Human cloud
rating: 0+x

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: The surrounding area to a distance of 10 Km from SCP-XXXX's zone of activity has been designated Area XXXX. This area is enclosed in a razor wire fence and is to be patrolled by vehicle at 20-minute intervals. Intruders who are unaware of SCP-XXXX's existence are to be turned back or handed over to local military authorities as criminal trespassers.

All flight paths have been diverted around Area XXXX and a permanent satellite imagery blackout is in effect.

When weather conditions permit, clouds over Area XXXX are to be seeded with silver iodide to trigger rainfall.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a humanoid figure varying between 30 and 120 metres in height composed of dust and ash occupying test site HORSESHOE in the Nevada nuclear weapon test area.

During air burst HORSESHOE in 19██, the detonation was observed to produce a human figure instead of a normal mushroom cloud. The figure remained intact instead of dissipating and has occupied the site ever since, despite initial attempts by the military to disperse it by bombardment or flying prop-driven aircraft past and through it.

SCP-XXXX displays a capability for self-directed movement and has been observed miming activities such as walking, working with tools, reading a newspaper, prayer, copulation and firing a rifle. The SCP does not appear to be aware of observers and researchers studying it do not believe this activity represents an attempt to communicate.

SCP-XXXX is physically incapable of leaving the site, and its observed perimeter constitutes a hard limit on its movement. On seven different occasions its movements have caused it to brush up against this perimeter and cloud material crossing the boundary was either captured by the wind or floated to the ground in a normal fashion. Lost material was replaced by inert ground material which was swept up by the specimen in passing and began to display the same anomalous properties as existing SCP-XXXX material.

During the weapon test, SCP-XXXX grew to a full height of 800 metres and shrank to a stable height of 120 metres over the next five hours. Rain or high winds will shrink it further by removing dust and ash faster than it is capable of replacing, although it has never shrunk below 30 metres in height. The Foundation has taken advantage of this process by artificially inducing weather conditions that reduce the specimen in size to lower the chances of civilians becoming aware of it.

During several nuclear tests, the Army positioned cadavers within detonation zones to study the effects of radiation bursts and pressure waves from the explosion on human tissue. Documents obtained from the CIA indicate that HORSESHOE was the first detonation to make use of live human subjects. Testing using condemned military prisoners was approved, but identifying the subjects has not been possible. CIA operatives destroyed their personal information following the test's anomalous outcome before the Foundation was able to intercept it.

No conclusive link has been proven between a human presence during the detonation and the specimen. Samples of SCP-XXXX material studied under lab conditions show no human ash content and display no anomalous properties. They retain a slightly elevated level of radioactivity, but this is consistent with expected background levels at the detonation site.

Information relating to a project to reproduce SCP-XXXX was uncovered in 20██ during a document reclassification committee review of the CIA archive. This was in the form of a partial document which appeared to have been accidentally misfiled. The document refers to four detonations in the 10-20 megaton range staged between 19██ to 19██ on [REDACTED] in the Pacific Ocean, using live subjects. Foundation researchers have confirmed that five fissile devices were made available to the CIA at that time for a project BOOKMARK, but documentation regarding who approved BOOKMARK, what personnel were assigned to the project, what it was intended to achieve and the whereabouts of the fifth (undetonated) device have been purged.

HORSESHOE, BOOKMARK, [REDACTED] and CIA nuclear projects have been disseminated to Foundation staff monitoring military and intelligence communications as subjects of interest.