Institute for the Research of Intriguing Sciences

The Institute for the Research of Intriguing Sciences, also officially known as The IRIS Initiative or simply IRIS is a largely secretive research project based around fringe sciences. A subsidiary of the commercial behemoth the EcruFox Corporation, the IRIS Initiative was created in 1994 by a group of five doctoral candidates at the University of California to research anything "not fully understood" in a private setting without media or public interference. The location of IRIS' base of operations is not known and has been a large subject for debate, however, EcruFox executives have stated that making the location public will jeopardize the entire project.

In 2002, a US congressional investigation concerning IRIS was started because of reports of illegal activity. The investigation however failed to gather enough evidence to prove fowl play. One aspect in particular of the investigation stood out in international media; three separate investigators sent by the congressional committee to IRIS' base of operations returned only to say they could not remember what they have been doing in the time they were gone. Afterwards, two separate expeditions were sent only to have all the members of the expedition found in the Caribbean, enjoying vacation with their families.

Congressional investigation
In December of 2001, while tensions were high per the September 11th attacks, the IRIS Initiative became a subject for investigation. Former members of IRIS reported some of the activities the Initiative was busy with, however the FBI required evidence to act. Because of the large contribution the EcruFox Corporation made the United States economy, moreover job creation, the FBI was prohibited from proceeding - a public congressional investigation with a presidential-appointed investigative team will ensue.

The investigation team, consisting of over 50 members, found nothing, and requested a court order for the EcruFox Corporation to give up the location of the IRIS facility. Complying with federal court orders, the location was privately given to the team, which, in turn, sent an investigator. This was in March 2002 - the investigator returned only to say he cannot remember anything since starting the journey to the location. The exact same thing occurred with two separate following missions to the island.

It was only until then the team knew something wasn't right. Now, a team consisting of seven CIA agents and FBI representatives were sent, only to never return. The next expedition, a US Marine Corps platoon, also never returned. It was only the next month all members of both expeditions were found throughout the Caribbean, enjoying a vacation with their families. When confronted, the team members claimed they never worked for the CIA, FBI or Marine Corps.

Upon returning to the congressional committee investigating the Initiative, demands for more court orders were made, however, by now, with the Supreme Court involved, any such requests were denied. The official Supreme Court reason was that the committee had months to investigate as well as the location of the facility, but came up with nothing. This led to a court order for the investigation and hearings to be canceled. The court did, however, order an investigation as to the happenings concerning the investigators. Weeks later, a medical report stated all members were of fine mental health.

In August 2003, the EcruFox Corporation sued the federal government to have all records of the facility's location destroyed. In lawsuit, which continued to February of the next year, proved successful. All former investigators are now employees of the EcruFox Corporation.

Location
The IRIS Initiative facility is located on the Scottish island of St. Kilda. Officially uninhabited, the island is now home to over 1,500 researches and support employees. A permanent layer of fog covers the surrounding area and any attempts to reach the island result in failure, because of sophisticated radar-jamming equipment and IRIS' unknown abilities to make ships and planes weer off course and miss the island by miles. There have been incidents where people have made it to the island, however, once they return to civilization (or not), there exists little to no proof of the event.

Projects
The Institute has made a wide range of its projects available to the public, but only after the solving of the mysteries of said projects. It is speculated that there remains dozens or even hundreds of active projects which are in the works.

*Note: MOtSC stands for Mysterious Object to Secure and Contain, and is usually pronounced "MotSec"


 * MOtSC-001: A mysterious rock found at a San Diego garage sale. The rock, when picked up, is extremely light, comparable to a piece of paper. However, once put on a scale or let go in mid air, effects of extreme density and weight are seen.


 * MOtSC-002: What seems to be a World War II-era bomb, however, identification marks on the side state it was with the US Army Air Forces' 822nd Bomber Wing - no such wing existed or exists today.


 * MOtSC-003: A small Jack Russell Terrier which, when somebody is in its presence, can only refer to it in the first person. For example, researches, when attempting to say "the dog is white with brown spots" say instead "I am white with brown spots." Curiously, researches only notice this when they view the recordings of the incident, and cannot recollect referring to it in such a manner. After doing it initially, researches seem to never be able to refer to the dog in the third person, thus it has been quarantined.


 * The dog was found when neighbors reported its owners to have started acting strange, barking and spending odd amounts of time running around on the lawn. After the owners were taken to a psychiatric institution, the dog was taken to an animal shelter, where police and eventually IRIS gained ownership of the dog after employees started exhibiting similar symptoms.


 * MOtSC-004: A can of deodorant which is unable to be emptied. After five continuous minutes of spraying, a small cloud of mist appears and expands at rapid rates. This particular can was used to hide the research center after employees were instructed to move around the perimeter, spraying the can. A permanent layer of thick mist now encompasses the entire center.


 * MOtSC-005: This lunar rock was returned to Earth on the initial 1969 journey to the moon. Commander Armstrong found it odd that the rock kept disappearing, even after he secured it to a box within the spaceship. In 1996 the rock was retrieved from a lunar museum vault in San Francisco by IRIS after caretakers reported they keep finding the rock in awkward places, even after securing it to a room.


 * It was soon discovered that once anyone in the rock's presence does not have a clear line of sight to the rock, it shifts position randomly. This applies to blinking as well. The rock has since been secured in the middle of a white, large and clean room without surveillance cameras. Researches must inspect the rock in pairs of two, with one always looking directly at the rock and informing the other when they are going to blink, and vice-versa.


 * MOtSC-006: A small hallway in the basement of a Cheyenne hardware store. Once the hallway is entered, the door at the far end leads to yet another hallway - tests indicate it is the exact same hallway. The only way to retrieve someone who has entered the paradoxical room is to keep the entrance door open for them to exit, otherwise, any attempt will just lead to someone entering the hallway again.