I heard a news item recently that suggestedthat the United States was in the middle of aminor time capsule crisis. It seems that theBicentennial year of 1976 encouraged aflurry of activity to place time capsules. Theearliest of these were generally scheduled tobe exhumed in 25 years, or the year 2001.The minor crisis arose when one of severalthings happened. First, the capsules simplycouldn't be found because the directions tolocate the capsule were wrong. Second, thecapsules were placed in inappropriate locations,or had been made of materials thatcould not withstand burial for 25 years, andthe capsules had disintegrated or were useless.Third, some capsules were located andmade of appropriate materials, but theyhad not been sealed adequately, and thecontents inside were spoiled.