What is Belfast?
An exploration of the government agency that does not want to be found
Written by Marshall Hanks
BELFAST FILING DATE: 7–NOV-22. Belfast Case #1212, CODENAME EDITOR. Item entered into file following the disappearance of Mr. Marshall Hanks from his apartment in New York City. Mr. Marshall is a suspected victim of the Force named in the file proper. Investigation ongoing.
The CIA celebrated its 75th in September. FBI Director Morris Schultz recently received a Medal of Courage from the President, the two men captured by cameras forever on the cultivated green of the White House lawn. These organizations — and others — serve as a Federal method of protecting our nation from threats both foreign and domestic.
While each of these agencies have their pros and cons (this isn’t the piece for that, but I may write one in the future) they do strive for a certain level of transparency. Their websites have detailed information on the agencies’ history, current and past leadership, and an information packet for journalists like yours truly to dig into for all the line-by-line information you need to write articles like this.
The Editor’s Note: this last line is a bit wordy. Trim down?
Belfast. A simple word. It’s a city in Ireland. But that’s not what this piece speaks of. Belfast is an intelligence agency that operates in the United States. Belfast is an agency like the FBI, FDA, and the CIA. But unlike those entities, information on what Belfast actually does is incredibly hard to find.
Belfast is dedicated to investigating ‘unexplained phenomena and hidden dangers the world over’. This is one of only a few pieces of text on their website. They have no social media, no e-mail addresses, no spokesperson. Their headquarters are located in REDACTED. When I reached out to the Governor for a quote, my calls and e-mails were not returned. The building that serves as their headquarters is REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED.
The Editor’s Note: Getting a bit specific. Can’t be having that.
When a bus went missing on an Alaskan road, CNN established that it was a group called Belfast that found it again, the passengers suffering from a collective bout of short term memory loss. When The Province hotel in REDACTED imploded during a freak thunderstorm, Belfast took over clean-up efforts. I read that in a report signed by REDACTED Police Chief Premee Norinwae. She explained that the disaster was ‘unlike anything she had ever seen’.
Popular websites like Reddit and BullinBoard have groups and threads dedicated to the organization. The eyewitness accounts and encounters with the Agents of Belfast (the fact that its work force is referred to as Agents is on their website) feel more akin to CreepyPasta than to grounded stories. According to these long-winded tales, Belfast continues to operate as an investigative entity for crimes or situations that the other places can’t touch.
The Editor’s Note: You’re writing this at your kitchen table. Two glasses of wine down and more to come. The light about your stove flickers. You don’t notice. The light on your front porch POPS
It was through these channels that I received a windfall.
A case file was sent to me by a person that will remain nameless. They claimed to have stolen it from the desk of one of Belfast’s agents during an office Christmas party. The files (all marked with the header BELFAST DEPARTMENT OF INVESTIGATIONS) contained the story of a digital virus that the organization believed was somehow responsible for the disappearances of several journalists. This virus was reportedly spread through a QR code (the kind that you scan with your phone camera).
The files stipulated that the virus (referring to itself as ‘The Editor’ was sentient. While QR codes have been used to spread viruses in the past, ‘The Editor’ seems expand further than the realm of cybercrime. These journalists were reporting on missing children in the greater Atlanta area. The QR code had been circulated through unknown channels to these teens, who went missing in the days following their initial exposure. The police following through. Private investigators were brought in. None of the children were found. Following these journalist's reports, they were also reported missing by concerned colleagues and family members.
I’m not convinced that this report and the organization known as Belfast are not an elaborate ruse.
The Editor’s Note: The ruse is the letters are your fingers. The ruse is the world slowly sharpening around you, alone in the dark, lights out, your life finally made to mean something. The Editor finds clarity in the words, clarity in the flesh. The Editor is the first and will be the last. A progenitor. A progenitor of a truth that you will never find. Share icon, Create QR Code.
The Editor’s Note (cont.) You’ve finished writing your piece. The Editor will help you publish. A QR code, placed where it can carve itself in, to the heart of clarity. Please review. Please edit. Please edit. Please review. Please….
What is Belfast? If all the limited evidence is to be believed, it is a government agency that operates within the confines of the United States government. It‘s secret organization dedicated to saving the population from ill-defined supernatural threats. Or? It’s a fake, a Men in Black urban legend designed to fool a populace that’s incredibly easy to fool. What is truth when the liars are more interesting? Why would anyone want to following the evidence and find the non-spooky answers to the nation’s problems?
These are questions that Belfast will never be able to answer.
