LOS ANGELES, Dec 14 — A retired California highway patrolman has stumbled into possession of a trove of unreleased Michael Jackson songs — which the world may never have a chance to hear.

Gregg Musgrove, now a stay-at-home dad, procured the tapes after an associate purchased a storage unit in the city of Van Nuys that contained the recordings, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The unit had once belonged to music producer Bryan Loren — who also worked with artists including Whitney Houston and Sting — but whose whereabouts are currently unknown.

Inside were cassette tapes and digital-audio tapes (DAT) of 12 unreleased tracks Jackson had worked on before releasing his Grammy-nominated Dangerous album in 1991.

Sadly, for Jackson’s many fans, an attorney hired by Musgrove to contact the Jackson estate was told that the estate owns the copyright on all of the late singer’s musical recordings and compositions, so they cannot be released publicly.

The estate later clarified for the Hollywood Reporter that it holds the master recordings of the recently unearthed songs in its vaults, and that "nothing commercial or otherwise can be done with the DAT copies.”

Some of the songs had only been rumoured to exist, while others had been partially leaked, Musgrove told the Hollywood Reporter, but added "a couple aren’t even out there in the world.”

Some tapes include the voice of Jackson and apparently Loren discussing the songs and the creative process.

"To hear Michael Jackson actually talk and kind of joke back and forth, it was really, really cool,” said Musgrove.

The tracks include one titled Don’t Believe It, an apparent reference to rumours about Jackson concerning sexual assault against minors. On another, Truth on Youth, Jackson appears to engage in a rap duet with LL Cool J.

It was not clear what Musgrove might have paid his associate for the tapes, but he still stands to come out ahead.

He plans to offer the tapes to major auction houses, and buyers are expected to line up.

In 2012, Lady Gaga purchased 55 pieces of Jackson memorabilia — reportedly including one of his crystal-studded gloves — while a jacket he wore during his Bad tour sold for US$240,000 (RM1.06 million). — AFP