June 16, 2025 • 32 mins
The Flannan Lighthouse mystery: 120+ years unsolved. Three men disappeared from a fortress of stone where escape was impossible. Locals called it "the Other Country" and warned of ancient spirits. Were they right?
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(00:34):
A man climbs treacherous paths,cut into vertical cliffs
December 26th, 1900.
to relieve three keepersat the Flannan Lighthouse.
Instead.
He finds stoppedclocks, unmade beds, and a dark beacon.
Three experienced menhave vanished from a place where
there's nowhere to run,and there's no way off the island.
I'm Carol Ann.
Welcome to The InBetween.
(00:57):
don't.
The Flannan Islands,
a group of seven barren islands,also known as the Seven Hunters
(Off to a nicely ominous start!)about 20 miles west of the outer
edge of the Hebrides archipelago,off the western shores of Scotland.
The first stop for winds and wavesthat have traveled all the way
(01:21):
across the Atlantic, with nothingin their way and no reason to stop now.
The biggest of the seven,Eilean Mor, covering 40 acres,
has sheer cliffs around most of her shore.
If you're lucky enough to get a boatto a spot where you can get ashore,
there's nothing therebut great grass for sheep grazing,
(01:41):
meaning thatif you did choose to live there,
you would have to have foodshipped out to you on a regular basis.
Winds are a constant15 to 25 miles an hour on a calm day,
and can gust up to 60 in a storm,which often appear out of nowhere,
turning the average 5 to 10ft waves
to 10 to 20ft swellsin the blink of an eye,
(02:04):
making those food deliveriesthat you depend on rather unpredictable.
Even those who live anywhere nearthis place referred to it as “the
Other Country.”
So let's take one of the worst placesto live, build a lighthouse there,
and add three people into an environmentwhere people just aren't meant to be.
Nothing can go wrong with that plan,right?
(02:26):
Well, that's whatthe Scottish Northern Lighthouse
Board,otherwise known as the NLB, thought.
That lighthouse was built andwent into operation in December of 1899.
Little did the NLB, or anyone elsefor that matter,
realize that this lighthousewould become the center
of one of history'smost enduring mysteries -
(02:47):
The mystery of the disappearanceof the Flannan Lighthouse light keepers.
So what exactly happened on that lonelylighthouse island?
For those of you not familiarwith the story, on December 15th, 1900,
a ship named SS Archtor,sailing from Philadelphia
to Leith, passedwithin five miles of Eilean
Mor around midnight and notedthe lighthouse was dark.
(03:10):
Weird.
Bad weather keeps any shipsfrom sailing out to check on it.
But on December 26th, Joseph Moore,another lighthouse
keeper, gets out there to find outwhat's going on.
Once he gets on the island,he discovers that the three lighthouse
keepers stationed on the islandJames Ducat, age 43, Thomas Marshall, age
(03:30):
29, and Donald MacArthur,age 40, are gone.
The lighthouse is deserted.
The gate and doors are closed,
beds unmade, clocks stopped,
and the kitchen is eerilytidy with a half eaten meal on the table
and an overturned chair,suggesting the keepers left in a hurry.
(03:51):
Moore checks the daily log,something that is written in every day.
An entry from December 12thread, “Gale north by northwest.
Sea lashed to a fury.
Storm bound.
9 p.m..
Never seen such a storm.
Everything shipshape.
Ducat irritable.
12 p.m.
(04:12):
Storm still raging.
Wind steady.
Storm bound. Cannot go out.
Ship passed sounding foghorn.
Could see the lights of cabins.
Ducat quiet.
MacArthur crying.
The December 13th entry read, “Stormcontinued through the night.
Wind shifted west by north.
(04:34):
Ducat quiet.
MacArthur praying.
12 noon. Gray daylight.
Me, Ducat, and MacArthur prayed.”The final entry,
allegedly made on December15th, read, “1 p.m.
storm ended. Sea is calm.
God is over all.”
(04:55):
That doesn't sound good.
But he finds the lighthouse itselfin perfect working order.
It's just not on.
Moore enlists a couple of the other peopleto stay on the island with him,
to help him get the lighthouserunning again.
The next day, he and one of his men searchthe rest of the island.
The west landing showed storm damage
(05:15):
- bent railings, a missing storage boxat 110ft up with the ropes
that had been inside strewn all overthe place, and a rock weighing over a ton,
had been moved from the spotit had always sat, leading to theories
that a giant wave swept the keepers awaywhile securing equipment.
Well, isn'tthat all wrapped up in a neat little bow?
(05:38):
Too neat.
Because if you look at the detailsand separate fact from legend,
that bow unravels pretty fast.
However, at this moment,I'm going to have to warn you all
to put on eitheryour big girl pants or your big boy pants.
Because I have some bad news.
All that really juicy stuffabout the half eaten meal
(06:00):
and the chair knocked over the storm
so bad that it made the tough, seasonedlighthouse keepers cry.
Fake.
The stuff about the meal half eatenand the chair comes from a poem
called“Flannan Isles” by Wilfred Wilson Gibson.
Yet. As we
crowded through the door,we only saw a table spread for dinner.
Meat and cheese and bread,but all untouched and no one there.
(06:23):
As though when they sat down to eat herethey could even taste.
Alarm had come.
And they in haste had risen.
And left the bread and meat.
For at the tablehad a chair lay tumbled on the floor.
And the part about the log entries,and the light keepers crying?
That was added by the pulpmagazine True Story, known
(06:45):
for using the word “true” very liberally.
One reason we know its fake,beside the fact that the magazine
that printed it is known for lying,is that we know that log entries
are only written by the primary lighthousekeeper, in this case James Ducat.
But the log entries printed by TrueStories magazine are supposedly
(07:06):
written by ThomasMarshall, the assistant lighthouse keeper.
That would never happen.
Not to mention the fact that the logbookis like the official documentation.
So it was not like a place to write downhow everyone’s feeling, like a lighthouse
diary with a rainbow unicorn on the frontand a little gold lock.
(07:27):
But as sad as it is to say goodbyeto the well known creepy bits,
we have some more in store.
