 Hi, my name is Dr. Sumerian. I used to be an Ethics Committee Liaison for the SCP Foundation when that was still a thing. Today I work cataloging and archiving important information about the SCP Foundation. Today we're going to talk about the origins of the SCP Foundation and SCP-173, the very first cataloged SCP object. In 1947, the Seventh Global Occult War was finally winding down. The demon armies of the Obscura Corps had been defeated on the Plains of Tartarus, and the American Secure Containment Initiative, or the ASCI, was gearing up for a new war with the Soviet main intelligence directorate, Psychotronic Division, or the GRUP. Nobody noticed when five American soldiers and occupied Hiroshima, Japan died of broken necks, but that's the way of things. The biggest problems usually hit when you aren't looking at them. What followed changed the course of the 20th century forever. The following mini-documentary was created with funding from the SCP Heritage Foundation and from viewers like you. Remember, even in the broken masquerade, what is true depends on who you ask and when you ask it. The first American response to the deaths in Hiroshima was disbelief. The early post-war period had surprisingly gone somewhat peacefully in Japan. There were still communists to deal with politically, and the nationalist fervor wasn't wholly gone, but the occupation had been going well. The murders of five service members caused the United States military to take a more cautious approach nationwide for a short period of time. I should be noted that during these events, the ASCI and the GRUP were snatching up anomaly experts and creators from the Obscura Corps as well. The Eighth Global Occult War was really already well underway. Of course, now it was a cold war, and it was going to last for decades. But in Hiroshima, still stinging from the effects of the American bombing, the U.S. military sent a squad of 14 soldiers into the neighborhood where they had lost their men. It didn't take long to find the source of the problem. Only three soldiers survived the encounter. Sergeant Manning, the head of the squad, had this to say, we don't know how it worked or what it wanted, so we went in fast and hard. We were expecting some crazed ex-soldier who had maybe decided the war wasn't over, but what we got was a statue, looking at us like we owed it something. It moved so quickly I couldn't track it. Private Red was the one who noticed it wouldn't move as long as he was making eye contact, so between him, myself, and Private First Class Thompson, we managed to keep it in place. Once we called in back up and put the thing in the box, we just collapsed. I'll never forget the twisted bodies on the ground. I was in best stone, I fought at the bulge, but that thing wasn't trying to beat us back or defend itself. It just had one purpose. Killing us. Interestingly, the US military immediately began experimentation on what would later be known as Anomalous Item 173. After a few months of no progress, they loaded the statue back into a crate and put it on a small civilian transport back to the United States. The plan was to pick it up in San Diego and disappear into some secret military complex in the US. The MV Anchorage left its mooring in August of 1947 with a cargo of death, and it wouldn't be seen again for over two years. In the meantime, the SCI was pulling ahead of the GRUP in its recruitment effort, and more over, the Western nations were beginning to coalesce around American dominance in the anomalous world. There was some talk among France and China of establishing a more international organization, but at the time no one really saw a need. The GRUP was beginning the experiments then that eventually led to the incident in Kaliningrad, but at the moment the tests were showing strong positive results. Then in 1949, in British Columbia, a ship washed up on the shore, the MV Anchorage had finally made landfall. It is believed that someone must have cracked the seal in the crate holding the anomaly looked inside, blinked, and that curiosity was the end of the Anchorage. 26 souls were on board at the start of the massacre, but only 22 broken bodies were recovered from the wreck. The remaining four might have jumped overboard in an attempt to avoid the certain death that emerged from the cargo hole, but considering they were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it was probably certain death either way. But those 22 weren't the end of the killings. For a few months there were rumors of a murderer on the loose in British Columbia and eventually Northern Washington State. The American military had a pretty good idea of what was doing the killing, but as the anomaly seemed to be moving freely across the border, they also had to inform and share information with their British and Canadian counterparts. The three nations agreed to form a temporary private organization that could operate across borders. They called it the SCP Foundation. It didn't take long before the Foundation managed to recover anomalous item 173. It was now covered in paint from what we can only assume was an unknown victim. It became readily apparent that if such problems could occur in the future, an organization like this might still be useful, and both the British and Canadian governments asked that the SCP Foundation remain in place. The American Secure Containment Initiative, still busy elsewhere in the world, acceded to the request. Of course, in other nations like France, the establishment of an exclusive alliance between the British and Americans was seen as a potential threat. And France began to push for the establishment of a new organization under the authority of the United Nations that would deal with anomalies across national borders as well. Both China and, surprisingly, the Soviet Union supported this endeavor. It's believed that the Soviets considered the establishment of the Global Occult Coalition to be a distraction or a blow to emerging American dominance in the anomalous world. Either way, the stage was now set for the conflicts that would define the anomalous world of the 20th century. And somewhere deep in the American Midwest, SCP 173 was put into a containment cell that would remain its home until 1993. If you enjoyed the video, hit the subscribe button and the notification bell next to that so you're notified when I upload new videos. And in appreciation for today's mini-documentary, I'd like to thank all of my patrons. Sinjeriki, who has pledged at $100, one of the biggest contributors to this documentary series. Dr. J. Redacted at $10. Jameson Kemble, also at $10. Luxuman Luxus at $10. Mediotaffy at $10. Pagebeba at $10. Pinko at $10. And Rail Braun at $10. Also at the $5 tier. Underscore Crumpus Underscore. Agent William Steele. Arbiter Soul. Astrum. Brad R. Scholl. Elizabeth Greve. Garrett. Logan Davis. Neb. Rachel Montoya. Roberto Rosalie. Salvatore Ladotto. Shiny Umbreon. And Starina Abrahamson. Thank you very much. And it's nice to know that I'm not alone out here. And I'll see you all again on Tuesday.