This company makes parts that are subject to rigorous quality control — and that means they must be X-rayed before they’re shipped to customers, says a programmer pilot fish working there.

“The process involved a technician writing the lot number down on a piece of paper,” fish says. “The paper was affixed to the tray of parts that were X-rayed and sent to final inspection. The film was placed into boxes with film from other lots for storage.

“Depending on the parts, the film had to be stored for anywhere from 30 days to 99 years.”

Trouble is, it’s impossible to reliably track the film, because those pieces of paper get misplaced and lot numbers are mistyped.

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