This regulation establishes the conditions under which an anomalous phenomenon may be classified as self-normalizing, defines the operational consequences of that classification, and specifies the prohibitions that apply to Bureau personnel in respect of such phenomena.

A phenomenon is self-normalizing when its presence within the civilian information environment is sufficiently established that no disclosure of its anomalous nature is possible. The phenomenon has been absorbed into common experience, common idiom, or common explanation, and is no longer susceptible to the standard secrecy mechanisms maintained under Bureau authority.

Self-normalizing classification is not a default condition. It is a determination, formally made, and subject to the criteria and authorities set out below.

A phenomenon may be considered for self-normalizing classification only when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

1. The phenomenon has been documented by the Department of Aberrant Incidents as occurring at sufficient frequency, geographic distribution, and cultural penetration that no targeted disclosure event is identifiable.
2. The phenomenon is recognized by civilian populations under one or more established frames, including but not limited to: common nuisance, household frustration, folk superstition, urban legend, popular humor, or accepted statistical anomaly.
3. No Civilian Communication issued in respect of the phenomenon would convey information not already in general circulation.
4. The phenomenon does not present an active operational threat that would require civilian action to mitigate.

Phenomena satisfying these criteria are nonetheless not automatically classified as self-normalizing. The classification must be granted by directive of the DAI Division Director following a minimum six-month observation period.

A phenomenon classified as self-normalizing is subject to the following operational standards.

No Civilian Communication shall be issued. The Department of Aberrant Incidents shall not draft, circulate, or maintain any cover story, press release, official statement, or other public-facing material in respect of the phenomenon. Any Civilian Communication previously issued shall be formally rescinded and archived.

No amnestic procedure shall be deployed against civilian witnesses. Civilian observation, discussion, documentation, or speculation regarding the phenomenon does not constitute a disclosure event and does not trigger memory suppression protocols of any class. This prohibition applies regardless of the specificity, accuracy, or persistence of the civilian account.

No enforcement action shall be taken against civilian discussion. Bureau personnel shall not seek the removal, suppression, or modification of civilian-produced material concerning the phenomenon, including journalistic, academic, artistic, commercial, or informal accounts. The classification does not authorize action against civilian information; it formally acknowledges that such action would be redundant.

Containment and research activities remain unaffected. Self-normalizing classification governs only the civilian-disclosure axis of Bureau response. All applicable containment, observation, research, and personnel-clearance protocols remain in force at the level appropriate to the phenomenon's hazard and control profile.

Bureau personnel discussing self-normalizing phenomena with civilians shall conform to the prevailing civilian frame for the phenomenon. Personnel are not authorized to confirm the phenomenon's anomalous status, but are not required to deny it where the civilian frame already permits open acknowledgment of the underlying experience.

Personnel shall not, in the course of routine social interaction, draw civilian attention to the formal Bureau classification of any self-normalizing phenomenon, or to the existence of a Bureau case file pertaining to it.

Violation of this section constitutes a Level I security violation under SYS-300-02. Repeated violation, or violation accompanied by disclosure of additional Bureau information, may be escalated under standard cumulative procedure.

Self-normalizing classification is subject to quarterly review by the Department of Aberrant Incidents. Classification shall be rescinded where:

• The civilian frame for the phenomenon has materially shifted, such that the phenomenon is no longer absorbed into common experience.
• The phenomenon has manifested in a form or scale that exceeds the parameters under which classification was originally granted.
• Civilian discourse has begun to converge on the phenomenon's actual anomalous nature in a manner that would render continued absence of Bureau communication operationally untenable.

Rescission is granted by directive of the DAI Division Director and is communicated to all Divisions with prior involvement in the case.