Jingles

The Runway

An aerial view of SCP-XXXX, taken June 8th, 1944

Item #: SCP-XXXX, SCP-XXXX-1, SCP-XXXX-2, SCP-XXXX-3

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: The airbase is to be cordoned off entirely from the general public, and all Foundation personnel assigned to the site are to be dressed and equipped accurately at all times as members of the British Armed Forces that would normally operate on a typical RAF base. It is imperative that to both the general public and the armed forces themselves it appears to be an ordinary, functioning airbase under Ministry of Defence jurisdiction. Conducting flights is not necessary (and would be impossible due to the nature of SCP-XXXX) as officially the airbase is a training facility only.

SCP-XXXX should not be approached by personnel at any time except during approved tests, or in the event of another object appearing. SCP-XXXX is to be monitored at all times by closed circuit television cameras, infrared cameras and multiple Geiger–Müller counters. SCP-XXXX-1, SCP-XXXX-2 and SCP-XXXX-3 are to be stored in secure hangars on the base itself. Access is reserved for authorised personnel only. The lower half of SCP-XXXX-2's crew pressure cabin is to be monitored at all times with several microphones. If any changes are heard in the broadcasts being made to SCP-XXXX-2's radio they are to be reported immediately.

Description:

SCP-XXXX is located at RAF ██████████, approximately 8 miles north-west of [REDACTED] in Scotland, and consists of a single 1,828 meter runway, intersected by two secondary runways, each measuring 1,280 meters long. It is constructed of a material that has an appearance identical to standard concrete used for military airstrips, however is (as far as has been tested), virtually indestructible. This discovery was made some days after the appearance of SCP-XXXX-2, when researchers attempted to dig through the runway to discover if there was anything underneath it. Other than that, it holds no other visibly anomalous properties (later excavation from the side of the airstrip revealed nothing out of the ordinary underneath the runway itself).

It was originally constructed at an unknown date prior to World War II, and RAF ██████████ was used throughout the conflict as a dispersal base for Bomber Command. Worthy of note is the base's participation in [REDACTED], from which all the aircraft involved were based. It is unknown at this time if [REDACTED] itself bears any relation to the activation of SCP-XXXX.

It continued to operate in its funtion as a bomber dispersal base up until 1962 as part of the United Kingdom's "V-bomber" initiative, until the appearance of SCP-XXXX-2, whereupon the Foundation took full control, having identified SCP-XXXX to be the only probable cause (previously the appearance of SCP-XXXX-1 was not thought to be related specifically to SCP-XXXX, which had not at that point been identified).

SCP-XXXX-1

SCP-XXXX-1 is a partially damaged Avro Lancaster B Mk. I bomber, designation W4125, KM-W "Wally". The aircraft designated KM-W was one of a number of bombers operating out of RAF ██████████ during the second world war, however during a raid in early October 1942, the aircraft was lost under unkown circumstances, and all crew members were declared MIA. No crash site was found following the end of the war, and there was no reference to it found in searches of German archives. This was, however, not a unique occurrence and the matter remained unresolved.

W4125 KM-W, pictured center, 29th September 1942

On the night of the 5th of October 1954, at some point between 21:01 and 22:13, SCP-XXXX-1 "appeared" on the main runway of RAF ██████████, undercarriage raised and with two of its four engines in flames. According to personnel interviewed prior to being administered Class A Amnesiacs, "it appeared out of bloody nowhere. Seriously, one sec I was looking out the window of the Nissen [hut], the next back at the lads, and then at the window again and… there it was! Didn't make a sound or nothing."

Ground crews quickly rushed out to extinguish the fires on the orders of Wing-Commander Donaghy, who had himself flown Lancaster bombers during the Second World War. According to him, "I saw the thing and recognised it immediately. I was as stunned as everyone else, mind, but I'd flown them myself and realised that if the flames reached the fuel lines in the wings, we'd be screwed … We were quite close to the runway at this point, and those bombers could make quite an explosion, especially if it was carrying ammunition and a payload."

Ground crews then removed the aircraft from the runway, and were increasingly surprised to learn that there was no trace of a crew to be found anywhere within the aircraft.

On the 6th of October, Agent ████████ ██████ arrived at the base to inspect the object, following which he contacted the Foundation. Mobile Task Force Alpha-2 was dispatched to RAF ██████████, who then removed SCP-XXXX-1 and placed it in containment at Sector-25.

Closer inspection of SCP-XXXX-1 revealed significant shrapnel damage to the airframe, consistent with the effects of German anti-aircraft ordinance of the period in which SCP-XXXX-1 would have been operational. The bomb-bay was empty of ordinance, and each of the aircraft's 10 7.7mm machine guns were in various states that suggested extended, recent usage, including varying amounts of remaining .303 ammunition at each gunners position. Most of the aircraft remained functional, with the exceptions of the damaged engines, the undercarriage and the rudder controls, which had succumbed to shrapnel damage.

