The Citizen Kane of Lightning-induced Reality TV

Item #: SCP-3363

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Individuals affected by SCP-3363 should be assessed on a case-by-case basis; if an individual's range of effect is 1m or greater they should be housed in a Faraday cage shielded Standard Humanoid Containment Cell. Individuals whose range of effect is less than 1m, or those whose range falls below 1m while in containment, may be released following the administration of amnestics.

Individuals reported to have survived being struck by lightning are to be examined for the presence of SCP-3363.

Description: SCP-3363 is an anomaly affecting humans who have been struck by lightning and survived, occurring in approximately 0.5% of individuals1. Affected individuals will begin broadcasting a signal that can be picked up by any device capable of receiving and decoding a television signal, resulting in a valid video. The range of the signal varies between observed values of between 20cm and 87m. In cases where the range is below 1m, the signal strength decreases rapidly to the point that only static can be observed in the resultant video. In 90% of cases, this range decreases over time at varying rates.

The video broadcast by SCP-3363 depicts a "home movie"-style television show featuring video clips of varying qualities that show the death of the individual broadcasting the signal in a variety of ways. The show follows a predictable pattern of between 5 and 10 clips sharing some thematic link (for example, death by electrocution or death by road accident) narrated by the host of the show, followed by a 30- to 60-second intermission filmed in a television studio designed to look like a lounge, in which the host will briefly discuss the previous clips and then lead into the theme of the next section.

The host of the show resembles deceased media personality George Orson Welles as he appeared in the 1980s, in varying states of inebriation. Once every 30 to 40 minutes, the host will break with the common format of the show during one of the intermission segments and attempt to sell a variety of products, typically food or drink items corresponding to no known brands, to the audience. These advertisements will last for approximately two minutes before the standard show format resumes.

The first recorded instance of SCP-3363 occurred in November 1985, approximately one month after the death of George Orson Welles and approximately two months before the first appearance of a "home movies" style television broadcast2.

On November 26th 1989, the host briefly excused himself simultaneously on all currently monitored SCP-3363 broadcasts, which was followed by the cessation of all broadcasts for a period of approximately seven minutes. This event coincided with a Mobile Task Force entering a building in Ronda, Spain, as part of the ongoing investigation into SCP-33633; the building was found to contain a lounge room matching that seen in the broadcasts, though no trace of the host or any broadcasting or recording equipment was found. When broadcasts resumed, the lounge set was noticeably different from the original. This represents the only observed diversion from the standard broadcast pattern, and attempts to locate the new set have failed.

Footnotes

1. Resulting in approximately 1000 cases per year.

2. Occurring as a segment in the Japanese TV Show 加トちゃんケンちゃんごきげんテレビ Kato-chan Ken-chan Gokigen Terebi, which began airing on January 11th 1986.

3. Ronda is the town in which the cremated remains of George Orson Welles were buried.