GULF SHORES, Ala. — The suspense had been building up for weeks. A time capsule discovered in Gulf Shores, that has been on display at the Gulf Shores Museum, was finally opened last week to reveal what many had expected — but hoped would not be the case —  nothing!

The large, sealed PVC pipe with instructions written on the side saying “Gulf Shores Time Capsule to be opened 2009” had been X-rayed by the Gulf Coast Imaging Center in Gulf Shores on Sept. 10.

The images showed no evidence of anything in the capsule, and when the official opening took place during the Gulf Shores Outside and In concert, the blank images were confirmed.

So what happened? Where did the time capsule originate? Will the capsules found in other parts of Baldwin County prove to be equally fruitless in terms of content?

At this point, many questions still abound.

“There was nothing in the capsule except for a fuzz ball,” said Terri Westbrook, Special Events and Programs coordinator for Gulf Shores. “No secret notes saying to check behind the Palm tree or anything.”

According to the diary of long-time resident Midge Callaway, letters and photographs had been donated and sealed in the time capsule in 1976.

During that time, several other Gulf Coast area cities, such as Foley, Robertsdale, Bay Minette and Fairhope, were creating time capsules.

Gulf Shores, however, had not been mentioned in news reports as having prepared a time capsule.

Some reports have the time capsule being discovered in an old building, others say it had been buried beside Town Hall, and still others say they never knew about the capsule until it found a home in the Gulf Shores Museum in the late 90s.

So where did it come from? Who was the individual that discovered the time capsule?

Westbrook hopes that maybe one of the other time capsules will tell the story.

“We are kind of hoping that when we open the one in Foley in October that it will reveal something about ours. I love mysteries. I’ve always read mystery stories. But this is one that really has me intrigued. I want to know the answer,” Westbrook said.

Like the Gulf Shores time capsule, the capsule from Foley has been imaged as well, and reveals something is inside.

“During the 70s, there was not a lot of differentiation between Foley and Gulf Shores,” Westbrook said. “We are hoping that maybe that is the time capsule that is holding Midge’s letters and photographs.”

The Foley Onlooker contained an insert during that time period called “Pleasure Island News” and Callaway wrote a column that appeared in that section of the publication.

Westbrook said that over the past 30 years, many of the citizens have moved away or to different parts of the county, and if the Foley time capsule does not reveal the items that Callaway wrote about, she feels certain that somebody knows something about a Gulf Shores time capsule.