SCP-4274
pigeon

Taxidermy model of SCP-4274-1.

Item #: SCP-4274

Object Class: Neutralized

Special Containment Procedures: No containment procedures are necessary for SCP-4274 or SCP-4274-2.

Scientific research into SCP-4274-1 is to be monitored and disrupted as necessary to prevent discovery of SCP-4274-1's anomalous properties. However, SCP-4274-1's existence and non-anomalous properties are permitted to remain public knowledge. If any specimens with preserved neural tissue are discovered, they are to be obtained by the Foundation and contained in Low-Value Item Storage.

Description: SCP-4274 is the designation given to a series of radio broadcasts issued between 1848 and 18781. The only known records of these broadcasts are the diaries of Elizabeth Carlyle, a Catholic nun with the anomalous ability to receive and understand radio transmissions. She has been given the provisional designation of POI-73367 and her anomalous abilities are being considered for separate SCP classification pending review of similarities to SCP-1723.

The diaries were brought to the Foundation’s attention following the publication of an edited collection of entries by the Providence Spirituality Center in 1973. An investigation into the diaries’ claims of contact with a supernatural entity revealed that the diaries contained information anachronistic with their time period, notably, several exceptionally detailed and accurate accounts of the Earth's magnetosphere. This prompted an autopsy of the author's remains which revealed the anomalous physiology of her skeletal structure2. All printed copies of the diaries have been destroyed, and the originals have been obtained by the Foundation. Selected relevant entries are available in the Addendum below.

SCP-4274-1 is the species Ectopistes migratorius3. In 2004, research by a non-Foundation body on several unusually well preserved specimens revealed a biological structure capable of generating minor magnetic fields and electromagnetic waves, including radio waves. It is now theorised that similar to Columba livia domesticas4 ability to detect magnetic fields, SCP-4274-1's capacity to generate electromagnetic waves was used to assist flocks in navigation and co-ordination. From this and evidence from SCP-4274 it is theorized that sufficiently large flocks gathering resulted in the creation of SCP-4274-2, a gestalt intelligence capable of perceiving and transmitting a variety of electromagnetic waves.

The means by which SCP-4274-2 came into existence are anomalous and are not explicable by standard models of physics. Much about how SCP-4274-2 functioned remains unknown, however it is not considered to have posed any significant threat. Its transmissions indicate that it was greatly limited in its capacity to both perceive and interact with the outside world. This includes members of SCP-4274-1, which were not directly controlled by SCP-4274-2, but rather functioned as a substrate on which it's consciousness existed, analogous to neurons in a human brain. In fact, SCP-4274-2 appears to not have been aware of their existence, and had a similarly limited understanding of most of the material world.

SCP-4274-2 has been categorized as a Class II sapient entity, with intelligence approximately equivalent to the typical human. The entity is to be considered Neutralized as of 1878, which was when the last large flocks of Ectopistes migratorius were killed prior to their extinction in 1914.

Addendum: Selected Diary Excerpts The diaries of POI-73367 are extensive, beginning in 1844 and continuing until her death in 1901. Many entries make reference to SCP-4274, and several entries of particular interest are collected here.

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