Chalk this up as the weirdest archaeological dig of all time.
University of North Dakota professor Bill Caraher is digging up a landfill in New Mexico in hopes of finding a reported cache of Atari video games that he believes was buried there in the 1980’s.
The video game in question is “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” It was a flop and the Atari corporation reportedly threw away an enormous cache of the game cartridges, after they failed to sell. No one knows precisely where the cartridges are buried.
Professor Caraher’s academic focus is normally on 10th-century Christian architecture, according to a report by Inforum.com.
The link between the video came “E.T.” and Christian architecture should be obvious to anyone.
Caraher told Inforum.com that he has a “mystical hope” that he will find other video games as well during his excavation through decades-old trash.
If by this point you are still wondering why anyone in their right mind would travel across the country to dig through a mountain of garbage in a long shot bid to discover a cache of buried video games–games that anyone could by on eBay for $35–then congratulations, that’s a sign that you might be sane.
Nathan Harden is editor of The College Fix and author of the book SEX & GOD AT YALE: Porn, Political Correctness, and a Good Education Gone Bad.
Follow Nathan on Twitter @NathanHarden
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