Anomalous Object/Entity/Location Number: AOEL-989
Difficulty of Containment: High
Danger Level: Low
Containment Protocol: Permanent containment of AOEL-989 is impossible. If AOEL-989 is found to have manifested next to the corpse of an animal, a member of the AOEL Society is to use it to bury the animal.
Anomaly Description: AOEL-989 is a rusted iron gravedigger's shovel. There is etching on the back of the object's head, but it is illegible.
AOEL-989 spontaneously manifests next to the corpses of deceased animals, remains next to the corpses until it has been used to bury them, and then demanifests. No pattern has been found for the kinds of animal that it will manifest next to, except that it always manifests shortly after the animal's death. If it is moved away from the corpse it has manifested next to, it demanifests and remanifests next to the corpse. If it is damaged or destroyed, it remanifests in the condition it was in upon initial manifestation.
AOEL-989 was discovered after a cyclist was injured while trying to avoid colliding with it on a county road in Hot Springs, North Carolina, where it rested next to a deceased opossum. The cyclist attempted to move the object away from the opossum, was unable to do so due to the object's anomalous properties, and contacted local law enforcement. The AOEL Society was contacted, and the current containment protocol was established shortly thereafter.