SCP-8223: Yet Another Anomalous Signal
Unremarkable and indistinguishable from the many other mysterious signal SCPs, we should stop wasting resources trying to contain these | Museum of You | Chapter 5
Item #: SCP-8223
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: None
At this time, no containment is required for the original broadcast SCP-8223-A. Recordings of SCP-8223-A (referred to as 8223-B instances) are to be removed from public circulation if discovered. If additional 8223-A or similar instances are triggered in the future, it is recommended that the containment consultants contracted for SCP-2845 are brought in immediately.
By the order of the O-5 council, no members of the foundation are to devote resources to designing containment procedures for SCP-8223 under any circumstances.
Previous containment consulting has concluded that the original broadcast poses no immediate danger of breaking containment; however it is unclear if future circumstances may trigger a similar anomaly in the future. It is recommended based on analysis of the only surviving 8223-C instance that the foundation devote appropriate resources to monitoring and protecting the wellbeing of Charlie Kaufman (American film director), Efrim Menuck (Canadian composer), and Conor Oberst (American folk musician). While The Foundation has opted to devote no resources to this initiative, it appears all three are in reasonably good physical health as of February 15th, 2025.
The containment consultants also suggests The Foundation devote resources to an initiative monitoring artists and writers who have achieved cult followings with audiences particularly prone to depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation. This initiative has yet to be implemented or considered.
Description:
SCP-8223 is an anomalous short-wave radio broadcast originating from Waller, TX that ran continuously for the twenty-four hour* period of September 11th, 2019. It was first picked up by a personal radio in the possession of Junior Researcher Samuels, who suffered no ill effects.
The contents of the original broadcast (8223-A) are unknown and it is believed no recordings (8223-B instances) exist. It is unclear whether this is due to no recordings being made, rarity, or an anomalous property of the broadcast itself. Junior Researcher Samuels was interviewed by Director Lack, who determined that the broadcast posed no threat despite the researcher's on-record protests. In her report, Director Lack attributed the erroneous report to Samuels' fragile mental state. It is worth noting that Samuels had returned to work less than a week ago after a hiatus following a failed suicide attempt.
While the broadcast seems to have no anomalous effects, it is anomalous in its composition. An analysis of the frequency patters revealed no information about its source, but extensive analysis revealed that the signal did not decay over any distance measurable by the Foundation. However, testing was limited as the broadcast concluded just 12 hours after being detected and could not be picked up by any radio equipment outside the borders of Waller, TX.
When analyzed, the signal contained an amount of energy far exceeding the expected value for its measured frequency and amplitude. It was also not subject to the doppler effect, and the waves fail to exhibit any signs of wave-particle duality when measured in quantum experiments. The signal could not be blocked by any known materials or methods, such as faraday cages or jamming the frequency range.
Since SCP-8223 has ceased broadcasting and seems to have had no significance beyond the anomalous properties, it has been classified as safe, with no need to continue researching containment.
Researcher Samuels committed suicide the following day, however a thorough investigation concluded that it went unrelated.
*NOTE: THE SIGNAL WAS ONLY OBSERVED TO TRANSMIT FOR ROUGHLY 12 OF THE ASSUMED 24 HOUR PERIOD. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OTHER THAN RESEARCHER SAMUEL’S FIRMLY HELD BELIEF THAT THE SIGNAL LASTED 24 HOURS. THIS SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE ARTICLE, BUT FOR SOME REASON DIRECT EDIT ACCESS HAS BEEN RESTRICTED TO O-5 ACCESS ONLY, WITH ONLY LEAVING THE ABILITY TO ADD NOTES - DIRECTOR LAURA LACK, SITE 13
Addendum:
**2/15/2023:** 8223-C instances occur when a person, usually an artist working in a medium with an audio component, attempts to re-create the original broadcast. It is unknown if this is triggered by hearing the broadcast, hearing a description, or other inciting incident. As of February 15th, 2025 only one 8223-C instance has been discovered. Testing indicates that listening poses no danger. Below is the 8223-C instance, which was posted to Spotify, Apple Music, and Soundcloud by the user Caden Laurent. It was taken down 215 minutes after posting and contained by The Foundation. Researchers have not yet been able to locate or identify the owner of the streaming accounts at this time.
The original upload had a runtime of 39:20. The first twenty-seven minutes are a combination of looped guitar strums, synthesized noise, distorted sampling of other songs, as the background for a (possibly) male narrator who adopts a radio host persona. Narration includes describing a dream of being trapped in an infinitely recursive narrative, reading poetry, sharing insights about songs, and personal thoughts. The narration covers a variety of topics relating to human connection, philosophy, and art.
After twenty-seven minutes, a two-minute breakcore song sampling "WarioWare Smooth Moves for the Nintendo Wii" (2006) and "Good Will Hunting" (1997) is played. It is noted that, despite the fact that The Foundation has not yet identified or located Caden Laurent, their DOB selected in creating accounts was 2/15/1997.
The final segment is the first two movements of the Godspeed You! Black Emperor's track "Sleep" mixed with a reading of "Boots" by Rudyard Kipling, possibly read by Taylor Holmes, but this is unconfirmed. It appears the track was changed very little other than the layering, compared to significant alterations to the previous samples.
