In 1998, the Splendors of Ancient Egypt exhibit was making the rounds, and the very last exhibit was of a wooden coffin from the Greek period with a mummy inside. I think it was included because they felt they had to have a mummy, even though the rest of the collection was extraordinary.
Well, there was something strange about that exhibit, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The wooden coffin had been painted with thick horizontal red and white stripes on the sides, and the inside of the lid, over the mummy’s head, was painted to look like the night sky.
That is, a dark blue field with a bunch of stars. The lid was propped open, so visitors could see the mummy, and then the light dawned.
With its lid open, the coffin looked like the American flag!
As I told my friends at the time, “I guess we know that the time machine works. At least halfway.”
:’)