Go for the gold? The U.S. government went for it. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reportedly commissioned a scientific analysis to discover gold buried beneath the surface in Pennsylvania, according to sources.
According to official emails and other recently disclosed records in the case, FBI agents were seeking an immensely rich trove of fabled Civil War-era gold — maybe tons of it — when they explored a secluded wooded location in Pennsylvania three years ago.
On March 13, 2018, the FBI was led to Dent’s Run, some 135 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh. There, the legend has it that an 1863 cargo of Union gold was lost or stolen on its route to the United States Mint in Philadelphia.
The FBI has long declined to reveal why it dug. Therefore, claiming only in written statements that agents were there for a court-ordered excavation of “what evidence suggested may have been a cultural s heritage site.”
No gold for the FBI?
According to reports, the FBI had obtained an order to take the gold if the geophysicist discovered it. Testing indicated nine tons of material with a density that appeared to be gold.
A father and son duo suspected the FBI of double-crossing them and taking the gold with them. The gold appeared to be from the Civil War era.
The court ordered the release of data related to the FBI’s claimed treasure hunt in 1863.
The FBI declined to cooperate. Then, Dennis and Kem Parada sued the Justice Department for the records, bringing the entire saga to light. The FBI announced on its website that it has performed a huge excavation in 2018. However, no gold was discovered, since no “metal” or “other relevant materials” were discovered, according to the report.
The FBI patrolled the area and “secured the site around the clock for the duration of the excavation”. Thereby, resulting in hundreds of black-and-white images.