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Credits
Title: SCP-3514-JP - In Pursuit of the Illusory Santa Claus
Author:SuamaX
Year: 2025
Item #: SCP-3514-JP
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: Given the inherent difficulties in containing SCP-3514-JP, containment efforts are to focus primarily on mitigating the disruption caused by SCP-3514-JP.
Upon identification of a report potentially related to SCP-3514-JP, an inspection of the SCP-3514-JP occurrence site and interviews with persons involved are to be conducted whenever possible. An appropriate cover story is then to be applied depending on the nature of the report.
Description: SCP-3514-JP is a designation for a series of events that occur annually on the night of December 24th under specific conditions. Based on past statistics, it is assumed that the minimum conditions for its occurrence are that a child under the age of 10 (hereinafter "the subject") is sleeping inside a room with a sufficiently large window, and that the room itself is not being observed by a third party.
When SCP-3514-JP occurs, the subject experiences the following events that are typical of Santa Claus lore.
- The subject is awakened by a knock at the window and discovers a humanoid entity outside. The entity is a portly, elderly male wearing a red-colored attire and nightcap, and is riding on a floating red sled towed by reindeer.
- When the subject opens the window, the entity removes a gift box from a bag on the sled and hands it to the subject. If handing the box to the subject is not possible for some reason, the box is placed on the floor of the room.
- After the gift box is handed over, the entity flies away on the sled.
- The gift box contains an item that the subject wanted, such as a commercially available toy.
It should be noted that due to the self-concealing nature of SCP-3514-JP, all information regarding these events was obtained from young children. Multiple situational ambiguities and inexplicable aspects exist, such as the complete absence of any other witnesses to the humanoid entity described in the subjects' testimonies.
However, the likelihood that the aforementioned events actually occurred is considered high, based on the general consistency of the accounts of the subject children interviewed to date, as well as the presence of the gift box and traces such as hair and fingerprints1 believed to be those of the humanoid entity.
The investigation into the humanoid entity, including the lack of sighting reports of it, is ongoing.
Addendum: Due to its nature, it is estimated that there are a significant number of SCP-3514-JP incidents that have not been brought to the Foundation's attention.
However, in light of the negligible impact of SCP-3514-JP on normalcy and the subjects' accounts are generally viewed as child fantasies, the current containment policy primarily focuses on mitigating the disruption caused by SCP-3514-JP. Most of these disruptions involve calls to the police regarding home invasions by an unidentified person; since SCP-3514-JP occurs only once per year and does not cause interior vandalism, these calls rarely lead to a damage report being filed.
The real problem is that 2-3 year old subjects often form a foothold to the window frame with indoor objects, including the gift box, and attempt to follow the SCP-3514-JP humanoid entity through the open window, which can result in a fatal fall. While the fall itself is analogous to a non-anomalous accident, the possibility that attention will be drawn to the fact that similar accidents have occurred worldwide on the same day can be a risk to maintaining the Veil. The current policy is to obscure these accidents by administering amnestics to witnesses as soon as possible and replacing the cause of death with a cover story such as "food poisoning" or "car accident".
Under current containment procedures, approximately forty SCP-3514-JP-related falls are covered up annually.