And when we look at what we knowto be the real facts, the mystery is still
there.
So let's go back to the beginningand see what really happened.
Fun fact! Well, not really fun, but.
The reason that lighthousesalways had a crew of three men
(07:50):
is because of the Smalls Lighthouseincident of 1801.
In the winter of 1800 and 1801,the Smalls Lighthouse,
located on a remote reef offof the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales,
became the site of a tragic incidentwhen one of its two keepers, Thomas
Howell, died, likely of natural causes.
(08:12):
The other lighthouse keeper, ThomasGriffith,
freaks out thinking that he'sgoing to be accused of murder.
So he somehow preserves his bodyin a makeshift coffin and lashes it
to the lighthouse railings, enduringsevere isolation and psychological torture
until relief boats get there, which,because of terrible weather and such,
(08:33):
turns out to be about four months later.
Griffith probably did the right thingbecause he's never accused
of murder or anything,but the ordeal leaves him traumatized
and never really quite the same.
So, new lighthouse rule (08:48):
Groups of three
or sometimes four operators at all times.
Construction on the EileanMor Lighthouse began in 1895.
The conditions on the island were so roughthat it took them four years
to get it done, with the lighthousegoing into service on December 7th, 1899.
(09:08):
And I hear you're barking, big dog.
If the environment there is so harsh,why build there at all?
Well, what's the pointof having a lighthouse in the easy places?
The best place to put a lighthouseis in the hard places
to keep ships from crashing.
And Eilean Mor fit that bill to a tee.
(09:30):
Amazingly enough,
The Lighthouse is not even the firstconstruction project on that island.
To this day, there are ruins called thechapel, rumored to have been built by St.
Flannan, a seventh century Irish priestwhom the islands are named after.
the lighthouse stands75ft tall and is built
at the highest point on the island,at 285ft above sea level.
(09:52):
She is state of the art for the day,
with a 140,000 candle power beacon
pumping out lightthat can be seen for 24 nautical miles.
Two landing stages are built.
One on the east and one on the west,with zigzag staircases
cut into the cliffs and a trolley tramway
to transport supplies from the shipsup to the lighthouse.
(10:16):
A shore station is establishedon Breasclete on the island
of Lewis for keeper's familiessince they can't stay on the island.
The Eilean MorLighthouse actually had a crew of four,
three men at a time, with each manrotating six weeks on and two weeks off.
Unfortunately, that was best case scenario
since getting a boat outthere was totally weather dependent.
(10:40):
When they were on,they worked in four hour shifts,
maintaining the light’s signature flashusing lenses rotating in mercury.
Duties include refillingoil lamps, cleaning lenses
and logging weather, seaconditions, and passing ships.
Fun fact!
Every lighthouse has a unique rotation,timing,
(11:00):
and flash pattern so sailors can identifywhich one they are seeing.
Okay,
so we've got ourselves a well oiledmachine here.
What's the first thing that happens?
They're not even up and runningfor a month, when a rogue storm
wave destroys both of their cranesthey had positioned at 70ft
(11:21):
and 120ft above sea level.
And if that 120ft number doesn't impressyou, it should.
The largest wave on recordis from the Lituya
Bay Megatsunami in Alaska onJuly 9th, 1958.
That wave reached an inlandheight of 1720ft
(11:41):
as the gigantic wave,created by an 8.3 magnitude
earthquake, pushed its way into a narrow,steep sided fjord.
However, that means for our purposes,this one doesn't count.
That 1720 is not the wave height at sea,
making it different from open ocean roguewaves.
(12:02):
The tallest officially measured wavewas at Nazare,
Portugal on October 29th, 2020.
That was only 101ft.
So a wave big enoughto take out equipment at 120ft?
That's a big boy.
But let's hold on to that informationfor a tick,
and fast forwarda year to December of 1900.
(12:25):
So the crew at EileanMor at the time is James Ducat, who,
like I mentioned before,is the primary lighthouse keeper or PLK,
with 22 years of experience.
Thomas Marshall, assistantlighthouse keeper or ALK, with four years
of experience.
And Donald MacArthur,occasional lighthouse keeper, or OLK.
(12:46):
Donald only has about a year of experiencebecause he's not a full time
light keeper like the other guys.
He's actually a tailor.
He's just filling infor their regular third guy, William Ross,
who broke his arm in an accidentwith the trolley they use
to get supplies from the bottomof the cliffs up to the lighthouse.
Donald has actually been on the island
since Octoberand is getting anxious to get back home.
(13:09):
He's just not used tothis whole lighthouse life thing.
On December 7th,the men get a visit from John Muirhead,
the superintendent of the NLB, possiblyto address tensions among the keepers,
and assures MacArthurthat he'll be relieved by December 20th.
As he's getting ready to go,Muirhead shakes hands with Ducat
(13:29):
and Marshall on the east landingand looks up to see MacArthur manning
the lighthouse, unaware that he would bethe last to see them alive.
Now, before we get to the next stopon our timeline of events,
we have to pause for just a moment
and chat about the standardemergency procedures for lighthouses.
And if you have a beefwith your current 911 emergency response
(13:51):
time, pay attention.
At this point, 1900, lighthousesdid not have radio communications.
Radio is introducedas a maritime solution in 1898,
but doesn't roll outas standard equipment for a few years yet.
So when William Ross broke his armin the trolley accident,
he lucked out in thatthe supply ship was still there
(14:14):
and could take him back to the mainlandright away.
For those not so fortunate,the call for help at the time was to hang
a big colored ball or disc outfrom the rails of the lighthouse
and wait for someone on landto see your distress call.
So the NLB employeda guy named Roderick McKenzie,
a gamekeeper on the island of Lewis,to monitor the lighthouse.
(14:37):
So every day he would take his telescopeand draw a bead on the lighthouse,
looking for the colored ballwaving in the wind.
If he does see one, then he has to send
a telegram to the NLB to let them know.
And the NLBthen has to scramble to try to find a ship
that can head out thereto see what's going on.
