At one point or the other, everyone thinks of having their own house. The one with spacious rooms and a fancy dining room. The house must have windows opening to a beautiful view and with a kitchen garden that has fresh vegetables. The couple in the story too wanted to have such a house. Luckily one day, after searching a lot they even found a perfect home. The family was happy and content to find a house of their dreams. But they didn't know that their happiness was shortlived. What might have happened that the life of the couple changed?
The couple, Hollar-Zwicks lived in a small town in New Jersey. They were happy in their small world. Soon after they got married, they were expecting their first kid. They were excited when the doctor broke the news to them and the couple started preparing for the new baby's room. With the arrival of the baby, they didn't know where their days and nights went by.
After another couple of kids there family was complete. The man of the house was now thinking about finding a suitable job so that they would be able to put their kids in a good school. He started looking for a job outside the town and gave a couple of interviews. And one day when he was enjoying his weekend, he got a call. Who might have called him?
Carol, the mistress of the house picked up the phone. The man on the other end of the phone introduced himself and asked for her husband. He told her that he was calling from a firm and asked her if her husband could come for an interview. She jumped with excitement and gave the phone to her husband.
The next morning, Ken got ready for the interview and took a bus to the town. He was excited as well as nervous too. The man wanted this job desperately. Luckily, his interview went well and when he was on his way back, he got a call from the company. They told him the good news. He was on cloud nine and started making a plan on how would he shift his family in the town.
As he reached home, he broke the news to everyone. The family was happy but the thought of leaving the house they were currently residing in made them sad altogether. They didn't have any idea about how would they move to a new town, would they be able to adjust there and several other things started running into their minds. What would they do now?
The couple didn't waste any time and started searching for a new house in the town. They found out that Neenah was a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the north-central United States. The family was excited to know it was situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River. It was a peaceful town, somewhat like they had imagined it to be. But there was one big hurdle that was still in their way.
The town was really small and so was its population. Neenah meant "water" in the vernacular language. It had a population of approximately 26,000 people. But then too in that small town, they were finding it hard to own a house of their choice.
After they had researched a lot and met almost every realtor in the town, they finally came across a house that interested them. So on a Sunday morning, they set out to see the house. All the way, their fingers were crossed and they were hoping it to be the way they had imagined. Would their search come to an end?
When they stepped out of the car, the family was awestruck with the size of the house that stood in front of them. As they stepped inside the house, they were totally amazed, it seemed to them as if the house was built and designed the way they wanted. When the realtor asked them if they would like to buy this house, they couldn't just say no. They were immensely happy with their new house.
The realtor told them every detail about the house but the place that intrigued the most to the family was the backyard. What was so special about the same? Maybe it looked really old and that's what intrigued the new inmates. The most fascinating part of the backyard was the old hatch that was at the corner of the backyard. The family never tried to have a look inside the hatch because it was very dusty and filthy. So when they cleaned up the whole house they left the hatch as it was.
Finally leaving all the fear behind, they moved to Neenah to start their new life. They were excited and made plans about how they would decorate their living rooms, kitchens, etc. Little did they know that the town was itself guarding a mystery that the family would unravel later.
Once they moved into the house, they started to design the house the way they wanted leaving the hatch undisturbed in the backyard. Soon they had settled in it and continued with their daily life routines. It had been a week since they had settled into their new house and made new friends. In a blink of an eye, the weeks changed into months and months changed into years.
If the story was just about a family shifting from one place to another, then you wouldn't be reading it, right? Then what different was going to happen that made this story special? Well, it was the most unexpected thing anyone could ever think of! Can you guess what it maybe? It was the hatch that lay under the layers of dust and grass, which was forgotten almost a decade ago. What mystery did it hold?
It had been a decade and since then the hatch was there in the backyard, no one took the time to open it up and see what lay inside it. For the family, it was just a hatch and nothing else. But was it so? Well after a decade, Carol decided to clean up her house. While she was doing so, she saw the hatch. For a minute, she stood there numb and several thoughts were running inside her mind.
