So my girlfriends family lives in the United States, but used to live in the Philippines and own a property there. I've been trying to convince them to sell it if they have no intentions on going back so they could purchase themselves a property here, but they had been reluctant to sell it for whatever reason. Yesterday, my gf's dad revealed why he didnt want to sell it yet. Apparently, this property started out as just a plot of land with a shack on it, but they eventually put down a concrete foundation to build a proper house. Apparently while digging, her dad found something but couldn't dig it up or open it, so they built a hollow brick barrier around it or something. He described this object as a shiny silver colored L shaped metal object, however he later admits that it could be 2 separate objects near each other, and he's not too sure. He said it's square/rectangular, so it's probably not a water pipe (I assume, I'm not a plumber.) The location is somewhere in Nueva Vizcaya in the Phillipines. I know the Japanese were all up in Phillipines during WW2, and he claims they were in that area but I dont know that for sure to be honest. I'm like 90% sure it isnt a land mine. We're thinking maybe it's 2 metal chests or gun cases buried next to each other. Does anyone have any idea if this weird (possibly L shaped) metal matches a description of any sort of WW2 era objects? And, to end on an opinion question, do you think it's worth digging this up before selling the property? Or should we just leave this mystery for someone else?
For ease of tranport and personal carrying I suspect very little would have been 'L' shaped. If unsure suggest you call the local military as if the item is some landmine or booby trap [the Japs were good at these] that has yet to go off then the consequences of not using skilled technical specilist to resolve it do not bear thinking about. Better to be safe than sorry - call the experts TD
Sound advice Square or oblong mines tend to have been the mark of some European countries (although post war both Koreas produced these too) - Japanese mines were usually clam shaped or truncated cylinders. However most nations (including the US and the Philippines) were quite good at improvisation and guerrilla groups operated in the islands during the Japanese occupation and an ammo box could be converted into a potent AT mine. In essence it is more likely to be harmless than otherwise BUT THERE IS STILL A POSSIBILITY THAT IT IS NOT HARMLESS - DO YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT RISK? Leaving it in place for someone else to find would be grossly irresponsible. In most jurisdictions it would also be criminally so, especially if subsequent owners were blown to pieces. Even if this did not happen if they had the problems of dealing with something that was known about but the info had not been passed on this could invite an expensive civil case. As TD said if in doubt get someone who knows in.
Hard to say with just a verbal description, but about the size to where it could plausibly be a gun case. I'll reccomend this to them. Unfortunately this object has just been there for years and we're just now learning about it, but no one currently lives on the property at least. I agree. I dont personally want to take that risk
This is the type of booby trap I was thinking of - sometimes they are horizontal - others are in this thread I couldnt find yesterday - Booby traps and bridges - Stunning tech plans from 236 Fd Coy on the Rangoon Road TD
There is a photo on the internet of a US Marine digging out one like that - a google Japanese land mines will bring this up. However the thing described in the opening post is of rectangular section.
Yes thanks I did read that but not everything that is part unearthed can be truly seen for what it is - maybe if it is a booby trap then its been covered over by a box to make the trap even more effective TD
But it's still a possibility. I'm going off just a description, and I have no idea how much of this object is showing on the surface or not
have you/they called the emergency services yet telling them you have found a possible dangerous device. suggest you do as soon as possible stops all this guessing
Can't see the logic - you disguise a booby trap with a box and then bury it so no one can see it anyway?
There are many instances where trophy hunters were killed by booby traps such as samurai swords, even to bottles of wine, dead bodies, - pick them up, turn them over and boom so they are disguised in many and varied ways and work on the instinct of someones curiosity to find out whats under this what behind that. This happened in Europe, Far East, Korea, Vietnam, Northern Ireland etc etc I thought you were ex military so maybe ask some of your mates TD
I do know about booby traps thank you and you haven't addressed my point at all. If you want a booby trap to work you don't hide it by burying it.You may disguise it but if you are going to bury it that's pointless. The Germans on the Western Front in WW1 were the masters of the booby trap particularly during the withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line when they rendered hundreds of houses etc left behind death traps. They disguised them in all sorts of ways, hid some in cupboards, behind doors or under tables etc but left trip wires attached to them but the only things they buried were mines with long term timers. I would imagine that in WW2 the Japanese would follow a similar pattern
1. Absolutely essential you contact the appropriate emergency service - you need it 'making safe' even if it turns out to be 'safe' already. No 'ifs' not 'buts'. 2. Who says it was buried when it was put there? It would be perfectly reasonable, even if grossly misguided, for anyone working on that piece of land for whatever reason to simply cover it over to 'get it out of the way' - old fashioned "out of sight, out of mind"....after all that appears to be an approach being considered even now. It's also a fact that your girlfriends family know about it so it hasn't always been buried - they even appear to have made it part of the current structure. People do funny things - mostly out of blissful ignorance - so please please don't do the same. Edit: by 'you' I mean the Original Poster thereal7777 : apologies for any confusion. Edit: I note the OP includes an angel number - 7777 - in his Forum name: let's hope this doesn't end up with anyone meeting any real angels.
The OP says "Apparently while digging, her dad found something but couldn't dig it up" which suggests it was buried not merely covered up
No they are improvised mines not booby traps and they haven't been disguised as anything before being buried which is my whole point its ilogical to disguise something and then bury it.