The onset of SCP-3767
Item #: SCP-3767
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: Personnel embedded in United Airlines are to discourage, disrupt, and sabotage all attempts to overbook flights from Newark to Houston. Should an overbooked flight depart, Foundation personnel are to detain all passengers to administer Class-B amnestics before allowing them to disembark. Should personnel locate an individual not on the original flight manifest, they are to be detained and directed to a nearby Foundation site for further containment.
Experimentation requiring overbooked flights may be scheduled under approval from SCP-3767 project head.
Description: SCP-3767 refers to an anomalous phenomenon that occurs on overbooked United Airlines flights from Newark, New Jersey to Houston, Texas. SCP-3767 occurs approximately twenty minutes after the airplane reaches cruising altitude. The onset is indicated by a change in the color of the sky, as it will appear to take on a dark shade of purple1. This begins at the horizon, and spreads upwards. Once the sky has changed colors entirely2, the plane stops all translational movement, and enters a slowed free fall3. During this descent, the plane remains parallel to the ground, and the sky appears to grow red.
At this point, a feminine voice with a British accent will speak through the plane's speaker system. This voice will declare that an extra passenger is on board and is weighing down the plane. The voice then states that this extra passenger must be removed in order for the plane to regain lift. Video procured during testing shows that an additional passenger is indeed on board. It is unknown at what point this individual appears.
After an individual has been removed from the plane, free fall will cease, and the pilot will return the plane to cruising altitude. Ejecting this individual from the plane does not cause the cabin to undergo decompression. As the plane ascends, the sky will return to its original color. Searches of the area where the ejected individual was predicted to land have failed to locate said individual.
Passengers aboard the flight are able to recall the events that take place during SCP-3767, but only when prompted. However, they are unable to comprehend the abnormality of the event.
In 78% of recorded cases, the passengers collectively decide on an individual to remove, who is then ejected through the airlock. In 21% of cases, an individual removes themselves from the plane. See Addendum SCP-3767-1 for details on the remaining case.
In 63% of cases, one passenger on the original manifest will be reported as missing after the event, despite the same number of people getting on and off the plane.
Addendum SCP-3767-1: On 05/10/2016, The Foundation sent D-3114 to observe SCP-3767 on flight 3552. When D-3114 landed, all individuals on the original manifest were accounted for. SCP-3767 proceeded as normal, until the passengers attempted to decide who to eject from the flight:
The flight landed on time, and all passengers exited the plane. Inspection of D-3114's camera showed no malfunction. When questioned about the conclusion of the argument, D-3114 failed to recall any specifics.
Two days later, The Foundation received reports of an aircraft matching the plane from flight 3552 appearing in the Cherokee National Forest, TN. The plane itself was largely undamaged, but all passengers inside had expired from blunt trauma that would be caused by impacting the ground at terminal velocity.
All passengers from the original manifest were present, as well as an additional unidentified male child. Autopsy of this individual showed that its insides consisted of partially eaten pretzel snacks, airplane safety cards, and emergency floatation devices.
X-ray scans of the living D-3114 in Foundation custody yielded similar results.
