TL;DR They were all hype to open this time capsule but there was just mud in it.
This is an absolutely epic article from the BBC.
My favorite part:
“I am sure some in our audience have questions for our various experts up on stage?” Ms Voigtschild said after the mud was found. There were none.
“Uh, hi, yeah. Do you guys get paid for this?”
What kind of mud was it?
Old
Fascinating.
Those scamps at East Point have done it again.
But it’s old mud. You can squish it between your fingers just like they did in 1829. Kinda reminds me of the whole Geraldo Rivera and Jimmy Hoffa’s vault it whatever it was.
It’ll also be slightly-less-radioactive mud without the dust from nuclear weapons on it.
“Don’t open your eyes Marion!”
It’s probably soil that has some symbolic meaning for the dead guy of the statue.
Phew