SYDNEY, N.S. — What was first believed to be a suspicious packed delivered to the Cape Breton University turned out to be a mystery of another kind, dating back about 330 million years. Jason Loxton, a geology instructor, says he's used to solving mysteries, but what happened when he arrived at work a few days ago still has him scratching his head. "Got immediately met by security at the sign-in desk and security says, 'Hey, can we talk to you for a second', and that is not a good sign," said Loxton. Loxton soon found out an unexpected package had been dropped off at the campus. "They ushered me into a back room where they wanted to show me a 'something', and the 'something' they wanted to show me was this mysterious – and yes, this is a Sobeys bag. You can't get more Nova Scotian than that," explained Loxton. The package was addressed, rather cryptically, to the Cape Breton University president, David Dingwall. Without knowing what was in the bag, the school contacted authorities. Police quickly determined the contents, which looked like rocks, were nothing to be concerned about. Loxton says after seeing the contents of the Sobeys bag, he knew exactly what they were when asked by security if he could identify them. "I immediately knew, not only what it was, but I was pretty excited by what it was," said Loxton. "Because on this slab in particular, is beautifully preserved, a series of fossils that aren't super rare in the world, but I've never seen them in Cape Breton." The geologist says the samples are about 330 million years old – dating back to a time called the Mississippian period. During this period, Nova Scotia, along with much of North America, was under water. Loxon says he was able to determine this based off what the mysterious person left behind. "The mystery person has given us the actual locality data which allows us to situate, on a geological map or a physical map, exactly where these things are, and therefore, to figure out how old they are," said Loxton. "This is clearly someone who was curious enough about this stuff that they brought it in. They went out of their way, they drove out to the university. So, honestly, they want to know the story and I want to tell that story." Loxton says he would love to find out who left the fossils behind so the university can specify who the artifacts came from. "If they want to come in, we'll put their name on the backs so students can forever know who this came in from," explained Loxton.
