That Sunday morning started rather ordinarily for a farmer called Jose. He was having a nice stroll through his backyard when something forced him to dig his backyard. While doing the same, he stuck something odd.
When Jose looked closer, he couldn't believe his eyes. With his hands trembling, he quickly dialed the police. Jose would never imagine what horrific secrets have been hidden in his backyard...
Strolling On The Farm
With the sun shining down on his new home in Buenos Aires, a farmer named Jose Antonio Nievas prepared to go for a Christmas Day walk in his backyard with his dog. It was the perfect morning to do some strolling!
He opened the back door of his house and they set off to explore the acres of land along with the riverbank and streams. Little did Jose know he was about to make history.
Strange Observation
Walking alongside the riverbank with his dog, Jose suddenly noticed something strange in the muddy water. Wedged in the bank, it appeared like a giant egg, painted in black.
Jose couldn’t take a step further after seeing this. What could it be? He felt a sudden sense of curiosity creep upon him. His gut was telling him to take a closer look.
Muddy Object
As Jose went to get closer, he observed that it was immersed in mud. This urged him to dig it out and as he did, the object revealed its true size.
It measured about 3 feet wide and was too big to be called an egg. “What is this?” Jose murmured to himself, rather in shock!
Expecting Help
It had been nearly 15 minutes since Jose’s attempts to dig it out but all he could get was sweat on his forehead. He was having trouble dislodging it out from the muddy riverbanks.
He sighed and looked at his dog while knowing he wouldn't be enough for the digging task. He desperately needed another helping hand to find out what the object was. But who could he call in that wilderness?
It’s Not A Joke
"Of course, I can call Jenny and ask her to get me some help!" he suddenly exclaimed. Jose then called her wife and explained the strange discovery. “It’s a dinosaur’s egg!” he exclaimed.
Lost for words, his wife replied with a laugh, “I know you’re joking honey!” As they would soon discover, it won’t be a joke anymore.
Efforts Going In Vain
Arriving at the riverbank, Jose’s wife stared at the object in astonishment. She became eager to know more and assisted her husband in digging out the mystifying object.
They made sure not to damage it. Despite all their effort, the couple looked at each other and sighed. They definitely needed back up.
Jose Was Helpless
Feeling helpless, Jose dialled 911. He wished they would believe him when he told them about his backyard discovery. But then again, things like this don’t happen in a small town like Carlos Spegazzini.
At first the cops thought it was a joke — that the call was just another prank call from some bored teenagers. But this was no prank call.
Dog Tries To Help
It took some time for Jose to convince the police to come and take a look at the object. On hearing the police sirens, hundreds of local residents gathered around the riverbank.
As the residents were snapping pictures, eager to get a closer look at this out-of-this-world object, Jose’s dog started to explore the area. Little did Jose know, his dog was about to help the investigation further.
What Did The Dog Find?
As the dog sniffed around, his tail wagging in the air, he started to bark and growl near the discovery spot. It was as if it had seen something there.
The bark immediately alerted Jose and the rest of the crowd. What did the dog find? Now it was the time for them to get the experts involved.
Expert Inspection
With immense tension and curiosity around, the police decided to involve two local archaeologists to help explain the strange discovery. The two archaeologists arrived at the scene and after some close observation, declared the object to be a relic from ancient times. It was going to be an exciting and memorable day for them.
The archaeologists began to remove the mud and help dig the object out of the riverbank. It appeared to have a scale-like structure with a beautiful shimmery green hue on it. But the digging wasn’t over yet. As they got further, they suddenly realized just how massive and bulky the strange object was.
Extracting The Artifact
Stumbling around in the sticky, muddy water, after a few hours the group was successful in extracting the artefact. They carefully loaded it onto their truck to be taken for further inspection.
The lab ran numerous tests on the object and examined the strange-shell-like structure. It took a while, but they finally made a shocking announcement.
At Last, An Answer!
The 2-ton object had been identified. But it was neither an extra-terrestrial object, egg, or a stone. Finally, they had an explanation. It turned out that this strange object belonged to a prehistoric beast named Glyptodon.
It was a kind of shell or armor. The scientists and researchers were bursting with excitement at their discovery. But as soon as they find out, they would all disagree with their excitement.
It Wasn’t A Hoax!
As word spread about the discovery, experts came up with their suspicions, claiming it to be a staged hoax. Of course, do they ever stand back?
Several scientists tried to corner them with questions like how the shell could have been preserved in such good condition and in an upright position. Could it be a hoax?
More Questions Arose
South America was believed to be full of Glyptodons more than 10,000 years ago, said the researchers. Could this weird object change the course of history?
These mammals resembled a Volkswagen Beetle and weighed pretty much the same too. But Jose, who was the first to discover the shell, still had questions.
Clearing False Claims
On hearing the accusations about the discovery being a hoax, Professor Lister disagreed. He claimed that “the shell looks like a genuine Glyptodon shell.”
Feeling a sense of relief knowing it had been correctly identified, Jose still wondered, why was it in his backyard? And how long had it been there?
Origins Of The Creature
Glyptodons were known to have originally evolved in South America, living on the continent for tens of millions of years. Of course, they had gone extinct many years ago.
Their remains have also been found in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. But there was still one thing that baffled scientists.
Further Examination
While examining the shell, scientists noticed that there were different holes for the creature to pop out its head and tail. Was this an egg or what this the carcass of the creature itself?
They also claimed that the hole didn’t look like it was the cause of a fight, meaning there would be only one more cause. The possibility that this damage occurred recently but they were yet to find it out.
All Were Left Surprised
The giant fossil found on the farm was seemingly huge in size, measuring about 3 feet. However, palaeontologists have estimated that the shell had belonged to a juvenile glyptodon.
Fully-mature Glyptodons can measure up to 11 feet! This left Jose and the others surprised.
A Memorable Day
Never had Josh imagined, that he would discover something that could help trace the history of mankind and animal kingdom as we know it. He’ll never be able to shake off that feeling of uncertainty and curiosity when he first sees the shell.
Still to this day, Jose can’t believe what he unexpectedly came across when on a simple stroll in his backyard. This turned out to be the most memorable Christmas for him.
You Could Be Next
It’s pretty incredible to think that these huge and heavy mammals once roamed the earth. And thanks to the unexpected discovery by this farmer that has helped scientists worldwide uncover more information about this mysterious beast.
It just goes to show, the earth is filled with mysteries that are waiting to be uncovered. Who knows? Next time when you take a simple stroll in your backyard, maybe you could find something too.