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Hotel_Humboldt_entre_niebla.jpg

Aerial view of the Hotel ████████ in October 1956. Note that the concrete barrier still covered SCP-ES-003-2

Item # SCP-ES-003

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: Given the nature of SCP-ES-003, no conventional method of containment is practical. SCP-ES-003 does not represent a real threat to security, but to the Foundation's policy of secrecy. Therefore, the containment of SCP-ES-003 is entirely media and informative.

The building must remain under the administrative authority of the fictitious NGO "Beacon of Freedom", sharing the power permanently with the national government of Venezuela. This collaboration is supported in a binding way by the Confidential Collaboration Protocol.

Due to the public knowledge of the manifestation of the anomaly of SCP-ES-003, the media cover must consist of the following fictitious events:

  • The building is under shared custody and administration between the government and the NGO; due to the implications of the contract established by that partnership, the NGO has complete freedom over the building.
  • On the upper terrace of the building there is a powerful industrial reflector. The most advanced in the hemisphere.
  • The reflector is only lighted according to the NGO's criteria, publicly showing a defiant position towards the government.

In turn, the following aspects must always be complied with:

  • The international community and Venezuelan society must consider the NGO "Beacon of Freedom" as an impartial arbiter of great moral authority and historical importance.
  • The manifestation of the anomaly should be canonized as a symbol of the Caracas and Venezuelan idiosyncrasy, with the aim of making it an inherent characteristic of their culture and avoiding enquiries into its history and purpose.

Description: SCP-ES-003 is a powerful beam of light that is emitted from a complex piece of machinery of unknown origin (SCP-ES-003-1; commonly referred to by Foundation personnel as "The Projector), located in the basement of the Hotel ████████, located at 2.140m above sea level in the peak ██ █████, in Caracas, Venezuela.

On the roof of the building is another piece of machinery of unknown origin and operation (SCP-ES-003-2; also known as "The Torch"). This piece of machinery is responsible for emitting the energy generated in "The Projector" in the form of a powerful beam of light that passes through the earth's atmosphere and continues for an unknown distance.

The set of machines "The Projector" and "The Torch" are called "Freedom Beacon" (SCP-ES-003 is the name of the light beam and not of the whole of the two components). The public is aware of the existence of the phenomenon and the NGO Freedom Beacon, however, is unaware of its true nature and the existence of "The Projector" and "The Torch", since according to the cover story, The Beacon is nothing more than a reflector.

The Beacon only becomes active when events of great political, social and economic significance occur in the territory officially and legally considered as "Venezuela". Strong interferences with the nation's telecommunication equipment have been detected, studies have linked these interferences to SCP-ES-003, it is believed that 003-1 can interfere with communications in order to "get informed" of important events and historical turning points. This leads to believe that SCP-ES-003-1 is sentient, perhaps because of the presence of an artificial intelligence.

The light beam changes in colour according to the nature of the cause of the Beacon's activation. When an event occurs that significantly affects the country's economy, the beam is yellow. When an event occurs that affects the social, legal, administrative or territorial structure of the nation, the beam is blue. When a catastrophic, warlike or adverse event occurs, resulting in a considerable number of casualties, the beam will be red.

Data of Recovery.

In 1955, three luminous objects of considerable size flew over the valley of Caracas, with a trajectory from south to north, until they landed on a former colonial trail, at 2.140m above sea level, at the ██ █████ peak. Adverse weather conditions limited the number of witnesses, however, the incident caught the attention of The Foundation.

No traces of the three objects were found, however, a metallic device was found, made of an unknown and extremely resistant alloy. The device consisted of a 2 metres high disc with a radius of 10 metres; from the disc protruded an axis with 30 centimetres of circumference and 72.3 metres high, with a 1 metre high disc and 2.5 metres radius, made of a translucent and crystalline material.

The first action carried out by the Foundation was the attempt to remove the object from its original position in order to transport it inside Site-Whiskey-01, however, no method available at the time was able to remove the object from its place.

Studies revealed that the object emitted a slight amount of radiation; studies did not succeed in determining the nature or source of the radiation.

The potential radioactive hazard prompted a containment plan using concrete isolation, however, public knowledge of the appearance of the lights, which was widely exploited by the national press, coupled with the previous large-scale promotion of a tourist complex to be built in the area constituted a potential risk to operational confidentiality.

It was decided that the tourist complex would be used as a cover, constructing a building with a 2-meter diameter concrete core surrounding the shaft, and burying the base disk in a radiation-proof bunker. The upper disc would be blocked with concrete as well. The complex would be named by The Foundation as Site-W01-CEA.

The construction of the complex was efficient and successful, started in May and completed in October. However, the concrete block that covered the top disc exploded, exposing the disc on the ceiling. It was kept under observation and by November the centre was considered safe to open as the radiation levels had not been altered and no further incidents occurred.

On the day of its inauguration, the object's upper disc emitted a bright yellow beam of light. The Foundation established the cover story that it was a reflector. Further studies and research were initiated, but the functioning of the object and the reason for its activation could not be determined. It could only be determined that the light emitted even lighter radiation than the object.

The complex was handed over to the Government for administration, except for the research facility at Site W01-CEA; The Foundation deployed a group of undercover agents and researchers to monitor the object.

After two years of successful containment without incidents, a beam of blue light was emitted from the top disc of SCP-ES-003 on 1 January 1958, the day on which a military movement took place against President Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

Over the next few days, the light from the beam would change its colour to a bright scarlet. By this point, the existence of the changing beam of light was public knowledge in the nation. A cover story was established that an insurrectionist group was responsible for the beam, manipulating the Hotel's reflector, using it as an instigating symbol.

By January 21, by order of the O5 Council, the operations of Site-Wiskey-01 were halted indefinitely due to the nation's uncontrollable political instability; any wrongly executed action, could put at risk the operability of the installation and of the "Wonderland" project.

A few days later, the beam of light suddenly went into a dormant state.

Due to the prolonged public exposure of the phenomenon, any method of containment was useless. The Foundation put all its efforts to reinforce the initial alibi, publicizing the fictitious NGO "Beacon of Freedom", whose objective would be to judge the actions of the nation's society.

As soon as the new government was established in the country, the Foundation rushed to carry out the negotiations with President Rómulo Betancourt for the fulfillment of the Confidential Treaty of Collaboration. The negotiations were successful. From that date onwards, the beam of light manifested itself many times throughout the 20th century in the three colours, the study of the history allowed the meaning of each colour to be established.

Notable Incidents:

Date: January 1st-25th, 1958
Events: Fall of the Government of Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Manifestation: Red and Blue.

Date: May 4th, 1962
Events: Military insurrection against President Romulo Betancourt
Manifestation: Red

Date: February 27th, 1989
Events: Widespread protests in Caracas
Manifestation: Red

Date: February 4th, 1992
Events: Attempted coup against Carlos Andrés Pérez
Manifestation: Red

Date: April 2002
Events: General civic strike
Manifestation: Blue

Date: February-April 2014
Events: Widespread protests
Manifestation: Yellow, Blue and Red.

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