Tried a new soil probe on a dig near Tucson and got a weird reading

Tara King · 2026-03-16T23:00:36.649471+00:00

I was helping out on a survey project about 20 miles east of Tucson last week, using a new digital soil probe I bought. At about 18 inches down, the probe's screen suddenly showed a wild pH spike that made no sense for the area. We dug a small test pit right there and found a cluster of old, broken glass bottles from maybe the 1940s, which must have thrown off the sensor. Has anyone else had a simple tool reading lead them to a totally unexpected find?

robin_wright6mo ago

Oh wow, that's wild. Tech is smart until it finds old trash.

2

elizabeth4387mo ago

Ever get a false reading from buried metal? My old metal detector once went nuts over a rusty tractor gear.

1

cora6047mo ago

That's how it always goes. Tech gives you a weird number, and the real answer is just some old junk people left behind.

1