**2/27/25:** Director Lack received the following link in a text to her personal phone from a number previously saved as Bernard Samuels, the deceased researcher.
Relevant excepts below:
Letters to Charlie, Daniel, and Conor / For No One / From Nothing
Chapter 4 of "Museum of You" - with a potential tie in with The SCP Foundation. Includes new music being teased from the new In Images album. Does not include any explanation of what an SCP is.
//Next two albums are going to be out so soon, I’m so excited to share them. They’re more like Demos for Memories than I was planning for my next big albums - I really am working on more accessible and fun to listen to music. It’s just that that kind of music is way harder that weird concept nonsense. Anyway, good thing I’m not the only one in the band - Elizabeth has some real music in the back half of the album and I will take zero offense if people skip to her parts because I know that’s what I’ll do!
So the album is going to start on this demo I got from Liz a few months ago. I want to record a bit of a radio DJ intro and some scratching vinyl sounds to sell the concept. For now, enjoy the first track, “For No One” (also the title of the album)//
//“still adrift” is the first song in a three-song series that was originally existed as a 27-minute unhinged single composition called “Letters for Charlie, Daniel, and Conor. Really wanted to get David included in there but it was too clunky. Yes, both that David but also David Lynch - a huge inspiration for this project specifically. I want to remind you really quick: you are not listening to an album. You are playing a video game by reading a book about a person playing a video game and consuming art through that context for no other reason than to progress through the game and eventually win. do not enjoy or engage with the art more than you have to to be able to get through this level. you are in a game, please do not forget that. //
wait actually I can’t find the split out files. I’ll just put the whole thing here. for anyone coming from SCP-8223 in the future, this is the first 3 movements of the 5-movement piece in the SCP file. So instead of playing the Sleep / Boots poem at the end, it ends after the initial radio broadcast and then goes onto “For Everyone”. the two additional movements are called “still adrift”, “finding voices”, and “an ode to joyful short wave radio broadcasts”, or at least I think they are. I don’t quite remember, it hasn’t happened yet.//
// thanks for listening! hope you like it. when you really idolize certain creators and artists you really turn them into gods in your mind. I’m trying to be better at not doing that, especially in the context of my friendships and especially since I cried my eyes out playing The Beginner’s guide a couple weeks ago. but it is sometimes unavoidable. if you let them become gods make sure you don’t let them die, or their last echoes can distort even the soundest of minds. if that doesnt make sense you just haven’t heard. you haven’t heard the news. 215215215215215215215215215215215215 //
[For legal reasons and personal comfort, I must disclaim that the character writing this substack post has no violent intentions toward any artists, living or dead. However, I, as the author, cannot guarantee the veracity of the previous claim. In fact, such a disclaimer may be more worrying than saying nothing at all - which should make you question if it really was the writer’s choice to put it here. or his intent to comfort you with it or to unsettle you. stop projecting, and start playing the game.
“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself one new man, so making peace".
-Ephesians, 2:15 ]
a sneak peak at the next album: from nothing, by in images. this one is fully justin on his bullshit, and mostly was made for the purposes of the game/book/installation/performance art here because there will be a level where Dave has to critique and reconstruct it with a simple set of in-game tools, excited to make that game for real some day. somewhat like DJ simulator but for pretentious nerds. Probably gonna be called “From Nothing”.//
**2/28/2025:** A thorough investigation from the pataphysics department was conducted and overseen by O5-5. Results are pending, but all indications are that this was an isolated incident and will have no further repercussions. It is not recommended to have the article taken down. Nothing bad will happen, they promised us all.
**2/29/2025**: Justin Wong's Substack profile begins exhibiting strange behavior, self-commenting in what seem to be very different voices and writing styles. The profile has posted 215 chapters of a book that seems incomprehensible and wholly unpublishable. One story describes a group of horror writers who control the whims of the universe below them, causing unimaginable horrors. Another describes an anomalous signal that is triggered when a beloved artist dies. This chapter implies that this signal is the very first original "Anomalous Signal X" which is the true source of the many anomalous broadcasts. The SCP Foundation firmly holds that unless new evidence comes to light, everything in the works of "Justin Wong" should be considered fictional, non-canon, and not worth considering for containment. Any Foundation members found discussing otherwise will be terminated.
**2/30/2025:** Reclassified as Euclid.
**2/31/2025:** Reclassified as Safe.
**2/32/2025:** Reclassified as Euclid.
**2/33/2025:** Reclassified as Safe.
**2/34/2025:** Reclassified as Euclid.
**2/35/2025:** Reclassified as Safe.
**2/36/2025:** Reclassified as Euclid.
**2/37/2025:** Reclassified as Safe.
**2/38/2025:** Reclassified as Euclid.
**2/39/2025:** Reclassified as Safe.
…
**2/223/2223:** Reclassified as Keter
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**2/15/215:** more updates to follow, likely on both this forum and in the form of chapters in the cognitohazardous "book" currently being published on Substack under the pen name "Justin Wong". It may or may not also be a video game in development now, which may or may not have plans to release on steam (likely for free) later this year.
