Wallet Lost In Antarctica Found After 53 Years

A navy meteorologist from San Diego, Paul Grisham, 91, set off for Antarctica in October 1967. He spent 13 months there monitoring the weather conditions as a weather forecaster at a Ross Island-based science station. While he was going back home, he accidentally left his wallet on the freezing continent.

When he returned to California from ‘The Ice’ he did not see his wallet for many decades. But the wallet surfaced when a building was demolished. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, the wallet was discovered in 2014 when at McMurdo Station a demolition took place.

When the building was demolished at the McMurdo Station the wallet was found behind the locker. Personal items belonging to Grisham were found in the wallet. The items belonged to a much younger Grisham as a weather forecaster. There was also Grisham’s Navy ID, driver’s license, and a tax withholding statement. Along with all the documentation, there was a homemade Kahlua recipe.

Other than the recipes and identification cards there was a beer ration punch card, a pocket reference card with information about what to do following an atomic, biological, or chemical weapons attack, and since he is a married man it also contained receipts for money orders sent to Grisham’s wife for his station poker winnings.

The wallet did not contain any notes or coins since there was nothing to purchase at the far-flung station. The far-flung station is located in the southernmost town on Earth and the brown leather wallet did not contain anything from that area. A sleuthing team from New Hemisphere was able to trace Grisham so that they can be given him his wallet.

As per The San Diego Union-Tribune, the wallet was returned to Grisham by mail in good condition. Stephen Decato and Sarah Lindbergh, New Hampshire-based father and daughter sleuthing team traced Grisham through emails, Facebook messages, and letters. They also took help from Bruce McKee from the Indiana Spirit of ’45 non-profit foundation.

When people from The San Diego Union-Tribune, contacted Grisham regarding his now found wallet he shared that he did not recall losing his wallet, but was grateful that he was reunited with his wallet after all these years. He even shared that the temperature there would drop to lows of -65 degrees during his stay.

He shared: “I was just blown away. There was a long series of people involved who tracked me down and ran me to the ground. Let me just say this, if I took a can of soda pop and set it outside on the step, if I didn’t retrieve it in 14 minutes it would pop open because it had frozen.”

Since he is a navy meteorologist, he had his share of adventure. He served at stations in Guam, Hawaii, and Japan. He also spent two periods working aboard aircraft carriers in the Pacific.

The post Wallet Lost In Antarctica Found After 53 Years appeared first on Tamed Flame.