Since day one, the hatch was always in the back of their minds. But it was so filthy that they didn't have the strength to clean it up and see what was inside it. But now when they were cleaning the whole house, they thought of hatch too. When Carol saw it, she was just thinking how would she clean this mess up. The hatch had dust piled up on it and she was reluctant to open it up. The reason behind it was obvious, she was afraid that there might be some insects that could bite her. Would she still open the hatch?
She was just standing in front of the hatch when she felt her husband coming from behind. He asked her as to why she was standing still. She told him that she was doubtful about what the hatch might contain. He was sure to clean up the backyard so he went ahead and started to pull out the grass.
Because it had been years, the grass had covered its surface, hence it was taking their all efforts to pull the grass out. But now there was no going back, they had made up their mind to clean the hatch. The couple was all set to unravel the truth that was hidden inside the hatch for years. Would they be able to find it out?
The hatch had never been a center of attention for the family members before. They didn't even try to question the realtor about the same and hence they didn't have any idea what it contained. Carol at first, thought that it was a tornado shelter. But her husband ruled out the possibility by saying that the town had never faced any tornado as per the records. Then what was inside the hatch?
As the inmates started to clean the hatch, they made certain assumptions too. Carol thought that the hatch might have been an underground room once which was now empty and rusty. But they didn't have any idea why they were going to be famous because of the hatch. So slowly they started pulling off all the grass that was grown on the hatch with all the strength they had.
After they had successfully pulled off the grass they could see that the hatch's opening was actually a door. The couple stared at each other in surprise. The kids ran inside the house because the door of the hatch scared them. The couple couldn't speak a word as they were not able to think straight. They were thinking of going inside but the fear of what they might encounter was keeping them unraveling the truth.
Despite having several thoughts, they made up their minds to enter the hatch. But first, they need to clean the opening before they could enter it. They knew that they weren't going to find any magical box inside the filthy hatch but soon their presumption was going to break.
It was the year 2010 when the couple thought of clearing up the hatch. They were prepared to find unwanted weeds that might have grown because the hatch was not cleaned for years. Carol and Ken both looked at each other wondering if they should really go ahead and open up the long-closed door? The height of their curiosity had increased many folds.
They knew that they were taking a big risk as the hatch had been closed for so long. They could make out that there was room behind the door. But they were doubtful whether it was even safe to go inside or not. What were they going to do now?
After gulping down their fears, they finally decided to step into the hatch to know the secret. But again there was a hurdle in front of them. The door of the hatch was jammed so they had to put all their strength in opening the hatch. And finally, they succeeded it at too. The whole mystery was in front of them hoping to be unraveled. They tried to look inside the hatch but due to immense darkness, they weren't able to see anything.
Carol ran inside the house to bring back a torch and some types of equipment that the couple might need when they go inside the hatch. Ken's heart was racing as he was constantly thinking about what would they find inside the hatch. She rushed to her husband with the types of equipment and handed over to him.
They were finally able to see what was inside with the help of the torch and the minute they realized it they went pale. All they could see was water, the whole room was filled with water. So before they could enter they had to drain out the water first. They slowly started to pump the water out of the hatch. They didn't have any idea about the source of the water. The room was as small as they expected it to be. But this was not the end of the mystery. There was more to it.
Once they had drained out all the water from the hatch, they could tell that it was some kind of hiding place or a storm shelter. But Ken had already ruled out the possibility of the hatch being a tornado shelter. And if the hatch wasn't a tornado shelter then what was it?
With their hearts in their mouths, they were carefully stepping into the hatch. The torch helped them to see what was inside it. Once they were completely into the hatch their eyes widened with amazement. The room wasn't just dirty and filthy but it had all the required amenities that man would need in a room.
They had already guessed by now, that the hatch might have been built by the previous owner. But the question was why would a person build a secret room inside in his own house? To get the answer to the question, they thought of further investigating the secret room. After a while, they came to the conclusion that it wasn't just a room that was made for fun, it was a fallout shelter.
They guessed that the previous owner might have designed this shelter to protect himself from exposure to the radioactive debris. It was used by the people so that they could remain safe in a room for a long time. But what was the emergency?
Slowly, the mystery was opening in front of them. They came to know that the house was built in 1951 and was owned by Frank Pansch who was a physician. According to the municipal records, Ken and Carol came to know that Frank started building the shelter around 1960. And they started looking for a perfect explanation as to why the owner might have built it in the first place.