That's a process that can take days,maybe even weeks.
(15:02):
So Roderick goes outsidewith this telescope on December 7th
and doesn't see a light.
He doesn't see a light againuntil a brief glimpse on December 12th,
and then doesn't see it again after that.
I know that sounds really bad,but remember that he is also
dealing with fogthat can sometimes block his view.
But he just assumes all is goodbecause he is told to report
(15:25):
when he sees the colored distressbeacon flying.
Not instances of missing light.
Okay.
Seems to me maybe that procedurewasn't really thought through.
The night of December 15th, CaptainHolman of the SS Archtor,
sailing from Philadelphiato Leith, a port in Edinburgh,
passed within five miles of EileanMor around midnight
(15:47):
and noted the lighthouse was dark.
That's weird.
He immediately makes a note to reportthe outage when he gets to Leith.
Unfortunately for the lighthouse guys,Captain Holman's boat
hits a rock in the Firth of Forth (That'sjust fun to say)
on December 17th, adding another daybefore he can reach port.
When the S.S.
Archtor finally drags itself to dock,Captain Holman reports
(16:10):
the dark lighthouseright away to the owner of the boat,
which is running it upthe chain of command.
However, maybe because it's the holidays,or maybe because the boat owners
are too busy trying to figure outhow to fix the huge hole in their boat,
I don't know.
But the boat owners don't relaythe message to the NLB until December
(16:30):
28th, which,as it turns out, is too little, too late.
On December 20th,the day that John Muirhead promised
he would have a relief person to take outDonald from the lighthouse rotation.
A hurricane force storm hits the area,grounding everyone.
They don't actuallyget going for another six days.
(16:53):
But the 26th is a fair day, and CaptainHarvey navigates the boat, the Hesperus,
toward the lighthouse with relief keeperJoseph Moore and supplies on board.
As they get close to the island,they see no flag is raised. Odd.
That's the customary thing to dowhen the keepers see a ship coming in.
But worse yet, no keepers greet the shipand no provision boxes are out.
(17:18):
Captain Harveysounds the foghorn and fires
a signal rocket, but gets zero response.
Now there is literally no place for a shipto actually dock on Eilean Mor.
So Moore, and some crewmannamed McCormick, he was wearing a red
shirt.) have to get in a rowboatand row to the east landing.
(17:40):
McCormick stays with the rowboatas Moore climbs up to the lighthouse.
He finds the entrance gate and main doorclosed.
The kitchen door is open.
The fireplace is cold.
The beds are unmade and the clocks arestopped, which is not necessarily unusual.
All clocks needed to be wound every dayto keep them working back then.
But it does tell Moore that the menhave been gone for more than a day.
(18:03):
But the lamps are filled, lensespolished and blinds are drawn,
as is daylight protocol.
There is no half eaten meal or overturned
chair, contrary to later embellishments.
Moore goes running back to the boat,
tells Captain Harvey about the missingmen, and grabs three more crew members
to stay with him and help himrelight and man the lighthouse,
(18:24):
while Captain Harvey returns to Breascleterelay the news.
At 7:14 p.m.,Harvey sends a telegram to the NLB.
Dreadfulaccident has happened at the Flannery's.
The three keepers Duckett, Marshalland the occasional
have disappeared from the island.
The clocks were stopped and
(18:45):
other signs indicated that the accidentmust have happened about a week ago.
Poor fellows.
They must have been blown over the cliffsor drowned trying to secure a crane
or something like that.
The next day, Moore does a proper searchof the rest of the island,
looking for any kind of cluesas to where the light keepers went.
They came in on the east landing,so they knew
(19:05):
nothing was out of the ordinary there.
But the westlanding was a different story.
A storage box at 110ft above sealevel is missing.
Mooring ropesthat were inside are all over the place.
Iron railings are bent or brokenand a lifebuoy is torn off.
A rock overone ton is dislodged from its usual spot.
(19:28):
High on the cliff, and grasson the top of the cliff
is scoured away at some points.
Moore takes a look at the logbook.
The last official entry is December 13th.
However was common for the PLKto make notes on a chalkboard for a day
or two at a time before transferringthose notes into the official log.
(19:50):
The chalkboard contained notesfor both December 14th and 15th.
On the 15th, the men recorded thatthey put out the light at 9 a.m., recorded
the barometer and thermometer readings,and noted everything as being normal.
The afternoon of the 15th,a storm rolls in with gale force
winds of Force 8, which is windspeeds up to 46 miles an hour.
(20:12):
By 6 p.m.
that day, the winds had increased to Force9, which is 54mph.
That's not great,but it's certainly not a storm
that these guys haven't been througha hundred times before.
The next day,so the 28th, NLB Superintendent Robert
Muirhead arrivesto investigate for himself.
He sees the same west landing damage -
(20:34):
the dislodged rock,torn lifebuoy, and says, “Yep.
They must have been swept away by a wave.”
But we'll talk more about that conclusionin a minute.
Joseph Moore stayed on the island
for a few months until new keeperscould be found and trained.
And the whole time he's there,he can't stop thinking about two things.
(20:54):
Number one, what happened to those guys?
Number two, why didn't I bring my
good luck charm that I bring everywhere?
Joseph finally did get replaced.
But for the rest of his life, he felt likebecause he didn't have his good luck
charm with him while he was there,that he carried some bad
(21:15):
mojo back with him,experiencing bad luck from then on.
So what happened to these guys?
Obviously there is no shortage of theorieson this one.
The most logical oneand the most widely accepted
is the wave theory, put forward by the NLBguy, Muirhead.
The 120ft wave from the yearbefore is certainly proof of concept
(21:37):
that these rogue waves do exist,and sometimes bigger than we can imagine.
The men each had an oil skin coat,which is a coat made from cotton
material soaked in linseed oiland wax to make it waterproof.
Standard light keeper issue.
But Moore's investigationnoted that only two of the three coats
(21:57):
were missing from the rack.
MacArthur's was still there.
Now, keep in mind that lighthouse protocolcalled for one person
to remain inside the lighthouse at alltimes.
