Posted in New Mexico January 11, 2018 by

What’s Buried Underneath The Desert In This Part Of New Mexico May Surprise You

New Mexico is a bit of an oddball state. You’ll find towns with strange names, weird museums, and some unusual roadside attractions, not to mention all the stories about aliens and haunted places. However, there is one place in the state where something truly unexpected was discovered.

We’re aware that these uncertain times are limiting many aspects of life as we all practice social and physical distancing. While we’re continuing to feature destinations that make our state wonderful, we don’t expect or encourage you to go check them out immediately. We believe that supporting local attractions is important now more than ever and we hope our articles inspire your future adventures! And on that note, please nominate your favorite local business that could use some love right now: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nominate/
This is Alamogordo, home to the Trinity test site, the world’s largest pistachio, and a secret burial that only recently came to light.
Jasperdo/Flickr
Actually, it’s located in the city’s landfill. What is it?
Major Nelson/Flickr
A motherlode of 1980s Atari systems, cartridges, and more!
Association WDA/Flickr
In 1983, after the video game company faced some tough times, Atari’s El Paso plant dumped truckloads of critically panned games (such as the infamous E.T. game that was considered one of the worst video games in history) and other unsuccessful equipment into the Alamogordo landfill. Speculations quickly grew about which games could be found there and some assumed the numbers were in the millions. Eventually, a layer of concrete was added to prevent looting - and urban legends began forming.
For years, people could only speculate about what was buried in the landfill. That is, until 2014 when an excavation was undertaken for a documentary called Atari: Game Over.
Jason/Flickr
During this excavation, a fraction of the loot was uncovered.
Major Nelson/Flickr
Around 1,300 cartridges, featuring games such as E.T, Pac-Man, Star Invaders, and more were discovered in the landfill. While rumors claimed millions of games were buried here, excavators estimated that number was closer to 700,000.
taylorhatmaker/Wikimedia Commons
The remaining games are still buried in the landfill. The city granted the excavation as a one-time event for the documentary and it is not expected to do so again.
Following the excavation, some of the items were given to the city’s New Mexico Museum of Space History and to the Smithsonian. Others were sold at auction.
Major Nelson/Flickr
Was this something you were aware of? What other strange things do you think may be buried in the New Mexico desert?

Want to check out some other weird things you’ll find in New Mexico? Read about some head-scratchers in Here Are 8 Museums In New Mexico That Are Just Too Weird For Words.