Image of SCP-5533 during observation. Scroll over to enlarge.

Item #: SCP-5533

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5533 is contained at the bottom of Loch Ness within a crevice located at 230 meters, which itself extends to 271 meters. The crevice is barred off, and a water-drone commonly used for checking the submerged portions of the Glendoe Hydro Scheme1 is to be used to check the bars every other day.

Foundation web-crawlers are to abate the amount of content regarding the existence of a Loch Ness Monster, specifically any content claiming that it exists. All content of this type should be kept to a minimum, but should not be deleted altogether to prevent neutralization of SCP-5533. Any claims that the crevice SCP-5533 is contained in exists are to be removed along the guidelines of cover story CS-S0NR3 ("Sonar Error"). If the creature's Mandela Rating2 of twenty fluctuates substantially, either by raising or lowering by five points, Director Sythwell is to be contacted immediately.

+ Excerpt from Dr. Cathail's Seminar on Mandelas and the Mandela Effect

- Minimize

Everyone take a seat. We can talk amongst ourselves afterward.

The Mandela Effect is a fairly common social phenomenon that describes when a large amount of people have a common misconception about something generally well-known. It's why a lot of people think "Looney Tunes" is spelled t-o-o-n-s instead of t-u-n-e-s or that its namesake Nelson Mandela had died before he was actually dead.

This idea is fairly similar. Utilizing online and Foundation sources on what people believe and if what they believe in is false, we can calculate an object's, idea's, or being's mandela rating, or MR, and if it's physical we can use a scanner to calculate it in real-time. It goes from a scale of zero to a hundred, with accurate widespread belief at zero and inaccurate widespread belief at a hundred.

A regular person such as myself, for example, would most likely read at a range of zero to four. However, people higher up in the command may have readings closer to sixty to seventy, since it's unclear who they really are. This is fine! Neither of these are bad because they are exactly what's intended.

Things get more complicated when an anomaly has an MR, as what seems to always be the case in our line of work. When an anomaly has a score like a zero to three, that is what we call explained. Nothing to do about it, because the public has already adopted it as fact. Now generally, when the score goes up, we're doing our job.

Some anomalies though, are the complete opposite. They feed, and even are sometimes made of the energy created by human thought, and specifically the misconceptions the populace has about the anomaly. This is the main, and intended, use of the system. If the creature's or object's MR reaches zero, it most likely will cease to exist or lose any anomalous properties. If it reaches a hundred, the anomaly will often restructure itself to how the public views it and will probably be explained. Once again, after that threshold, we can't do much.

So, after that happy note, I'm going to teach you how to prevent that from ever happening. Let's get started.

Description: SCP-5533 is a thought-based shifter entity, showing a preference for cryptids found in popular culture. Most notably, the creature chooses the Loch Ness Monster as a default form. However, the anomaly is not able to fully replicate the appearance of the cryptids, and as such avoids direct view. SCP-5533 was originally mistaken to be a wild instance of SCP-3934. As a result, MTF Phi-02 ("Clever Girls") was dispatched to Loch Ness to capture the anomaly.

Addendum-5533-01:

To: MTF Phi-02 ("Clever Girls") Captain Date: 02/16/2016

From: Director Sythwell

Captain,

We have detected another SCP-3934 instance, and oddly enough it's in Loch Ness itself. It's assumed that operatives responsible for releasing it could still be in the area, so be aware. Four of you will be sent to the Scottish Highlands to capture the entity. Take out one of the drones so that you can do reconnaissance and locate it before engaging. Good luck, and hurry home.

Sincerely,

Director Sythwell

Discovery of SCP-5533; Recording-01

02/18/2016

MTF arrive at Loch Ness. Secluded area is chosen to avoid the public, and after prep, deployed drone DR-77 ("Plessy") to scout the lake. After two hours, a disturbance is sensed by the drone, which is nearby a crevice previously unknown to maps of the lake. The drone moves to investigate.

