Poland expects to know more about the rumored Nazi ghost train this month

According to spokesman Bartosz Dembinski of the Krakow University of Science and Technology, the findings should be released in mid-December.

In September, Poland's army began clearing trees and shrubs alongside a railway in southwestern Poland that stretches between the towns Wroclaw and Walbrzych.

"Our goal is to check whether there's any hazardous material at the site," Colonel Artur Talik, who is leading the search using ground-penetrating radar, reportedly told Agence France Presse.

Amid claims that the train's existence was a hoax, the two men who said they found the train in Poland identified themselves last week as Andreas Richter and Piotr Koper on TVP.INFO, the Associated Press reports?.

"As the finders of a World War II armored train, we, Andreas Richter and Piotr Koper, declare that we have legally informed state authorities about the find and have precisely indicated the location in the presence of Walbrzych authorities and the police," Koper said in a prepared statement, according to the Associated Press.

"We have irrefutable proof of its existence," he added.

According to Koper, he and Richter found the train by using their "own resources, eyewitness testimony, and our own equipment and skills," the AP notes.

Along with their statement, the men released an image taken with ground-penetrating radar that purportedly showed the armored Nazi train.

Here's the first radar image:

Six days later, on September 1o, a second radar image purportedly showing the rumored World War II-era Nazi ghost train was published by the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wroclawska.

The ground-penetrating image appears to show a row of tanks, which supports initial reports that the train was of "military nature."

According to local folklore, the German train is believed to have vanished in 1945 with stolen gold, gems, and weapons while fleeing the Russians.

The only living source of the train legend, retired miner Tadeusz Slowikowski, confirmed to the Associated Press that Koper and Richter shared their findings with him before alerting authorities.

Slowikowski, who searched for the train in 2001, believes it is near the 65th kilometer of railway tracks from Wroclaw to Walbrzych.

According to Koper and Richter's statement, the train is not in a tunnel, as previously thought, but buried underground.

Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said military chemical-weapons experts inspected the site because of suspicions the train was rigged with explosives.

Meanwhile, investigators in Poland have suggested that the recently discovered train "could be the first of many," The Telegraph reports. Here's the route along which the train was found:

Koper and Richter, who are by law entitled to a 10% reward, have offered to help cover the costs of the train's excavation and hope it will become a local tourist attraction in the future.

Despite Russia's preemptive claims to some of the cargo on the train, any items will be "returned to the heirs of their former owners," The Telegraph reports.

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