April 22, 2022

The Weirdest Things Found In Storage

Most people use self storage for their belongings and furniture during a house move, or for storing business stock/equipment. All very nice and normal. But, sometimes people use their units to store some very weird items. Here are some of the most mysterious items people have unlocked behind the doors of their storage units…

Combination lock on storage unit door

The very first (stolen!) Superman comic

When purchasing the contents of a storage locker in California in 2011, the new owner discovered they were in possession of the very first Superman comic. Created in 1938, this was an amazing find in itself. But the story gets weirder as the owner discovered more about the comic’s origins. It turned out that it had been stolen from Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage’s house in 2000.

James Bond’s car

From Superman to James Bond. In 1989, a New York couple purchased the contents of a storage unit for $100 at a blind auction. When they were finally able to look in the unit they found a 1976 Lotus Esprit Sports car. This car was one of eight created for the 1977 James Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. In 2013, Elon Musk bought the car for $1 million.

A live hand grenade

Upon its discovery in Michigan in 2014, authorities evacuated the entire area surrounding the facility so the bomb squad could remove the grenade safely. The manager of the facility was not all that surprised at the discovery saying at the time, “In the storage industry we see a lot of weird stuff!”.

A nest of pythons

This weird discovery was made on TV during an episode of ‘Storage Wars’. Buyer Brandon Sheets found the albino pythons hidden within the unit. The previous owner had been using the unit to secretly breed the snakes in hopes of selling them as pets.

A leg…

In 2007 Shannon Whisnant bought the contents of a storage unit which included a barbecue smoker. When he opened it up, he found a human leg, wrapped in tinfoil. Calling 911, Whisnant eventually discovered that the leg belonged to the unit’s previous owner, John Wood. It turned out that John lost the leg in a plane crash. He kept it, wanting to be buried with it when he died – only to forget where it was. And, the story only gets weirder as Whisnant refused to give the leg back, instead turning the unit into a tourist attraction, charging people to see the leg! This strange tale is now told in a documentary film, ‘Finders Keepers’.

And what about Cinch Storage…we stored a plane!

Yes, that’s right, a full sized plane was stored in our very own Bicester store. We were able to break it down into parts and store it inside one of our units, before shipping off to its next destination.

Sadly it wasn’t able to take off from outside the store…our runway just wasn’t quite long enough.