earthquake, and Browning died the next year.
The Al Capone vault was one of the biggest “stupid fights” I ever had with a girlfriend. The woman I was dating at the time wanted to watch it. I thought it was an amazing waste of time.
We watched it.
I was not subtle in my after-the-event gloating. She ended up screaming at me and didn’t talk to me for days.
Does anyone remember the Harmonic Convergence in the late 80’s? This was around the time when Shirley MacLaine was on the best seller list with her New Age books. The Harmonic Convergence was a special astrological alignment of planets that was supposed to usher in Something Huge.
Another class of spectacles that have historically been disappointments are Rapture predictions (the Second Coming of Christ). One was even called The Great Disappointment.
Horrendo Revolver’s Capone Vault snoozer was the event where I vowed never to watch anything he did after that. During one of the wars against Iraq, he gave away the location of the military unit he was embedded with on live TV. I have heard that someone still employs him.
In a Carl Hiaasen novel, (Skin Tight, I think) a thinly disguised egomaniacal Horrendo gets a liposuction live, on camera. Um, sorta live.
How soon they forget–remember the hysteria over Y2K?
The lubricant?
There’s one coming up in May of next year. Better get to repentin’!