The couple realized that the fallout shelter was built when the cold war was going on. And that was in 1960. The step taken by the man was quite intelligent. Just a few years after the owner had built the shelter, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in the country. The shelter was the best place for Frank to hide when the tensions between the Soviet Union and the USA raised. He could sense that a war was going to happen and hence he took the safety measures to build the shelter.
The town they were currently residing in was a fallout zone during the cold war, then why would have Frank built the shelter? The couple later came to know that although Neenah wasn't under attack, the possibility of being attacked by the enemy was still high. This theory was later confirmed by an expert from the renowned University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. So Frank might have built the shelter to protect himself in the worse condition.
Frank had made a plan that if in case the cities were under attack, he and his parents would be safe inside the shelter. And they could come out when the situation was under control. It was interesting to know that Frank was the only person that had executed this plan. He had already built the shelter when President Kennedy had just warned the people about the worsening condition. When the investigated further they came to know that it was more than a fallout shelter.
The couple was constantly thinking as to how he would have come up with a bulletproof plan. Later they came to know that Frank took the directions from a government pamphlet which was printed in the year 1959 under the name “The Family Fallout Shelter.” The fallout shelter had a complicated structure which included electricity, a telephone line, and a ventilation system.
The pamphlet wasn't just for reference, it was a step by step guide for building the main chamber at right angles. It was a genius plan to help people from protecting themselves from radiation. But only Frank seemed to have implemented the plan written on the pamphlet. The owner had stored all the required material that would be needed for anyone who would stay in such a condition. But unluckily the things got perished with time and water drowned the whole room. Were they going to find something else too?
To their surprise, the shelter still had all the necessary items and it consisted of bunk beds, a lantern, and a folding toilet inside the shelter. It too had food items stocked inside the fallout shelter. And there were other things that were to be discovered.
Water had completely ruined the condition of the room. With this, the couple came to the conclusion that the shelter might have a broken seal from where the water might have entered the shelter. Hence it wouldn't have proved to be effective in protecting the inmates from radioactive debris.
Along with the destroyed food and things, the couple saw some boxes which were in perfect condition even after so many years. What were in these boxes? The couple rushed to the corner in which these airtight boxes were kept to have a closer look. These boxes didn't seem to be some regular boxes. This increased their curiosity and they picked up the boxes in their hands.
They looked at each other for a moment because they didn't know what the boxes might contain. So both of them climbed out of the opening from the hatch where their kids were too waiting for them. They placed the boxes on the ground and tried to unbox them. When they opened the box saw a packet of Kellogg’s Cornflakes, chocolate chip cookies, and tins of Flavor Kist saltines. Surprisingly, these food items weren't destroyed in any way.
Among all the boxes, there was one particular box that caught their attention. It looked like an old ammunition box but they didn't know if they were right or not. The couple was doubtful and hence they thought of taking help from someone who might have a better idea as to what it might be. So without wasting any time, they decided to call the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Within no time, the experts came to their house to examine the content of the box. They carefully started their operation and opened the box. To their amazement, they saw a stock of Hawaiian Punch in the box. With the help of experts, they also found out some types of equipment that Frank might have used for detecting the nuclear attack. The team also found out a Geiger counter that Frank might have installed in the shelter to measure the radiation.
When the mystery was unfolded in front of them, the couple was feeling immensely happy with what they had found. Carol Hollar-Zwick later said, “It’s interesting that you can open up something and find 1960 inside of it.” She also compared the fallout shelter with a time capsule and wanted to share the discovery with the rest of the world. And hence they gave away all their findings to Neenah Historical Society.
In May 2013, all the finding of the fallout shelter was put on display in the exhibition. Along with the things found in the fallout shelter, the exhibition also displayed some books, TV shows, and radio. The exhibition reminded people of how they used to live in the 1960s.
It didn't take much time for the story to make headlines. Many people were surprised by the discovery that the couple had accidentally made. Ken and Carol too were thinking as to why they didn't make the effort to open the hatch before. In an interview, the family also admitted that they had never thought the filthy looking hatch might contain such a treasure. But now the secret of the hatch wasn't just revealed to the family but it also lay bare in front of the world too.