Professor Not Prepared for Contents of Lost 1942 Reel Hoped To Be WWII Film

When a history professor discovered a long-forgotten roll of silent 8mm film from 1942, he thought it could contain rare and important footage from World War II.

So Fr. Gregory Schnakenberg was shocked to find that instead of battle scenes, the old reel contained footage of puppies.

But the historical action has still captivated viewers on Twitter, where the footage of the playful pups has been viewed more than 11 million times.

The delicate forgotten film roll, which Schnakenberg found in an metal box while working through archives, was marked "The Philippines 1942."

Schnakenberg, an assistant professor of ecclesiastical history at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek: "We have a lot of books, papers, photos, and film from various places, but I hadn't seen anything from the Philippines and this period before."

Excited at the possibility of discovering some lost scenes from World War II, he sent it to specialists who carefully digitalized the footage.

"I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I was intrigued given the date on the box," said Schnakenberg. "Obviously I thought it might give a glimpse into life around the time of World War II in the Philippines. And, in a sense, it did."

If the date on the film roll is correct, the footage could be from a particularly turbulent time in history as 1941-1942 marked Japan's conquest of the Philippines, which is considered by some to be America's worst ever military defeat.

An estimated 23,000 American military personnel and over 100,000 Filipino soldiers were killed or captured, often to be placed in Japanese prisoner of war camps in the Philippines.

But instead of footage that would highlight the hardships of 1942 in the grasp of a world war, the film simply contained pictures of puppies playing and rolling around.

"I had to laugh when I saw the footage," said Schnakenberg. "Of all the possibilities for what might be on the film, I hadn't expected puppies."

On Twitter, where the video quickly gained viral attention, viewers were thrilled by the adorable puppy footage and shared their reactions.

"I think you won," said @itsborken, while user @maladaptivehamz wrote: "Listen, I've seen a lot of WWII footage, but I've never seen these cute puppies before. Rare and important find."

Other viewers of the long-lost footage said that they found it strangely comforting, with @lay_1306 writing: "[It] is always good to know that the more things change the more they stay the same."

"Aww, 80-year-old puppies," said Twitter user @FroyoBaggins. "I hope all their days were as happy as this."

Meanwhile @Slm2138 commented: "To be fair, I could be in the middle of one of the most significant historical moments and still be captivated by puppies."