The theory is that the other two men
went outside in the stormto take care of some equipment.
It seems funny, but less than a yearearlier, Ducat was reprimanded for damage
(22:18):
that occurred to one of the craneswhile Marshall was operating it.
He was warned by the NLBthat any further damage
could result in eithera fine or losing his job.
That may have been the reasonfor going outside at the time
when no one should have beengoing outside.
The theory goes on to say thatMacArthur must have been up in the tower,
(22:38):
sees the wave coming,and runs out to warn the other two,
but is too lateand gets swept away as well.
Between the wrecked railing and shiftedboulder, among other things, there
certainly is evidence for a large wavehitting the island.
The problem that I have withthis is that Moore
found the gate and the front door closed.
(23:01):
If you're sprinting out of the houseto try to save your friends,
you got to stop and close the doorsbehind you.
Not to mention that the stormthat was recorded as hitting them on
the 15th was bad,but not off the charts bad.
The storm that hit five dayslater on the 20th with hurricane force
winds, was far more likelyto have caused that damage.
(23:22):
So in reality,there's no way that anyone can say
for surethat the damage happened on the 15th.
It most likely did not.
And these guys were professionals.
It's highly unlikely that any of themwould have ignored the protocol
to stay in the lighthouse.
The next theory is that someone went nuts.
(23:43):
If you're familiar with the phrase “mad
as a hatter” from Alice in Wonderland,it comes from real life.
Back in the day, the hat making processused mercury to make and stiffen the felt.
Prolonged exposure to the mercurynitrate solution made the hatter go nuts.
Well, in the lighthouse business,when you needed that lens
to keep spinning at a smooth regular rate,
(24:07):
the best way to do that was to floatthe lens on a bed of mercury.
So it's certainly not out of the realmof possibility that MacArthur
somehow got an overdose of mercuryand went nuts.
Or maybe he just couldn't handle
his unexpected overtime,since this was not really his jam.
It wasn't made for this joblike the other guys were.
(24:29):
And going nuts on the job as a lightkeeper isn't unprecedented.
In August of 1960,assistant lighthouse keeper Robert Dickson
murdered relief keeper Hugh Clark
with a .22 rifle on Little Ross Island.
Robert’s lawyer said he just snapped.
Likely due to mental strain fromthe isolated high pressure environment.
(24:52):
It's a very isolated,lonely existence out there.
Maybe MacArthur just wasn'tprepared for that.
So he snaps and goes runningout of the lighthouse without his coat
and the other two don their raincoatsand go after him,
with all three being swept awayby a rogue wave.
Except, again, it's unlikelythat the remaining two
(25:13):
would break the “one person inside at alltimes” protocol.
Or maybe MacArthur went nuts,killed the other two,
tossing their bodies into the seabefore throwing himself off the cliff.
But if that were the case,you would expect
to see some signsof struggle in the tower.
The other two certainly would not go downwithout a fight.
(25:35):
But other than unmade beds,
the whole placewas perfectly neat and tidy.
Now you may say, maybe he killed them,
and then went and tidied up the lighthousebefore throwing himself off the cliff.
But if you're going to do that,why wouldn't you make the beds as well?
On a totally different note,we have the wind vortex theory,
(25:57):
the equivalent of the swamp gas theoryfor disappearing lighthouse keepers.
This idea positsthat high westerly winds on December
15th, together with the island'sunique shape, created a vortex of strong
winds, liftingDucat and Marshall over the 200ft cliffs
as they were outside,getting things ready to weather the storm.
(26:18):
MacArthur,trying to figure out where they went,
goes outside without a coatand is also lifted up and carried away.
Sounds crazy,but later keepers actually reported
being lifted up by a wind tunnel typecurrent on Eilean Mor.
Okay, so strongwind currents are created on the island,
(26:39):
but if this is actually a thing,then it should have happened more often.
Yes, people were lifted up, but not enoughto be thrown off the cliffs edge.
The storm they were riding out
was not stronger than anything elsethey'd ever experienced.
So it should not have createdwind anomalies different
than anything else they've experienced.
(27:02):
I think my favorite theoryis that they were raided
by pirates Which one is the crossbow?
Hourglass. Three ghosts.
One of us must learn to play.
The trumpet was the other one.Because there's.
I know a man with a ghost.
I can't.
who killed the light keepersand threw their bodies over the cliff.
For what,a couple of weeks worth of rice and flour?
(27:24):
It ain't pirates.
And keep in mindthat as we're going through
all of these “thrownover the cliff” scenarios,
that history has shown that bodiesfrom ships that had wrecked in the area
most often would show upon a neighboring shore.
The sea in this areais not known to keep her dead.
But none of the bodies of the three lightkeepers was ever recovered.
(27:48):
So now that we've weeded outall of the mundane,
no fun explanations, let's lookat some of the more strange ones.
Eilean Mor has always been regardedas a magical place,
which is why the locals call it “theOther Country,”
believed to be inhabited by fairies, elvesand supernatural entities.
(28:08):
In the 16th century, a man named DonaldMonroe claimed to have found small bones
attributed to a race of little people who,
legend has it, clashedwith early Christian settlers.
Maybe that's
why Saint Flannan didn't stick aroundto build more than just as little chapel.
Local folklore describes EileanMor as haunted
(28:28):
with tales of supernatural beingsand rituals to appease them.
The most prevalent
being the Phantom of the Seven Hunters,the nickname of the seven Flannan Islands,
who is said to carry peopleoff of the island to an unknown fate.
On the more innocent sideof the folklore scale,
it is said thatthe grass on top of the island is magical.
(28:51):
Remember when I said that shepherdswould take their sheep out there to graze?
It's true.
Although I have no ideahow they actually get the sheep on a boat
and then land them on an islandthat has no real landing sites.
But they did.
The grass was said to cause pregnant sheep
to have twins and cure any sheepthat was sick.
(29:11):
However, they never stayed overnight.
That was considered a bad idea,that the spirits might construe
as disrespectful.
Of course, we have the ever present alienabduction theory.
