This story has 50’s horror flick written all over it.
“They thought it was dead...”
“They thought it was harmless...”
“They thought they could contain it...”
[Insert “Terminator” music here.]
“They thought it COULDN’T be a genetically engineered doomsday bio-weapon sent from the future to the past imprisoned in salt crystals in the vain hopes that it would die of age...”
Whatever you do, don't let one of these get on your hand.