Item#: 8601

Containment Class: keter

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: keneq

Risk Class: critical

0°N 0°E - Null Island.

Special Containment Procedures: Civilian flight traffic is currently forbidden per ICAO policy1 within 240 NM (444.48 km) of SCP-8601 and ship traffic within 60 NM (111.12 km) to prevent witnessing of manifestation events. Unauthorized intrusions are to be deterred by agents within the maritime and aviation oversight organizations in the Gulf of Guinea. Public information about SCP-8601 is limited to the existence of a single buoy.

Monthly expeditions are to be launched from São Tomé to collect and distribute accumulated debris from SCP-8601, which is to be contained in the depths of the sea without further study. Foundation personnel2, vehicles, and testing equipment should not approach beyond a safe distance of 250 m to prevent additional intersection events.

Appendix A lists cautionary periods during which testing shall cease, SCP-8601 shall be evacuated, and counter-tsunami measures shall be prepared. The High-Energy Anomalies Division shall inform MAD-level organizations of notable anomalous events, after which the public relations department and seismic monitoring organizations shall execute mass cover story PR-8601-2 ("earthquake").

Generally available and special purpose Foundation computer systems shall be improved to comply with the requirements in Appendix B insofar possible.

SCP-8601-1 manifestation.

Description: SCP-8601 (colloquially 'Null Island') is the anomalous appearance of random objects (SCP-8601-1 instances) in the sea at the crossing of the prime meridian and the equator at exactly 0°N 0°E 0m altitude. SCP-8601-1 instances manifest instantaneously3 at the average sea level4. The objects are very varied, ranging from junk to high-tech equipment, almost always completely malformed or destroyed by the simultaneous intersection with the atmosphere, ocean, and previous instances, with temperatures ranging from 98 °C to 677 °C in 95% of cases.

Manifestation events are random with discernible patterns. Grouping the suspected national origins of SCP-8601-1 instances reveals 38% more objects manifest during the local working hours, and 58% less objects manifest during local weekends or local holidays. Appendix A lists rare occasions where large amounts of instances may manifest simultaneously, resulting in high-yield events. On an average day, 1012 manifestation events occur with an average total mass of 90 Mg. Further study of instances and locating their sources and displacement are forbidden per RCT-Δt policy.

Selection of recovered SCP-8601-1 instances

Date
Object
Notes

1970-09-17
Heineken bottle of beer
Largely melted but the Dutch language label is partially legible.

1970-11-06
Refrigerator-Car
Footage recovered from the sunken research vessel shows a refrigerator manifesting followed by a car manifesting 2 ms afterwards, the overlapping objects merging in a high-energy event which launched the object directly at the research vessel. Containment procedures revised accordingly.

1971-04-03
Iranian 1972 calendar
Somewhat burnt. Note: Already available for purchase.

1972-01-05
Digital computer equipment
Destroyed, with an unusually high transistor count.

1973-04-09
1972 Jeep CJ-5 258 Six 4-speed (man. 4)
Crushed. Foundation serial numbers were recovered, corresponding to a missing vehicle.

1973-08-05
California vanity license plate 'NULL'
Not issued. Unpaid parking tickets.

1974-05-05
1975 German Bundesliga Almanac
Forgery.

1977-02-25
Kiev-class aircraft carrier
Molten. CPSU and VMF liaisons state no such vessel is missing.

1977-06-22
10-story apartment complex
Origin believed to be in Malaysia.

1978-03-02
SCP-████
[DATA EXPUNGED].

1979-12-28
Corpse
Incinerated. Believed to have Moldavian ancestry.

Discovery: The Foundation satellite detected a 1.2 x 1014 J explosion on 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC in the Gulf of Guinea near 0°N 0°E. Analysis indicated the event was not due to a thermonuclear detonation. Neither POTUS nor GSCPSU accepted responsibility when questioned and the event was deemed anomalous. SCP-8601 was designated after observing several manifestation events. Foundation researchers discovered a large underwater deposit of destroyed materials and testing commenced.

Addendum 1980-01-06: Foundation satellites detected a 9.3 x 1012 J explosion on 1980-01-06 00:00:00 UTC at SCP-8601. NATO and WTO were immediately informed. The research team was lost and the west African coast was wrecked by the subsequent tsunami. Mass cover story PR-8601-2 was instituted and the containment procedures adjusted accordingly. The debris at SCP-8601 was determined to be predominantly vehicular components.