Seriously, this is aboutthe only thing that can account
for these three menjust absolutely vanishing.
But as usual, we also have zero evidencethat this did occur.
(29:35):
They're crafty little suckers.
But my favorite legend is that of the BlueMen of Minch.
Minch is the waterway
separating the Inner Hebridesfrom the Outer Hebrides Islands.
Local folklore tells of blue, human sized
mermen-like creaturesthat inhabit the water there.
But these guys are not like the cute,friendly mermaids.
(29:57):
Should your boat be unlucky enoughto encounter one or more of these guys,
be prepared.
They are going to challenge your captainto a rhyming poetry duel.
They throw out the first lineand the captain has to rhyme it.
Your face is a wreck.
You're a blight on the nurse.
your face brings to mindthe end of a horse.
(30:18):
If he fails this oceanic rap battle,the blue man's powerful
tail will whip up a frenzy in the waterturbulent enough to sink the ship.
Boom!
Your boat and everyone on her is gone.
So I guess the theoryrelating to the lighthouse
is that the blue men got a little tiredof hanging out in Minch, and
(30:38):
made theirway offshore a ways to the lighthouse
and started stirring up some troublewhile they're away from home.
don't stop.
No, it won't be nice.
Think about it.
What would make that third personleave the lighthouse
unless they are witnessingsomething truly supernatural?
(30:59):
But in the end, Eilean Mor
Lighthouse continued to operate with herhuman crew until it was automated in 1971,
with no further strangeness, reported.
Well, mostly...ifyou don't count the reports of people
hearing the names of the three menbeing spoken on the wind...or
the three blackbirds that Joseph Mooresaw flying away from the door
(31:21):
of the lighthouse, that he swearswere the transformed spirits of the three
light keepers...or
or the strange knocks that were sometimesheard on the door to the lighthouse.
With no one standing on her front step.
Remember the poem called “Flannan Isles” by Wilfred Wilson Gibson?
I think he sums up the whole affair best.
(31:41):
We seem to stand for an
endless while, thoughstill no word was said.
Three men alive on flan,an aisle who thought on three men dead.
If you'd like to continue to the next stopon this paranormal train ride,
click right here.
Be careful out there.
(32:01):
And I will see youhere again, on The InBetween.
A man climbs treacherous paths,cut into vertical cliffs
December 26th, 1900.
to relieve three keepersat the Flannan Lighthouse.
Instead.
He finds stoppedclocks, unmade beds, and a dark beacon.
Three experienced menhave vanished from a place where
there's nowhere to run,and there's no way off the island.
I'm Carol Ann.
Welcome to The InBetween.
(00:57):
don't.
The Flannan Islands,
a group of seven barren islands,also known as the Seven Hunters
(Off to a nicely ominous start!)about 20 miles west of the outer
edge of the Hebrides archipelago,off the western shores of Scotland.
The first stop for winds and wavesthat have traveled all the way
(01:21):
across the Atlantic, with nothingin their way and no reason to stop now.
The biggest of the seven,Eilean Mor, covering 40 acres,
has sheer cliffs around most of her shore.
If you're lucky enough to get a boatto a spot where you can get ashore,
there's nothing therebut great grass for sheep grazing,
(01:41):
meaning thatif you did choose to live there,
you would have to have foodshipped out to you on a regular basis.
Winds are a constant15 to 25 miles an hour on a calm day,
and can gust up to 60 in a storm,which often appear out of nowhere,
turning the average 5 to 10ft waves
to 10 to 20ft swellsin the blink of an eye,
(02:04):
making those food deliveriesthat you depend on rather unpredictable.
Even those who live anywhere nearthis place referred to it as “the
Other Country.”
So let's take one of the worst placesto live, build a lighthouse there,
and add three people into an environmentwhere people just aren't meant to be.
Nothing can go wrong with that plan,right?
(02:26):
Well, that's whatthe Scottish Northern Lighthouse
Board,otherwise known as the NLB, thought.
That lighthouse was built andwent into operation in December of 1899.
Little did the NLB, or anyone elsefor that matter,
realize that this lighthousewould become the center
of one of history'smost enduring mysteries -
(02:47):
The mystery of the disappearanceof the Flannan Lighthouse light keepers.
So what exactly happened on that lonelylighthouse island?
For those of you not familiarwith the story, on December 15th, 1900,
a ship named SS Archtor,sailing from Philadelphia
to Leith, passedwithin five miles of Eilean
Mor around midnight and notedthe lighthouse was dark.
(03:10):
Weird.
Bad weather keeps any shipsfrom sailing out to check on it.
But on December 26th, Joseph Moore,another lighthouse
keeper, gets out there to find outwhat's going on.
Once he gets on the island,he discovers that the three lighthouse
keepers stationed on the islandJames Ducat, age 43, Thomas Marshall, age
(03:30):
29, and Donald MacArthur,age 40, are gone.
The lighthouse is deserted.
The gate and doors are closed,
beds unmade, clocks stopped,
and the kitchen is eerilytidy with a half eaten meal on the table
and an overturned chair,suggesting the keepers left in a hurry.
(03:51):
Moore checks the daily log,something that is written in every day.
An entry from December 12thread, “Gale north by northwest.
Sea lashed to a fury.
Storm bound.
9 p.m..
Never seen such a storm.
Everything shipshape.
Ducat irritable.
12 p.m.
(04:12):
Storm still raging.
Wind steady.
Storm bound. Cannot go out.
Ship passed sounding foghorn.
Could see the lights of cabins.
Ducat quiet.
MacArthur crying.
The December 13th entry read, “Stormcontinued through the night.
Wind shifted west by north.
(04:34):
Ducat quiet.
MacArthur praying.
12 noon. Gray daylight.
Me, Ducat, and MacArthur prayed.”The final entry,
allegedly made on December15th, read, “1 p.m.
storm ended. Sea is calm.
God is over all.”
(04:55):
That doesn't sound good.
But he finds the lighthouse itselfin perfect working order.
It's just not on.
Moore enlists a couple of the other peopleto stay on the island with him,
to help him get the lighthouserunning again.
