Man recovered his lost wallet intact 53 years ago in Antarctica

Paul Grisham, a US Navy meteorologist couldn’t even remember losing anything in Antarctica half a century ago. After 53 years, he was able to recover the wallet in question and, better yet, with the contents intact.

The man admitted that he didn’t even remember that he had misplaced him when strangers contacted him to send him by mail. The unexpected discovery occurred during the destruction of a science base on Ross Island, Antarctica in 2014, where the sailor was assigned as a meteorological specialist between October 1967 and November 1968.

As he explained to the local newspaper The San Diego Union-Tribune, the wallet was hidden behind a cabinet and it contained, among other things, his Navy ID card, driver’s license and instructions in the event of a biological or chemical attack.

The wallet journey to reach him was a vast chain of favors. One of the leaders of the Antarctic research group contacted a former resident of the base who had already carried out a similar operation with a sailor’s bracelet found in a store.

Together with her daughter, they called a foundation for veterans, which in turn contacted the Naval Weather Service Association of which Paul Grisham was a member. Finally, the wallet arrived last Saturday in good condition at the veteran’s residence in San Carlos, in Southern California.

THE NATION