Sharpened Spikes at Green Lake

Summary

July 17, 2008: Police found sharpened metal spikes at the bottom of a lake in a popular park in Seattle. Thirty nine sharpened metal spikes were found, anchored to the bottom, and pointing up, near the boating center. Corrosion on the traps suggests they'd been lying in wait for months before being detected. One injury was reported. Malicious intent was suspected, as there seemed no other possible explanation.

Several dozen additional spikes were located throughout the lake on subsequent searches.

July 29, 2008:A few weeks later, the city Parks Department took responsibility. Apparently the spikes were part of a pilot program to control the spread of Eurasian Milfoil during the 1980s. The spikes had anchored plastic sheeting that would stop the growth of milfoil. In the decades since placement, the spikes had broken off the plastic sheeting, leaving sharp exposed tips where there had previously been safe rounded ends.

Source

Bibliography

1. Seattle Times article reporting on initial discovery

2. Follow up article resolving the mystery

Game and Story Use

• It could be a cover up! Initial reports were that the corrosion matched up to a few months of submersion, but the eventual explanation said they'd been there for decades, and even been missed during a major lake clean up in 2005. The facts just don't add up (well, at least not if the GM doesn't want them to).
  • The police don't want the public to panic about the serial trap-maker. Of course, the PCs (or their favorite public places) are his next target.
    • The trap-maker may be some sort of maniacal Sidhe, capable of breathing under water or planting traps via magic.
  • The spikes could be wreckage from a crashed spaceship, and Majestic 12 is hiding the truth from the public. After the buzz has been forgotten, they'll excavate the site under the cover of darkness.
  • It's always fun to blame Time Travel . A temporal rift broke the tops off the anti-milfoil spikes, and sent the bottoms into the future. That could explain how the clean up crews in 2005 didn't see them, why the corrosion didn't match, and why they weren't recovered when the pilot program was completed in the 80s.
• The psychological impact was very interesting. For a few weeks, people who'd played and relaxed at that park for years suddenly found it very creepy. Everyone assumed some sicko was trying to skewer swimming children.
  • Sensationalist media in your campaign world might cover the 'homicidal trapmaker' story, followed by tiny retractions that are buried deep in the paper. Scare people to drum up circulation in an era where newspapers are fighting to stay in print.
• This happened around the same time as Third Severed Right Foot Washes Up On Valdes Island. Both mysteries took place in the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps they're connected in some macabre way? Could be a cult of foot-severing trap-planting psychopaths on the loose.