The next day, he and one of his men searchthe rest of the island.
The west landing showed storm damage
(05:15):
- bent railings, a missing storage boxat 110ft up with the ropes
that had been inside strewn all overthe place, and a rock weighing over a ton,
had been moved from the spotit had always sat, leading to theories
that a giant wave swept the keepers awaywhile securing equipment.
Well, isn'tthat all wrapped up in a neat little bow?
(05:38):
Too neat.
Because if you look at the detailsand separate fact from legend,
that bow unravels pretty fast.
However, at this moment,I'm going to have to warn you all
to put on eitheryour big girl pants or your big boy pants.
Because I have some bad news.
All that really juicy stuffabout the half eaten meal
(06:00):
and the chair knocked over the storm
so bad that it made the tough, seasonedlighthouse keepers cry.
Fake.
The stuff about the meal half eatenand the chair comes from a poem
called“Flannan Isles” by Wilfred Wilson Gibson.
Yet. As we
crowded through the door,we only saw a table spread for dinner.
Meat and cheese and bread,but all untouched and no one there.
(06:23):
As though when they sat down to eat herethey could even taste.
Alarm had come.
And they in haste had risen.
And left the bread and meat.
For at the tablehad a chair lay tumbled on the floor.
And the part about the log entries,and the light keepers crying?
That was added by the pulpmagazine True Story, known
(06:45):
for using the word “true” very liberally.
One reason we know its fake,beside the fact that the magazine
that printed it is known for lying,is that we know that log entries
are only written by the primary lighthousekeeper, in this case James Ducat.
But the log entries printed by TrueStories magazine are supposedly
(07:06):
written by ThomasMarshall, the assistant lighthouse keeper.
That would never happen.
Not to mention the fact that the logbookis like the official documentation.
So it was not like a place to write downhow everyone’s feeling, like a lighthouse
diary with a rainbow unicorn on the frontand a little gold lock.
(07:27):
But as sad as it is to say goodbyeto the well known creepy bits,
we have some more in store.
And when we look at what we knowto be the real facts, the mystery is still
there.
So let's go back to the beginningand see what really happened.
Fun fact! Well, not really fun, but.
The reason that lighthousesalways had a crew of three men
(07:50):
is because of the Smalls Lighthouseincident of 1801.
In the winter of 1800 and 1801,the Smalls Lighthouse,
located on a remote reef offof the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales,
became the site of a tragic incidentwhen one of its two keepers, Thomas
Howell, died, likely of natural causes.
(08:12):
The other lighthouse keeper, ThomasGriffith,
freaks out thinking that he'sgoing to be accused of murder.
So he somehow preserves his bodyin a makeshift coffin and lashes it
to the lighthouse railings, enduringsevere isolation and psychological torture
until relief boats get there, which,because of terrible weather and such,
(08:33):
turns out to be about four months later.
Griffith probably did the right thingbecause he's never accused
of murder or anything,but the ordeal leaves him traumatized
and never really quite the same.
So, new lighthouse rule (08:48):
Groups of three
or sometimes four operators at all times.
Construction on the EileanMor Lighthouse began in 1895.
The conditions on the island were so roughthat it took them four years
to get it done, with the lighthousegoing into service on December 7th, 1899.
(09:08):
And I hear you're barking, big dog.
If the environment there is so harsh,why build there at all?
Well, what's the pointof having a lighthouse in the easy places?
The best place to put a lighthouseis in the hard places
to keep ships from crashing.
And Eilean Mor fit that bill to a tee.
(09:30):
Amazingly enough,
The Lighthouse is not even the firstconstruction project on that island.
To this day, there are ruins called thechapel, rumored to have been built by St.
Flannan, a seventh century Irish priestwhom the islands are named after.
the lighthouse stands75ft tall and is built
at the highest point on the island,at 285ft above sea level.
(09:52):
She is state of the art for the day,
with a 140,000 candle power beacon
pumping out lightthat can be seen for 24 nautical miles.
Two landing stages are built.
One on the east and one on the west,with zigzag staircases
cut into the cliffs and a trolley tramway
to transport supplies from the shipsup to the lighthouse.
(10:16):
A shore station is establishedon Breasclete on the island
of Lewis for keeper's familiessince they can't stay on the island.
The Eilean MorLighthouse actually had a crew of four,
three men at a time, with each manrotating six weeks on and two weeks off.
Unfortunately, that was best case scenario
since getting a boat outthere was totally weather dependent.
(10:40):
When they were on,they worked in four hour shifts,
maintaining the light’s signature flashusing lenses rotating in mercury.
Duties include refillingoil lamps, cleaning lenses
and logging weather, seaconditions, and passing ships.
Fun fact!
Every lighthouse has a unique rotation,timing,
(11:00):
and flash pattern so sailors can identifywhich one they are seeing.
Okay,
so we've got ourselves a well oiledmachine here.
What's the first thing that happens?
They're not even up and runningfor a month, when a rogue storm
wave destroys both of their cranesthey had positioned at 70ft
(11:21):
and 120ft above sea level.
And if that 120ft number doesn't impressyou, it should.
The largest wave on recordis from the Lituya
Bay Megatsunami in Alaska onJuly 9th, 1958.
That wave reached an inlandheight of 1720ft
(11:41):
as the gigantic wave,created by an 8.3 magnitude
earthquake, pushed its way into a narrow,steep sided fjord.
However, that means for our purposes,this one doesn't count.
That 1720 is not the wave height at sea,
making it different from open ocean roguewaves.
(12:02):
The tallest officially measured wavewas at Nazare,
Portugal on October 29th, 2020.
That was only 101ft.
So a wave big enoughto take out equipment at 120ft?
That's a big boy.
But let's hold on to that informationfor a tick,
and fast forwarda year to December of 1900.
(12:25):
So the crew at EileanMor at the time is James Ducat, who,
like I mentioned before,is the primary lighthouse keeper or PLK,
with 22 years of experience.
Thomas Marshall, assistantlighthouse keeper or ALK, with four years
of experience.