Worthy of note were the wing flaps, which while functional were not in a position consistent with an emergency landing (with or without functioning landing gear). Close inspections still revealed no trace of the 7 crew members that were recorded as having flown KM-W in October 1942, and all parachutes on board the plane were accounted for. With no other anomalies detected, SCP-XXXX-1 remained in storage, until the appearance of SCP-XXXX-2, whereupon it was moved back to the site of SCP-XXXX to allow for more convenient research.

SCP-XXXX-2

SCP-XXXX-2 has the appearance of a damaged Avro Vulcan B1A nuclear bomber, designated XH568. SCP-XXXX-2 appeared without warning on the main runway of RAF ██████████ at approximately 04:30 on the 30th of October 1962. This prompted a near fatal accident, as a flight of the base's own Vulcan bombers were currently approaching the runway to land, however the planes were waved off and instructed to land on one of the unobstructed secondary runways.

As was the case with SCP-XXXX-1, the undercarriage of SCP-XXXX-2 was raised, and the wing flaps were not in a landing position, however it did not have any immediately visible structural damage. Again no crew were to be found on board.

Upon ground crews having removed the aircraft from the runway, they discovered that it exhibited one unusual feature, in that every exterior surface of the plane that was not coated in anti-flash white paint was hot to touch, and in some places the fuselage had suffered some minor warping from being exposed to apparently very high temperatures.

The entire aircraft was found to be non-functional - all electronics within the plane were completely fried. On an apparent "hunch" of ground crew chief Warrant Officer Edward Kelley, the aircraft was surveyed with a pair of Geiger counters which revealed the entire exterior of the aircraft to be awash with radioactive particles, prompting the evacuation of all base personnel, until a small number of Foundation staff arrived on-site 3 days later after recieveing word from Agent ██████, who had been stationed at the base as a precaution since the 1954 incident.

No attempt was made to remove SCP-XXXX-2 and place it in containment as all mobile task forces were already occupied with higher priority work as a result of the ongoing missile crisis in the Carribean. As a result SCP-XXXX-2 was immediately contained on-site while the area was surveyed for further anomalies with inconclusive results.

During decontamination of SCP-XXXX-2, staff discovered that the main communications radio in the lower part of the crew cabin at the front of the plane was at least partially functional - every hour it was heard to play a tune later identified as [REDACTED] amidst very heavy static, using a recording that seems identical to that which was used by the now defunct [DATA EXPUNGED]. To this day it continues to play regularly at the top of every hour for approximately 22 seconds before returning to plain static.

All attempts to communicate on the frequency using the radio have proved unsuccessful, either because the radio is too damaged or because nothing is recieving the radio messages. After some initial scepticism, tests have confirmed that the radio is indeed being broadcast to from a live source, however it has proved impossible to triangulate. Attempts to tune into the same frequency with other radios have met with no success.

Also during decontamination, one small trace of the original crew of 5 that would have normally flown such an aircraft was found. Two eyepatches were discovered, lying discarded on the floor of of the upper cabin near the pilot and co-pilot seats.

Interrogation of aircrews prior to administration of Class A Amnesiacs confirmed that these eyepatches were to be worn by aircrews in the event of launching a nuclear attack, the idea being that if they were exposed to the blinding flash of a detonating warhead in-flight, only one eye would be prospectively blinded, enabling them to continue their mission using the remaining eye. Subsequent DNA tests on the objects has, however, found no conclusive results.

The "real" XH568, on display at one of the airshows held at Filton Aerodrome in the 1960s

By far the largest cause for concern/interest regarding SCP-XXXX-2, however, was discovered two days following the arrival of foundation staff, during the interrogation of base personnel. One of the Flying Officers, upon being shown photographs of SCP-XXXX-2 adopted a startled expression. Upon being pushed to explain what the problem was, the officer explained that the designation number found on the aircraft's tail (XH568) was identical to another aircraft currently stationed at the airfield.

Staff quickly investigated, and found that the officer was indeed telling the truth - an identical XH568 was found parked on the easternmost of the rapid deployment aprons adjoining the runways. A further inspection of SCP-XXXX-2's tail section revealed no man-made alterations to the designation number present there, and the two aircraft were, aside from the obvious differences a perfect match.

It should be noted that while there has been plenty of speculation as to the origins of SCP-XXXX-2, no conclusive evidence has been found that points to any particular theory.

SCP-XXXX-3

[DATA EXPUNGED]