The Omphalos

The Omphalos is an unexplained interdimensional artifact that the CIA has been studying for several years. Agent Claire Madison has established a psychic link with the object and uses the visions it generates to aid in the development of technologies that would normally be beyond the scope of human ability. It is shiny and black in appearance, roughly teardrop-shaped. Its surface is covered in small spikes that are also roughly teardrop-shaped, and in extreme close-ups it becomes apparent that each spike is covered in its own miniscule spikes, so that the object is self-similar at different scales.

Discovery
The Omphalos was discovered prior to the beginning of the show in a river bed in North Dakota that is inexplicably dry year round. Unable to move the object, the US Government built a research station around it called the North Dakota Black Site.

Visions
Agent Claire Madison's psychic link to the Omphalos inspires several CIA projects including:


 * The Ambrosia Project
 * The Leafman Project
 * Operation Calico
 * The Sun Box
 * The Flashbulb Initiative

Additionally, Ericka Keane successfully instigates a psychic link with the Omphalos in Season 4 and receives a premonition of the Maurisuvius rift.