SCP-1760

Description

SCP-1760-1 through 15 are a series of 15 black pine coffins that annually rise from the ground at noon on November 15th in a wooded area outside Minsk, Belarus. Each coffin bears a white Orthodox cross. No other identifying marks are visible.

Upon rising from the ground, SCP-1760-1 through 15 are always sealed and contain a full set of human remains that vary with each manifestation. These remains are always Caucasian and dressed in regional funeral attire. Autopsies have shown that these remains are always newly embalmed upon manifestation.

At midnight on November 20th, each instance of SCP-1760 sinks into the ground regardless of whether or not it has been disturbed. Excavation attempts to locate SCP-1760 upon submersion have shown that the subject stops 3 m below the surface during the remainder of the year. Instances that have been reopened after sinking have been found completely emptied of contents.

Removing an instance from the site prevents submersion but causes the subject to be replaced at the next manifestation by an identical coffin. At this point, the initial instance loses its anomalous properties. These replacements appear to originate from further beneath the site. Excavation attempts to locate this point of origin have so far been met with failure.

Bodies that remain outside SCP-1760 after November 20th rapidly decay within 3 hours of the end of the manifestation. The extent of this decay varies with the subject and can range from light decomposition to the subject disintegrating into ash.

Remains that appear within SCP-1760 have been successfully tracked after the end of a manifestation through the use of tracking beacons. Upon recovery these beacons have been found buried in caskets, sealed within crypts and increasingly within crematory urns, all within Belorussian borders. Remains recovered in this manner lack any of the observed clothing or embalmment seen during the SCP-1760 manifestation. It is currently unknown how SCP-1760 gains access to, reconstitutes or redresses a body prior to manifestation.

Every six years, only one instance of SCP-1760 rises on November 15th. Save for the name Pyotr █████████ carved into the lid, this coffin is identical to the other instances and has been given the designation SCP-1760-16. The past contents of this instance have ranged from packed earth to animated remains. Attempts to trace the origin of these contents have been met with failure as tracking beacons cease to function following SCP-1760-16’s complete submersion.

Investigation into the identity of Pyotr █████████ has revealed that the subject was a Minsk mortician and scientist involved in several Soviet projects in the 1950’s. Recovered records indicate the subject passed away on November 15th, 1959. A majority of the records of █████████’s research were destroyed by GRU Division "P" operatives prior to 1960. Anecdotal evidence suggests experimentation with long term chemical preservation of human remains, as well as chemically induced reanimation and regeneration. The identities of any other scientists involved on the projects are also unknown as such names were expunged from existing records. Exhumation of Pyotr █████████ by research staff has confirmed no anomalous properties with either the remains or burial site.

According to recovered GRU-P records, SCP-1760 was first discovered in 1961 following local reports of a “casket garden” being opened outside of Minsk. Upon initial containment a plaque was discovered at the site with the following message:

Let us gather here today to honor the lives and memories of our dearly departed such that they are given immortality upon this Earth.

SCP-1760 was first contained by Foundation personnel in 1992 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.