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SCP-3371

Behind the Cameras

Written by Fishish, Jack Waltz, and JakdragonX

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Example of SCP-3371 photograph, taken in the backyard of an undisclosed researcher's home. Note that the back door of the home is opened.

Item #: SCP-3371

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Until SCP-3371 is properly studied and documented, all containment procedures are hereby dedicated to public misinformation. Foundation webcrawlers are to monitor all social media platforms in order to delete and/or discredit any suspected product of SCP-3371. Victims of SCP-3371 are to be detained and administered Class-B amnestics if necessary.

Associated disappearances are to be disregarded and subsequently attributed to suitable cover stories per standard protocol.

Description: SCP-3371 is a phenomenon in which both the exteriors and interiors of residential and commercial buildings across the United States are photographed and posted1 on various social media platforms and forum websites throughout the internet. These photos, usually taken at eye level, are all confirmed to be captured through a Samsung HandyCam CX405 Camcorder per analysis of available metadata. Residents within these buildings state that they are unable to recall any person inside or nearby the building likely to be the perpetrator.

Small objects, commodities, and other items may also disappear from locations affected by SCP-3371.2 Claims of larger objects either disappearing or becoming displaced have been reported in locations with prolonged SCP-3371 activity, followed shortly after by the residents themselves.

Picture taken by SCP-3371 of an unknown individual sleeping inside of their home.

Discovery: Foundation personnel were first made aware of SCP-3371 after a Site-119 researcher3 reported seeing unsolicited social media posts of themselves, with upwards of 40 photographs being taken inside their home. Following an unsuccessful attempt at reporting these pictures online, a formal investigation into the matter was requested and approved.

While the initial investigation led Foundation intelligence to assume that the posts in question were — albeit disturbing — non-anomalous in nature, a detailed sweep of the property later revealed signs of antimemetic interference throughout the premises. SCP-3371 was subsequently approved for formal documentation, leading to further investigation of the property itself.

Later that week, Agent Ray Wolls reported a visual disturbance near a security camera while patrolling the property. Due to the aforementioned antimemetic influence, said visual disturbance could not be identified, with Wolls' report lacking sufficient detail to ascertain any information on the event before its demanifestation. Shortly afterwards, automated online systems reported a massive spike in SCP-3371 activity; said activity was notably more invasive in nature, with photographs being taken whilst residents conducted activities including, but not limited to, sleeping, bathing, and changing.

A notable hallway within Site-119 displaying somewhat higher-than-normal antimemetic traces.

An additional investigation into the possible method(s) through which the photographs were being taken was performed, but progress was significantly slowed by SCP-3371's seemingly imperceptible method of manifestation. Following a period of several weeks with little progress, Agent Wolls reported the presence of another visual disturbance inside Site-119. Attempts to witness this event through Foundation cameras were unsuccessful and, when asked for further detail, Wolls mentioned that the camera in Hallway 13A was where he saw the unidentified individual. Said individual was reportedly holding up this camera and pointing it at him from the opposite corridor.

Despite his statements, no signs of unauthorised entry or exit into Site-119 were detected by automated security. An exhaustive sweep of the facility revealed no abnormalities, save for a residual amount of antimemetic interference present throughout specific corridors.4

On account of Wolls' assertions, however, an additional study into the Site-119 security system revealed that the cameras and equipment were originally supplied by ADT, an American security company. The cameras themselves were formerly manufactured by APE Security Solutions, a now-bankrupt company that had been bought out and merged into numerous other security firms, including Ring and SimpliSafe, according to an internal audit of ADT and its products. From this information, and the anomaly's apparent capacity to manifest and demanifest at will, it is hypothesized that this technology — which is currently used in 70% of all buildings, including Site-119 — is the primary medium through which SCP-3371 conducts its manifestations.

In the following weeks, another spike in SCP-3371 activity was detected, with the subject of the photographs posted now being Agent Wolls.5 As of writing, 17 ballpoint pens, 8 cafeteria trays, 5 Foundation-issued notebooks, 3 Euclid-Class anomalies, and Agent Jayce Wolls have all gone missing since SCP-3371's most recent activity spike.

Site-119 has yet to make an official comment regarding these disappearances.

Footnotes

1. All attempts to source the original poster, should they even exist, have universally resulted in failure.

2. No evidence of a break-in or robbery has been linked to the disappearance of said objects.

3. Name omitted per request, adhering to privacy and safety concerns.

4. As Site-119 has housed a number of neutralized antimemetic objects, measured interference levels were within acceptable guidelines for anomalous detection equipment.

5. A significant number of these photographs were taken inside Site-119, representing a severe breach of secrecy and security protocols.