CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command scientists Sam Connell and Larry Conyers used radar yesterday to locate a time capsule buried at Ali'iolani Hale by King Kamehameha V more than 130 years ago.

Radar quickly pinpoints site of Kamehameha V capsule

Using radar equipment along a wall of a landmark Honolulu building, military specialists quickly located a time capsule buried more than a century ago by King Kamehameha V.

"It never happens like this. We found it within the first 10 minutes we were here. And that's very surprising," said Larry Conyers, a professor in the anthropology department of the University of Denver, who used ground penetrating radar to find the hollow spot in the northeast corner of the Aliiolani Hale building yesterday.

Historians knew the time capsule containing photos of royal families dating back to Kamehameha the Great, Hawaiian postage stamps and a constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom was put in place on Feb. 19, 1872. But until now the capsule's exact location was unknown.

However, there is no reason to remove the capsule from where it is hidden, said Matt Mattice, executive director of the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center.

"We were more concerned about its actual location," he said.

The purpose of the search, conducted by members of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, was to locate the capsule so it could be protected during any future renovations or natural disasters.