Upon reaching the ravine, no movement is initially visible. The drone moves to enter the crevice, but before it does so a large hand roughly five meters long and wide grasps the edge. The drone moves back into a clump of seaweed to avoid detection, as more hands grab onto the edges. There are eight hands in all.

The hands are attached to arms, which briefly struggle to pull a large mass out of the crevice. The eight ends of the arms connect to the base of a large human head. The head is about six meters wide and seven meters tall. Notably, its hair is long, dark-colored, and has the apparent consistency of tangled thread. Additionally, the entity possesses no iris or pupil, and its jaw appears to be broken.

The organism rests for approximately five minutes, observing its surroundings. After the time lapsed, it moves back down into the crevice. The drone is piloted back towards the beach where the MTF is located. End Recording.

Observation of SCP-5533; Recording-02

02/19/2016

Phi-02 was instructed to wait as MTF Gamma-6 ("Deep Feeders") was deployed to their location to better handle the anomaly. Using only the drone, it was approved to continue the observation of the entity.

0900: SCP-5533 exits the crevice. The drone is piloted within the ravine. As the drone explores the area within the ravine, a cave entrance is found, which leads to a larger, dry cave containing crude paintings on the wall. Most paintings are deemed indecipherable, however, one depicts an unidentified humanoid being carried by other humanoids, seemingly in celebration.

1000: The drone relocates SCP-5533 after exiting the ravine. The anomaly traverses the bottom of the loch by grabbing and pulling at the lakebed. Each individual movement made is slow, but it makes a relatively fast pace due to the amount of limbs SCP-5533 possesses. It stops often, staring towards the shore.

1400: SCP-5533 pulls five Salmo salar3 into its mouth using a single, cupped hand. The fish proceed to swim out of its mouth, triggering no reaction from the anomaly, which continues to pull fish towards itself.

1600: The entity returns to the crevice, and appears to go into a dormant state. Its eyes remain open for this time. Utilizing an MR scanner, SCP-5533 returns a number of sixty-five.

1900: SCP-5533 travels towards the MTF, and proceeds to push its arm above the surface of the water, mimicking the shape of the Loch Ness Monster and SCP-3934. MTF reported seeing the silhouette of the hand, which submerged after three seconds.4

2100: The drone begins to return to the team, but the feed is cut. Notably, the faint shadow of an outstretched hand is seen on the lakebed before the connection is lost. End Recording.

The following day, MTF Gamma-6 ("Deep Feeders") arrives and incapacitates the anomaly for containment, recovering the drone in a damaged state along with the previous footage.

Addendum-5533-02: Following containment and Foundation efforts to lower the anomaly's MR, SCP-5533 underwent multiple changes.

03/24/2016: SCP-5533 passed an MR of fifty-five. The entity's muscle mass has noticeably decreased. In addition, it has made fewer attempts to break containment and has taken more dormant periods.

06/04/2017: SCP-5533 passed an MR of forty. At the moment the MR passed from forty to thirty-nine, one arm detached from the main body with no visible detachment point. The anomaly's severed arm was recovered from the lake bottom. An autopsy conducted on the arm revealed that it was made up entirely of densely-packed neural tissue sheathed in water-damaged dermal coating.

12/03/2017: SCP-5533 entered a cocooned state after reaching an MR of twenty. Utilizing sonar imaging, the entity has decreased in size to a humanoid form. Notably, the body is covered in hair, it possesses two wing-like structures composed of fused arms and hands, and has two ocular structures identical to the Ascalapha odorata5. Following this event, the MR, which would normally fluctuate, stopped changing.

Footnotes

1. A hydroelectric power generation scheme.

2. Mandela Rating was coined and designed by Dr. Cathail and Researcher Myrrh. An excerpt from a seminar on the subject has been included in the document.

3. American Salmon.

4. "I would've thought that it was the real thing if I didn't know what was attached." -Reggie Raxum, Team Lead.

5. Black witch moth.