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An SCP-4000 event in progress.
Item #: SCP-4000
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: The DYNASTY Protocol is currently in effect, and is to be maintained indefinitely. Birds injured by SCP-4000-1 are to be explained under the cover story of predatory birds consuming toxic materials. Civilians witnessing or interacting with SCP-4000-1 are to be amnesticized.
The DYNASTY Protocol is as follows:
- Complete infiltration of the paleontology field by Foundation personnel.
- Surrounding planned paleontological dig sites with anti-avian measures prior to excavation.
- Widespread declaration that the theory suggesting that birds evolved from dinosaurs is obsolete.
- Use of memetic agents embedded in educational media to reinforce that birds and dinosaurs are unrelated, and that no dinosaurs ever possessed feathers.
Description: SCP-4000 is a phenomenon involving anomalous coordinated behavior among various species of birds.
SCP-4000 events begin as ordinary flocks. The flock will stay close to the ground, often generating large clouds of dust or dirt. High-speed cameras trained on SCP-4000 events have detected small groups of birds within the flock attaching their wingtips together to form rings before dispersing again in a very short burst of light. Observation of SCP-4000 events has not shown any inherent pattern in these lights.
Excavation of the ground beneath SCP-4000 events will often (~70%) uncover various dinosaur fossils, even rarely in already-excavated locations. These fossils are always of theropod dinosaurs, often coelurosaurians1. The variety and quantity of the fossils increase with the number of birds in the SCP-4000 flock.
Fossils located via SCP-4000 appear nonanomalous. They exhibit a high degree of preservation and detail, with feather imprints and skulls often intact; all fossils match generally accepted taxonomic timelines. Eleven new species and seventeen new subspecies have been tentatively accepted by Foundation paleontologists.
SCP-4000-1 instances are translucent Class III Incorporeal Entities, and resemble theropod dinosaurs in various states of decomposition. All instances with visible skin lack feathers.
Timeline of SCP-4000 Incidents| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| 1861 | Friedrich Witte and Karl Häberlein discover the first Archaeopteryx skeleton unearthed in Germany. Later suspected to be an occurence of SCP-4000 due to the mentions made in Häberlein's journal of the "great and peculiar flocks of birds" seen that day. |
| 1859-1863 | British biologist Thomas Huxley learns of the recently discovered Archaeopteryx and becomes an ardent proponent of the possibility of an evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds. |
| 04/16/1944 | Collateral damage during bombing of Munich in World War II destroys rare Spinosaurus fossils suspected to be compromised by SCP-4000. Surviving photographs and journals edited. |
| 02/17/1971 | Birds involved in most recent SCP-4000 event sustain severe, often fatal injuries during event; usually bite marks, dismemberment, blunt trauma, or complete crushing. |
| 08/26/1996 | SCP-4000 event leads to civilian discovery and publishing of Sinosauropteryx, the first publicly documented feathered dinosaur. First instance of birds sustaining injuries outside of the duration of the event. |
| 01/19/2002 | Dr. Pascal Godefroit, a Belgian paleontologist, sustains similar bite injuries after publishing an article describing dinosaur-bird phylogeny. He is hospitalized and claims to have seen incorporeal, dinosaur-like entities. After Godefroit's recovery, he is amnesticized and the cover story of a car accident is disseminated. |
| 09/15/2004 | SCP-4000 event ends prematurely due to death of all birds present during event. Cameras detect a translucent silhouette resembling a Tyrannosaurus rex, designated SCP-4000-1. |
| 02/13/2006 | SCP-4000-1 instances destroy several museum displays and theropod fossils. |
| 07/01/2009 | SCP-4000-1 instances manifest within a Foundation paleontology conference, injuring 22 before MTF Phi-2 ("Clever Girls") and MTF Mu-13 ("Ghostbusters") arrive on the scene. (See Incident Log 4000-119 for details.) |
Following treatment of all injuries and subsequent moving of the SCP-4000-1 Deinocheirus to a permanent containment cell, Dr. Barrera was interviewed.
Dr. Barrera died two days later in a car accident, when she collided head-on with a semi-trailer truck. Investigation of the scene found a Velociraptor skull in the car's trunk.