James was taken aback to witness his son Liam crying in the attic, disrupting what had appeared to be a typical day. He had no idea, when he ran upstairs to console his terrified son, that this episode would uncover a long-held secret hidden in their attic.

The story began in 2018, when the family’s arborvitae trees were damaged by deer. When James and his family were preparing to repair the damaged trees on the east side of the yard, they noticed something peculiar between them. What they initially thought was an electric box was actually something lot more puzzling.

In May 2018, landscapers were sent in to remove the damaged trees and gain access to the mysterious metal box while planting bamboo trees that are resistant to deer. They were surprised to discover that the metal box was the entrance of a gigantic hornet’s nest rather than just a regular electrical outlet.

The size of the nest itself as well as the strange sounds it was making—like a car engine struggling to start—astonished James and Liam. Unlike any other nest they had seen, this one seemed to be hiding something important.