Item-#: 7811
Object Class: Euclid
Interior of SCP-7811, believed to have been taken past the "Redwood Room".
Special Containment Procedures: Access to SCP-7811 has been blocked off to civilians. A base camp under purview of the Department of Geology has been established for the purpose of research and testing. Manned expeditions into SCP-7811 are currently suspended pending Incident-7811-2004, however, explorations utilizing remote-controlled devices are still permitted with Level 3 approval or higher.
Description: SCP-7811 is the designation for a subterranean limestone cavern complex located approximately 60 kilometers west of Loxahatchee, Florida. The portal is conspicuously elevated from the surrounding wetlands by 3 meters, uncharacteristic for formations in the region. From the portal, the primary tunnel slopes relatively gently (~1:20) until terminating in a large central cavern. There are at least four primary tunnel systems1 branching off from the central cavern (dubbed the "White Foyer") that are conventionally traversible2 by human adults. Despite the geological environment in southern Florida generally discouraging the development of dry caves, SCP-7811 is not currently known3 to contain any submerged portions, and is entirely traversible by foot. Occasional flooding has been known to occur during regional storms and rainfall, however, this has generally been constrained to amounts significantly lower than would be expected from a wetland basin. Expeditionary attempts to map SCP-7811's reaches have been consistently limited by its anomalous effects.
SCP-7811's primary portal.
SCP-7811 appears to be the source of a strong pervasive cognitohazardous or ontokinetic influence. Sapient subjects exposed to SCP-7811 will experience a gradual loss of ability to perceive and/or synthesize meaning from their immediate environment. This effect begins to present itself upon exposure to the portal, and progressively intensifies as subjects venture deeper into SCP-7811. Each of the four primary tunnel networks within SCP-7811 appear to harbor a threshold in which the anomalous interference effectively prohibits further exploration. After crossing this threshold, the subject becomes unable to derive meaning4 or interpret sensory information from its direct environment, experiencing cognition completely severed from stimuli. The presentation of this can vary, however, the vast majority of personnel who reach this threshold are unable to be recovered, as they are incapable of responding to communication attempts, and will frequently venture further into the cave, or suffer from accidents5 related to their severed perception.
Discovery: SCP-7811's anomalous nature was noticed by the Foundation after unusual circumstances surrounding a missing person case in the area began receiving significant local media attention. Aspects of the findings indicated possible anomalous activity, thus leading to Foundation intervention and containment.
On 05-11-1977, John Wilkerson, age 17, reported his older brother, Walt Wilkerson, missing. The initial report to Indiantown's police department was sparse enough to prompt local authorities to contact the two brothers' parents, Susette and George Wilkerson6. Mrs. Wilkerson informed the police that John and Walt had been camping over the last few days, which had been omitted by John, prompting an investigation. It was also during a second interview that Mrs. Wilkerson disclosed that John and Walt had gotten into an argument, believed by Susette to be about John's girlfriend. John had proposed the camping trip to Walt to settle their differences.
Police investigation into the campgrounds the brothers supposedly stayed at prompted suspicions of foul play, which was further substantiated by John's "cagey" and "inconsistent" testimonials. Investigators discovered a T-shirt identified as having belonged to Walt near SCP-7811, after which John admitted to having gone spelunking with his brother there during the trip. On 08-23-1977, ten days after his 18th birthday, murder charges were levied against John Wilkerson.
Indiantown detective Harry Sandino produced a confession from John detailing his supposed stabbing and disposing of his brother into the cave, with the motive stated as being due to the alleged affair between Walt and John's girlfriend. A party of 2 veteran spelunkers and 2 police detectives were tasked with entering the largely unknown cave and recovering Walt's body from its alleged dumping ground. It was widely believed at the time that Walt's body would not have been dumped far into the system, due to John's relative inexperience with caving.
The initial investigatory team failed to return for their 8 hour checkpoint. An additional 24 hour window was opened, which also resulted in no contact met. An extra search team of 3 experienced cave explorers were sent. This team also failed to return within the initial 8 hour checkpoint window. After 16 hours, indistinct human vocalizations were heard emanating loudly from within SCP-7811, however, after this occurrence, no further contact was heard from either of the teams. As news of the investigation gone awry reached local newspapers, the Foundation was alerted and established a presence in Indiantown, subsequently moving to conduct investigations into possible anomalous activity. The murder charges against John Wilkerson were later dropped, as The Wilkerson's legal team successfully argued that John's confession was made under duress, and with inappropriate coercion from Detective Sandino.
Local speleological archives indicated SCP-7811 was first discovered as "Wishbone Caverns" by amateur speleologist Wilson Lytle, in 1911. Lytle appeared to have been involved in several low-profile cave societies in Martin County in the early 1900s. In recovered writings, Lytle made five expeditions to SCP-7811, the first of which was prompted by information he had received from cavers based in Belle Glade.
Formerly "Martin County Caver's Club" of which Wilson Lytle was a member and patron.
Lytle made the trip with a team of four: Andrew Reichenbach, Richard Howell, Carlos Gonzalo, and himself. Lytle noted the initial expedition was fraught with erratic behavior from his teammates. The situation continuously deteriorated until Lytle was separated from the three men at a point in Tunnel A he described as "The Dining Room", and he was unable to re-establish contact with them. While retracing his way out of the cave, he was able to hear what sounded like human vocalizations, but he had determined that they had to have been originating much further into the cave than he had supplies to safely reach. He made the decision to return to the surface for additional manpower, and attempt to recover his three lost men. He returned the next day with a local Seminole speleologist, and returned to the cave. After reaching the portal to the Dining Room, Lytle wrote that the attending Seminole expressed an unwillingness to venture deeper. There was some argument, however, sensing the resolution, Lytle opted to continue sans accompaniment. The remainder of the expedition was not recalled until the point Lytle had left the cave, with Lytle concluding that the three men had "Committed the most idiotic of suicides."
Subsequent expeditions primarily focused on crawlspaces within the cave, with Lytle's descriptions of "The Beehive" being the most extensive on file to date. Attempts to reach the large space described by Lytle as the "Redwood Room" have been unsuccessful. Based on Lytle's writings, it is believed he was unaffected by SCP-7811's anomalous properties. Lytle's final expedition of SCP-7811 was in 1918, and was notable for being his only solo expedition of the cave. He wrote little of the endeavor, only noting that he had "found another big one" through a crawl space in the Redwood Room.
Wilson Lytle ceased speleological activities in 1920, following a conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Little of his writings are known to survive today, despite his extensive involvement in South Floridian amateur speleology societies. It is unknown when he died.