Addendum 1999-08-22: Testing had discontinued in favor of containment after years of predictable behavior and no explanation for the high-yield events. However, a 3.2 x 1013 J explosion occurred on 1999-08-21 23:59:47 UTC. Researchers noted the 1980-01-06 and 1999-08-22 events coincided with the Global Positioning System epochs, a new technology at the time, and the 1970-01-01 event also coincided with the epoch used by many operating systems.

Addendum 2000-01-01: Explosions of magnitudes ranging from 7.6 x 1012 J to 1.6 x 1013 J began on 1999-12-31 12:00:00 UTC and repeating each hour / half hour / 15 minutes for another 24 hours, mostly matching the timezones currently in use. The special containment procedures were amended with the Appendix A cautionary periods.

Addendum 2019-04-07: As predicted, a 4.2 x 1013 J explosion occurred along with the third GPS epoch on 2019-04-07 23:59:42 UTC and the countermeasures undertaken to avoid tsunami damage were successful.

Addendum 2020-04-17: The following information was found in the archives of Her Majesty's Royal Foundation for the Study of Curiosities and Phantasmagoria:

The Royal Foundation became aware of a new island at 0°N 0°E reported by returning explorers in early 1900, which they claimed did not exist in late 1899, from which they had recovered unusual materials. Researchers were sent to the island which they determined to be composed largely from destroyed metallic objects of unknown function. The research efforts were not prioritized due to the mundane nature and remote location of the anomaly.

Researchers returned to the island in early 1902 but failed to locate it. Questioning of the locals on São Tomé revealed a very destructive tsunami on Friday, 13 December 1901 which was collaborated across the Gulf of Guinea. A tsunami was also reported on new year's eve 1900 when the island might have originally appeared.

RCT-Δt NOTICE

Further study of SCP-8601-1 instances is hereby restricted to RCT-Δt. Containment remains under of the purview of the High-Energy Anomalies Division.

+ RCT-Δt/2 CLEARANCE REQUIRED

- RCT-Δt/2 CLEARANCE REQUIRED

(excerpt from RCT-Δt - 101+t ‘Introductory Course‘)

Although RCT-Δt has the authority and duty to prosecute further temporal pollution, SCP-8601 is essential to timesink calibration, e.g. the 1970 and 2038 events are the fastest way to precisely determine the timespace frame of reference. Fluctuations in high-yield SCP-8601 events are furthermore invaluable to promptly fingerprint timelines. RCT-Δt fully supports the proposed computer system requirements, but proposals for neutralization or full containment are denied due to SCP-8601's near-thaumiel status and well-known future behavior.

Appendix A - Cautionary Periods:

Time
Rationale

2036-02-07 06:28:16 UTC
Network Time Protocol overflow.

2038-01-19 03:14:08 UTC
31-bit overflow of seconds since 1970 (Year 2038 problem).

2038-11-21 00:00:19 TAI5
Third GPS week number rollover6.

2099-12-31 12:00:00 UTC
Y2.1k problem.

2106-02-07 06:28:16 UTC
32-bit overflow of seconds since 1970 (Year 2106 problem).

9999-12-31 12:00:00 UTC
Y10k problem.

Appendix B - Computer System Requirements:

The O5 council hereby mandates the immediate worldwide discontinuance of computer systems with 32-bit timekeeping, the use of full length years (not merely 2 or 4 digits), and the upgrade of all protocols and file formats to versions with 64-bit timestamps without overflow issues within the expected lifetime of the universe. No new epochs shall be adopted to prevent further high-yield events. Non-values shall be represented using explicit null/undefined/uninitialized values of a different type instead of zero or any particular value. Further humorous requests to redesignate the anomaly as SCP-000 will be categorically denied with prejudice and reprimanded as failing to learn the essential lessons of SCP-8601 to properly distinguish no value and zero.

Footnotes

1. International Civil Aviation Organization. In accordance with GOC support for cover story PR-8601-1 ("poorly made navigation software, disputed airspace, and environmental concerns").

2. If any. Remote control is now preferred to prevent loss of life.

3. Confirmed to be less than 0.70 µs.

4. 0.0034% of instances manifest at significantly different altitudes observed up to 9.4 km above the sea.

5. UTC time varies with leap seconds as to be decided by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service in Bulletin C.

6. Recurring 19.6 year cycle, partially delayed to 2137 with CNAV 157-year cycle.