# Hoaxing a time capsule **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2012, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497 "2012-05-01T10:44:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/1 "2012-05-01T10:44:51Z")
As a “prank”… What items/writing/etc could you put in a 2012 time capsule to REEEALLY confuse future archaeologists? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/2 "2012-05-01T10:51:44Z")
Your very own [Voynich manuscript](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript). ---
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/3 "2012-05-01T11:08:02Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Your very own [Voynich manuscript](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript). Nice one! never heard of it before. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/4 "2012-05-01T11:10:41Z")
A video of Jersey Shore. That’s sure to confuse everyone in the future… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/5 "2012-05-01T11:51:55Z")
Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range. ---
**Author:** ![SubaRhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SubaRhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SubaRhubarb)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/6 "2012-05-01T15:06:36Z")
Include a printout of the timecube website. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/7 "2012-05-01T15:36:35Z")
A broken phaser prop from Star Trek TOS, along with one or two pages from the Star Fleet Technical Manual. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/8 "2012-05-01T15:39:46Z")
The philosophy of Dr. Bronner(of Dr. Bronner’s Soap fame) set in a bronze plaque. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/9 "2012-05-01T15:46:46Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range. Hey, just what ya see, pal. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/10 "2012-05-01T15:55:31Z")
Frog skeleton with a tiny little top hat and cane. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/11 "2012-05-01T16:11:45Z")
A little large for a time capsule, but I’d put in one of the models for a [flying car](http://www.evoscience.com/3992/flying-car-reality/) and some fake documents implying it was our everyday mode of transportation. Three hundred years later they’d dig it up and exclaim, “Where the hell’s OUR flying cars? They had them centuries ago! What happened???” ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/12 "2012-05-01T16:19:26Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > A video of Jersey Shore. That’s sure to confuse everyone in the future… > > 😃 People, we’re just talking about light-hearted pranks here. We don’t _want_ The Future to send the killer cyborgs back at us. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/13 "2012-05-01T16:44:37Z")
How about some “authentic” Klingon weaponry? ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/14 "2012-05-01T17:23:21Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Frog skeleton with a tiny little top hat and cane. This is an excellent idea. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/15 "2012-05-01T17:32:55Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > This is an excellent idea. ``` Hello! ma baby Hello! ma honey Hello! ma ragtime gal ``` ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/16 "2012-05-01T17:47:22Z")
Heh. A car. Seriously, I just found out about this: In the late '50s, the good people of the city of Tulsa, OK, buried a [Plymouth](http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2007/06/1957_plymouth_t.html)in their time capsule to be unearthed 50 years later. Of course, the people at the unearthing knew the car was there, so it wasn’t all that puzzling to find it, but there was a ton of buzz about what sort of condition it would be in, what a collector’s item it would be, and so on. [Not so much](http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2007/06/well_now_its_of.html). This story just totally fascinates me - both the optimism of those back in the '50s to bury a car, and the disappointment at the unveiling. But even a ruin unearthed, it’s still pretty awesome, and some of those photos are real art - a bygone era captured, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/17 "2012-05-01T18:47:30Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Heh. A car. Seriously, I just found out about this: In the late '50s, the good people of the city of Tulsa, OK, buried a [Plymouth](http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2007/06/1957_plymouth_t.html)in their time capsule to be unearthed 50 years later. Of course, the people at the unearthing knew the car was there, so it wasn’t all that puzzling to find it, but there was a ton of buzz about what sort of condition it would be in, what a collector’s item it would be, and so on. > > [Not so much](http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2007/06/well_now_its_of.html). > > This story just totally fascinates me - both the optimism of those back in the '50s to bury a car, and the disappointment at the unveiling. But even a ruin unearthed, it’s still pretty awesome, and some of those photos are real art - a bygone era captured, as it were. Holy crap that is awesome. Is it possible to _fully_ waterproof something like that these days? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/18 "2012-05-01T18:52:01Z")
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. One of that cans of peanut brittle with spring loaded snakes. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/19 "2012-05-01T20:04:45Z")
On the other end of the deal, if there is one being opened soon you could use simple sleight of hand and show how the video from the past (that you made last week) has all kinds of correct predictions. For the OP though, just use photoshop to show all kinds of people (neighboors, celebrities, Obama, etc) wearing a style such as muscle shits or platform shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497/20 "2012-05-01T20:52:20Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > muscle shits I don’t believe I’m familiar with that. was it an event in the World’s Strongest Man competition? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoaxing-a-time-capsule/620497.md?page=2)