And Donald MacArthur,occasional lighthouse keeper, or OLK.
(12:46):
Donald only has about a year of experiencebecause he's not a full time
light keeper like the other guys.
He's actually a tailor.
He's just filling infor their regular third guy, William Ross,
who broke his arm in an accidentwith the trolley they use
to get supplies from the bottomof the cliffs up to the lighthouse.
Donald has actually been on the island
since Octoberand is getting anxious to get back home.
(13:09):
He's just not used tothis whole lighthouse life thing.
On December 7th,the men get a visit from John Muirhead,
the superintendent of the NLB, possiblyto address tensions among the keepers,
and assures MacArthurthat he'll be relieved by December 20th.
As he's getting ready to go,Muirhead shakes hands with Ducat
(13:29):
and Marshall on the east landingand looks up to see MacArthur manning
the lighthouse, unaware that he would bethe last to see them alive.
Now, before we get to the next stopon our timeline of events,
we have to pause for just a moment
and chat about the standardemergency procedures for lighthouses.
And if you have a beefwith your current 911 emergency response
(13:51):
time, pay attention.
At this point, 1900, lighthousesdid not have radio communications.
Radio is introducedas a maritime solution in 1898,
but doesn't roll outas standard equipment for a few years yet.
So when William Ross broke his armin the trolley accident,
he lucked out in thatthe supply ship was still there
(14:14):
and could take him back to the mainlandright away.
For those not so fortunate,the call for help at the time was to hang
a big colored ball or disc outfrom the rails of the lighthouse
and wait for someone on landto see your distress call.
So the NLB employeda guy named Roderick McKenzie,
a gamekeeper on the island of Lewis,to monitor the lighthouse.
(14:37):
So every day he would take his telescopeand draw a bead on the lighthouse,
looking for the colored ballwaving in the wind.
If he does see one, then he has to send
a telegram to the NLB to let them know.
And the NLBthen has to scramble to try to find a ship
that can head out thereto see what's going on.
That's a process that can take days,maybe even weeks.
(15:02):
So Roderick goes outsidewith this telescope on December 7th
and doesn't see a light.
He doesn't see a light againuntil a brief glimpse on December 12th,
and then doesn't see it again after that.
I know that sounds really bad,but remember that he is also
dealing with fogthat can sometimes block his view.
But he just assumes all is goodbecause he is told to report
(15:25):
when he sees the colored distressbeacon flying.
Not instances of missing light.
Okay.
Seems to me maybe that procedurewasn't really thought through.
The night of December 15th, CaptainHolman of the SS Archtor,
sailing from Philadelphiato Leith, a port in Edinburgh,
passed within five miles of EileanMor around midnight
(15:47):
and noted the lighthouse was dark.
That's weird.
He immediately makes a note to reportthe outage when he gets to Leith.
Unfortunately for the lighthouse guys,Captain Holman's boat
hits a rock in the Firth of Forth (That'sjust fun to say)
on December 17th, adding another daybefore he can reach port.
When the S.S.
Archtor finally drags itself to dock,Captain Holman reports
(16:10):
the dark lighthouseright away to the owner of the boat,
which is running it upthe chain of command.
However, maybe because it's the holidays,or maybe because the boat owners
are too busy trying to figure outhow to fix the huge hole in their boat,
I don't know.
But the boat owners don't relaythe message to the NLB until December
(16:30):
28th, which,as it turns out, is too little, too late.
On December 20th,the day that John Muirhead promised
he would have a relief person to take outDonald from the lighthouse rotation.
A hurricane force storm hits the area,grounding everyone.
They don't actuallyget going for another six days.
(16:53):
But the 26th is a fair day, and CaptainHarvey navigates the boat, the Hesperus,
toward the lighthouse with relief keeperJoseph Moore and supplies on board.
As they get close to the island,they see no flag is raised. Odd.
That's the customary thing to dowhen the keepers see a ship coming in.
But worse yet, no keepers greet the shipand no provision boxes are out.
(17:18):
Captain Harveysounds the foghorn and fires
a signal rocket, but gets zero response.
Now there is literally no place for a shipto actually dock on Eilean Mor.
So Moore, and some crewmannamed McCormick, he was wearing a red
shirt.) have to get in a rowboatand row to the east landing.
(17:40):
McCormick stays with the rowboatas Moore climbs up to the lighthouse.
He finds the entrance gate and main doorclosed.
The kitchen door is open.
The fireplace is cold.
The beds are unmade and the clocks arestopped, which is not necessarily unusual.
All clocks needed to be wound every dayto keep them working back then.
But it does tell Moore that the menhave been gone for more than a day.
(18:03):
But the lamps are filled, lensespolished and blinds are drawn,
as is daylight protocol.
There is no half eaten meal or overturned
chair, contrary to later embellishments.
Moore goes running back to the boat,
tells Captain Harvey about the missingmen, and grabs three more crew members
to stay with him and help himrelight and man the lighthouse,
(18:24):
while Captain Harvey returns to Breascleterelay the news.
At 7:14 p.m.,Harvey sends a telegram to the NLB.
Dreadfulaccident has happened at the Flannery's.
The three keepers Duckett, Marshalland the occasional
have disappeared from the island.
The clocks were stopped and
(18:45):
other signs indicated that the accidentmust have happened about a week ago.
Poor fellows.
They must have been blown over the cliffsor drowned trying to secure a crane
or something like that.
The next day, Moore does a proper searchof the rest of the island,
looking for any kind of cluesas to where the light keepers went.
They came in on the east landing,so they knew
(19:05):
nothing was out of the ordinary there.
But the westlanding was a different story.
A storage box at 110ft above sealevel is missing.
Mooring ropesthat were inside are all over the place.
Iron railings are bent or brokenand a lifebuoy is torn off.
A rock overone ton is dislodged from its usual spot.
(19:28):
High on the cliff, and grasson the top of the cliff
is scoured away at some points.
Moore takes a look at the logbook.
The last official entry is December 13th.
However was common for the PLKto make notes on a chalkboard for a day
or two at a time before transferringthose notes into the official log.
