If you ever wondered what ends up disappearing into Yellowstone National Park’s geysers and hot springs, apparently the answer is: almost everything.
Yellowstone’s geology team says it has removed a record amount of rubbish from the park’s hydrothermal areas during 2026, including more than 280 hats.
And we’re not just talking about the odd baseball cap blowing away in the wind.
Workers have reportedly recovered more than 20,100 pieces of paper and plastic, around 5,600 rocks and sticks, and a selection of stranger items including children’s toys and six dental retainers.
Among the hats pulled out were a 2026 FIFA World Cup cap, a Roblox bucket hat and, brilliantly, a baseball cap with the words “Cowboy Hat” printed across it.
It might sound funny, but throwing or dropping things into Yellowstone’s thermal features is a serious problem. Foreign objects can damage delicate formations and potentially interfere with the underground plumbing that feeds geysers and hot springs.
So somewhere out there are at least six people who went to Yellowstone wearing a dental retainer and somehow came home without it.
How?
That might be the bigger mystery.