SCP-3891

SCP-3891 (this image confirmed safe for viewing)

Item #: SCP-3891

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: By agreement with the United States and Marshall Islands governments, the Foundation has established Site-68 on Kwajalein Atoll for SCP-3891 containment. Two Foundation Cyclone-class patrol vessels (SCPS Arethusa and SCPS Leander) with aviation support are to enforce a perimeter 50km from SCP-3891, with the cover of a US military restricted zone. Any civilian vessels or aircraft approaching this area are to be rerouted. Under no circumstances are vessels or aircraft, Foundation or otherwise, to enter within 10km of SCP-3891, or attempt to view SCP-3891 with magnification aids.

Direct viewing of photographs, video records, or SCP-3891 itself is prohibited prior to cognitohazard risk assessment. Publicly available map and satellite data has been altered to remove images of SCP-3891, with Foundation webcrawler 3891-PAUL tasked to search and remove any online images. All images of SCP-3891 are to be digitally analysed and converted into textual descriptions by an automated system, with the original information stored in the Site-68 archives protected by standard cognitohazard precautions.

No communication is to be attempted with any individuals on SCP-3891, and persons who have completed travel there are to be considered deceased. All other individuals subject to SCP-3891's effects should be administered Class-C amnestics, and terminated if effects persist.

Description: SCP-3891 is a coral atoll at coordinates [REDACTED] in the Marshall Islands. It consists of 13 islands surrounding a central lagoon, with a total land area of 3.8km2. Viewing SCP-3891 both in reality or recordings is cognitohazardous with an intensity proportional to the distance of the viewer or recording from SCP-3891. This effect involves heightened fear responses, pessimistic and hopeless thought patterns, and a belief that the world is either experiencing or approaching some form of apocalyptic scenario consistent with the subject's premorbid belief system. For example, highly religious individuals tend towards thoughts related to eschatological events, whereas individuals who closely follow geopolitical and military matters may develop heightened concerns about thermonuclear war. This is combined with a perception that SCP-3891 is a place of safety and a desire to approach it; it is unclear whether this desire is a component of SCP-3891's cognitohazardous nature or an expected result of its primary effect.

A distance of 10km is the maximum observed range for this effect to occur, and at this point it is reversible with amnestics. However, if subjects successfully reach SCP-3891, its cognitohazardous effects become permanent. Subjects affected in this manner invariably believe that human civilisation and often the Earth itself (with the exception of SCP-3891) have been destroyed by some form of end-of-the-world scenario. If forcibly taken to areas outside of SCP-3891, they will perceive these as having been destroyed, and other individuals as hallucinations, paranormal entities or occasionally survivors (who they will attempt to convince to return to SCP-3891).

Since coming to Foundation attention, 191 individuals, including [REDACTED] Foundation personnel, are known to have travelled to SCP-3891. Although the cognitohazardous properties of SCP-3891 preclude detailed investigation, these individuals are presumed deceased given the inability of SCP-3891 to support any significant population for extended periods of time.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENT IS LEVEL 4/3891 CLASSIFIED ATTEMPTS TO ACCESS THIS DOCUMENT WITHOUT LEVEL 4/3891 AUTHORISATION WILL BE LOGGED AND WILL LEAD TO DISCIPLINARY ACTION. BY ACCESSING THIS DOCUMENT YOU CONSENT TO LATER AMNESTIC TREATMENT.