Video begins, followed by several seconds of static before the image becomes solid. The videotape shows a Caucasian male, between the ages of 19-25, roughly 6’ ft in height with dark hair; black or possibly a dark brown. The man appears to be in the cellar or basement of a medium sized property; most likely the same basement room in which the tape was originally found.

 

“My name is James Aaron Smith,” the introductory dialogue is interrupted by a series of loud scratches and bangs coming from off camera. The male (who will be hereon referred to by either his given name, or the qualifier ‘he’) swings his head violently to the side; the position the camera was found in relation to the layout of the cellar, we can assume that he is turning towards the door. (Let it be noted that, although the video does not clearly show James’ face at this point, it is my personal opinion that the noises at the door seem to terrify him)

 

“I have no family,” He says, returning his gaze to the camera, still visibly conscious of the noises now dying away from the door. He hangs his head before continuing “No friends, not any more…” He looks up once again, back into the camera

 

“The camera you found is all I have left now.” He reaches into his pocket, removing a packet of cigarettes (brand unknown) and a lighter, putting one into his mouth and lighting it before chuckling sardonically and continuing “I suppose these warnings,” he flashes the back of the packet of cigarettes, featuring the surgeon generals warning “Don’t mean a lot now…” he pauses for a moment, taking a drag from the lit cigarette “I’m going to die, and before I do I want to leave a message, just in case anyone finds it, anyone comes up here and stumbles across what happened. I don’t know what happened, really. I mean, I know, but I can’t explain it…”

 

He removes the cigarette from his mouth, taps the end of it, and replaces it in his mouth. (At this point, the light shifts in the room and it becomes apparent that James is sweating profusely. Judging from the time-stamp on the tape (29/11/05) this is unlikely to be due to the temperature. This further supports my theory that James found whatever made the noises at the door extremely distressing)

 

“I want to explain it all,” he continues “but I don’t think I’d have time. I’ve seen what these things- no, this thing, really- does to people. I got some of that stuff on me, on my skin, and I could feel it trying to get in me, trying to find a weak spot so it could take control of me like it did everyone else.” (At this point in the tape, we can begin to see James starting to shake. This is consistent with the effects of withdrawal on the body, and from this (combined with further analysis by specialists) we can confirm that James seems to be under the effect of one or another drug. It has also been suggested that the shaking (and indeed the other signs that have been picked up by the specialists consulted during the course of the tapes investigation) may have been caused by a large adrenaline surge.)

 

His eyes turn off the camera, looking into the middle distance. (He looks pained, as if by recent loss. We can assume that the events leading up to the production of the tape have affected him badly.) If we look closely at this point in the tape, we can see that James’ face is covered in a number of black and red stains. We assume that the red is blood, although we can find no way of confirming this. It has also been suggested that the black marks may be linked to evidence item 114-68A, a sample of an unknown black substance found in multiple instances throughout the basement and its surrounding areas.

 

“It all started four days ago, when Jim, a farmer who lives a bit of a way out of the village, called up the local vet Simon Jennings.” James stops for a moment, apparently lost in thought “Simon said that something was seriously wrong up at Jims. He told us all that night that we might be in for another round of something like foot and mouth in the area; said that one of jims sheep had taken a serious wound to the side and was dripping black shit all over the inside of Jims house.” James gives another sardonic laugh “We were all crapping ourselves at that. Foot and mouth was a big deal over here; BSC never hit us real hard, but boy was F&M ever a bastard.” He pauses to take another drag from his cigarette.

 

“We never saw Jim again, after that day.” Another pause “Not alive, anyway…” At this point, the heavy banging on the door resumes, causing James to once again spin to look off-camera, towards the door. From this point on, James appears more manic and animated. It has become clear that he knows he is going to die.

 

“Shit,” He swore, throwing his cigarette onto the floor and rising from the wooden box he was seated on. He walked off in the direction of the door, and we can hear clearer hammering followed by a loud yell, voice-print analysis confirms that this comes from James, of “Fuck off!” He returns to the wooden box, looking visibly distressed from his encounter with whatever lay beyond the door.

 

“Ok, ok. I don’t have much time…” James is considerably more agitated now, twitching more and frequently stealing glances towards the door. From this point onward, not everything that is said can be clearly understood. Passages that cannot be transcribed will be marked as [inaudible].

 

“People began disap[inaudible]r that, Mary first, then Jenny, A[inaudible], Adam and his sister Gwen. Soon enough, there was barely anyone left.” He coughs, causing an amount of audio distortion. “We tried to leave, the rest of us. I mean, there wasn’t many left to leave, but we thought we could get out. Everyone was terrified, crying and screaming. Kids there lost their parents, parents their children. It was fucking awful.

 

“So Simon and I both decided we’d go and see if we could get any help. We loaded into Simons old car and headed up the North roads, towards Barstow. We got about a kilometre before we reali[inaudible]ointless. Through the mist and the glare we could barely see the makeshift barricade, Simon almost crashed into it, stacked head height with the carcasses of dead animals…” He paused for a moment “I – I think I might have seen a hand in there…But I didn’t say anything to Simon. I didn’t want him to worry.

 

“We couldn’t go any further, Simon wanted to have a go at climbing over the top of it, but I couldn’t bear the smell...” His face hardens, and his voice takes on a warning tone “If it ever comes for you, you’ll know it by the smell. That’s how you’ll know it’s there, my god that smell. It was sickening, vile. Worse than rotting flesh and sour milk. When you smell that, you run. Far, far away; you hea[inaudible]round to investigate. You just go...

 

“Everyone took that hard, we sent out more to check the rest of the roads but there was nothing there, just more barricades.” The banging doubles at this point, becoming more furious, almost frenzied “…It doesn’t want me to tell you, it doesn’t want anyone to know,” His face is now a mask of terror and he’s staring at the door, eyes wide “They’re coming. Oh god, this is it…” light floods the room, and the camera is knocked to the floor. At this point, the video cuts out, but the audio continues recording for a few more moments. Although most of what it records is inaudible screaming, the following words can be made out: “It’s the Ooze! It’s all in the Ooze!”

 

 

The case investigation is ongoing, and the evidence is continuing to be analyzed for any indication as to what happened to James or the people whom he mentioned in the tape.

 

Very few conclusions can be drawn from this evidence; we can do nothing but speculate on what really occurred before and, indeed after the tapes recording.

 

Additional;

 

In regards to evidence serial number 114-68A, the black substance or ‘Ooze’ that was found at the scene; spectroscopic analysis of the sample has everyone stumped. It appears to have the structure and content of a living organism, but it seems to contain high residual traces of Thallium, a particularly dangerous and toxic element. No one on the team has ever seen anything like it. The government had us send it away to a private institute for a more thorough analysis; despite some unpleasantness from my more…egotistical colleagues, it has been an altogether welcome arrangement. The presence of the ooze was beginning to cause waves amongst those who had seen the tape…