Chasm of the Forgotten Ranger Incident Reports

Global Anomalous Preserves Weekly Incident Report

To: Bureau of Ranger Management

From: Head Ranger Janine Milner

Date: Week of June 17th-23rd, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-096: Upper Star Wall Gallery

Sometime after midnight on June 18th, a suspected fossil poacher, identified as R.E. from Winnipeg, Canada, fell to his death while attempting to scale the upper Star Wall. Several fragments of the Grand Star fossil were recovered from R.E.’s bags, and the climber’s journals indicated his intent to reach and take the “Eye of Yesterday”, the famously opalized “eye” of the Grand Star Fossil. Analysis of the incident by rangers revealed the cause of R.E.’s sudden and fatal descent to be a climbing rope that was found to be perfectly sliced through halfway up the wall. Both severed ends of the rope were melted, as though the line was cut by a laser or welding torch. This marks the 9th death of a fossil poacher within preserve boundaries this year. Given the circumstances of the death, the preserve’s designated anomalous incident agent has been notified.