Item #: SCP-8617
Containment Class: Safe
Space beyond SCP-8617.
Special Containment Procedures: The practice of magnetic fishing in the Patoka Lake has been prohibited in order to decrease the chances of rediscovery. A layer of debris, sand, soil and litter has been deposited above SCP-8617 to conceal its location. Further containment is not necessary.
Description: SCP-8617 is a steel grate of unknown origin within a wooden frame located at the bottom of Patoka Lake, Indiana. Attempts to remove the grate have proven unsuccessful. The wooden frame holding the grate is scratched in multiple places, with the pattern of the scratches superficially resembling writing. A highly damaged wooden floor is visible under the grate, with a single scrap of paper on it. The paper bears a message, written in blue ink:
Please help
We are drowning
Discovery: SCP-8617 first came to Foundation attention on 21/06/2011 after a civilian magnetic fishing hobbyist mentioned it on their blog post. The civilian was unable to retrieve their neodymium magnet when it impacted SCP-8617 and in response, lowered a GoPro camera to inspect the anomaly. The blog post was flagged by Foundation-operated webcrawlers hours later. The owner of the blog was subsequently amnesticized while the area behind SCP-8617 was explored using a videoscope. A transcript of its discoveries can be found below.
[BEGIN LOG]
[The camera descends past SCP-8617, towards the paper on the floor. A hallway, showing severe signs of water damage, comes into view. A door is visible on one end, while the other contains a staircase leading downwards. The door is closed, while the stairs are filled with debris.]
[The camera continues through a hole in the floor, entering into a dilapidated living room. Two other rooms are seen, both containing short, humanoid figures turned towards the wall. The rooms both contain beds, dark clothes and tape players. The features of the figures are indiscernible. The camera touches one of the humanoids, though it does not provoke a reaction.]
[The camera continues towards the only window in the living room. The window is grated. On the other side, the shore of Patoka Lake is visible.]
[The camera moves closer to the window, soon reaching its full length. A group of humanoid figures are seen in the distance, pointing towards two other figures standing at the shore.]
[The camera attempts to focus on them. The location of the figures changes. The group is seen standing at the shore. Some with their hands raised, others clutching their heads. Two figures are seen floating face down in the water. As the camera moves away, all figures suddenly disappear.]
[The camera pans back to the living room. The sound of sobbing is briefly picked up. As the camera moves back, it points towards the other rooms. One of the humanoid figures is now laying on the bed, face down. The other is sitting on the bed, back arched and looking away from the entrance.]
[The camera is recovered without issue.]
[END LOG]
The current containment procedures were put in place shortly afterwards. A pair of human skeletons was found 5 meters from SCP-8617 while the concealments were being put in place. Due to possible connections to the anomaly, they were quickly reburied.