(19:50):
The chalkboard contained notesfor both December 14th and 15th.
On the 15th, the men recorded thatthey put out the light at 9 a.m., recorded
the barometer and thermometer readings,and noted everything as being normal.
The afternoon of the 15th,a storm rolls in with gale force
winds of Force 8, which is windspeeds up to 46 miles an hour.
(20:12):
By 6 p.m.
that day, the winds had increased to Force9, which is 54mph.
That's not great,but it's certainly not a storm
that these guys haven't been througha hundred times before.
The next day,so the 28th, NLB Superintendent Robert
Muirhead arrivesto investigate for himself.
He sees the same west landing damage -
(20:34):
the dislodged rock,torn lifebuoy, and says, “Yep.
They must have been swept away by a wave.”
But we'll talk more about that conclusionin a minute.
Joseph Moore stayed on the island
for a few months until new keeperscould be found and trained.
And the whole time he's there,he can't stop thinking about two things.
(20:54):
Number one, what happened to those guys?
Number two, why didn't I bring my
good luck charm that I bring everywhere?
Joseph finally did get replaced.
But for the rest of his life, he felt likebecause he didn't have his good luck
charm with him while he was there,that he carried some bad
(21:15):
mojo back with him,experiencing bad luck from then on.
So what happened to these guys?
Obviously there is no shortage of theorieson this one.
The most logical oneand the most widely accepted
is the wave theory, put forward by the NLBguy, Muirhead.
The 120ft wave from the yearbefore is certainly proof of concept
(21:37):
that these rogue waves do exist,and sometimes bigger than we can imagine.
The men each had an oil skin coat,which is a coat made from cotton
material soaked in linseed oiland wax to make it waterproof.
Standard light keeper issue.
But Moore's investigationnoted that only two of the three coats
(21:57):
were missing from the rack.
MacArthur's was still there.
Now, keep in mind that lighthouse protocolcalled for one person
to remain inside the lighthouse at alltimes.
The theory is that the other two men
went outside in the stormto take care of some equipment.
It seems funny, but less than a yearearlier, Ducat was reprimanded for damage
(22:18):
that occurred to one of the craneswhile Marshall was operating it.
He was warned by the NLBthat any further damage
could result in eithera fine or losing his job.
That may have been the reasonfor going outside at the time
when no one should have beengoing outside.
The theory goes on to say thatMacArthur must have been up in the tower,
(22:38):
sees the wave coming,and runs out to warn the other two,
but is too lateand gets swept away as well.
Between the wrecked railing and shiftedboulder, among other things, there
certainly is evidence for a large wavehitting the island.
The problem that I have withthis is that Moore
found the gate and the front door closed.
(23:01):
If you're sprinting out of the houseto try to save your friends,
you got to stop and close the doorsbehind you.
Not to mention that the stormthat was recorded as hitting them on
the 15th was bad,but not off the charts bad.
The storm that hit five dayslater on the 20th with hurricane force
winds, was far more likelyto have caused that damage.
(23:22):
So in reality,there's no way that anyone can say
for surethat the damage happened on the 15th.
It most likely did not.
And these guys were professionals.
It's highly unlikely that any of themwould have ignored the protocol
to stay in the lighthouse.
The next theory is that someone went nuts.
(23:43):
If you're familiar with the phrase “mad
as a hatter” from Alice in Wonderland,it comes from real life.
Back in the day, the hat making processused mercury to make and stiffen the felt.
Prolonged exposure to the mercurynitrate solution made the hatter go nuts.
Well, in the lighthouse business,when you needed that lens
to keep spinning at a smooth regular rate,
(24:07):
the best way to do that was to floatthe lens on a bed of mercury.
So it's certainly not out of the realmof possibility that MacArthur
somehow got an overdose of mercuryand went nuts.
Or maybe he just couldn't handle
his unexpected overtime,since this was not really his jam.
It wasn't made for this joblike the other guys were.
(24:29):
And going nuts on the job as a lightkeeper isn't unprecedented.
In August of 1960,assistant lighthouse keeper Robert Dickson
murdered relief keeper Hugh Clark
with a .22 rifle on Little Ross Island.
Robert’s lawyer said he just snapped.
Likely due to mental strain fromthe isolated high pressure environment.
(24:52):
It's a very isolated,lonely existence out there.
Maybe MacArthur just wasn'tprepared for that.
So he snaps and goes runningout of the lighthouse without his coat
and the other two don their raincoatsand go after him,
with all three being swept awayby a rogue wave.
Except, again, it's unlikelythat the remaining two
(25:13):
would break the “one person inside at alltimes” protocol.
Or maybe MacArthur went nuts,killed the other two,
tossing their bodies into the seabefore throwing himself off the cliff.
But if that were the case,you would expect
to see some signsof struggle in the tower.
The other two certainly would not go downwithout a fight.
(25:35):
But other than unmade beds,
the whole placewas perfectly neat and tidy.
Now you may say, maybe he killed them,
and then went and tidied up the lighthousebefore throwing himself off the cliff.
But if you're going to do that,why wouldn't you make the beds as well?
On a totally different note,we have the wind vortex theory,
(25:57):
the equivalent of the swamp gas theoryfor disappearing lighthouse keepers.
This idea positsthat high westerly winds on December
15th, together with the island'sunique shape, created a vortex of strong
winds, liftingDucat and Marshall over the 200ft cliffs
as they were outside,getting things ready to weather the storm.
(26:18):
MacArthur,trying to figure out where they went,
goes outside without a coatand is also lifted up and carried away.
Sounds crazy,but later keepers actually reported
being lifted up by a wind tunnel typecurrent on Eilean Mor.
Okay, so strongwind currents are created on the island,
(26:39):
but if this is actually a thing,then it should have happened more often.
Yes, people were lifted up, but not enoughto be thrown off the cliffs edge.
The storm they were riding out
was not stronger than anything elsethey'd ever experienced.
So it should not have createdwind anomalies different
than anything else they've experienced.
(27:02):
I think my favorite theoryis that they were raided
by pirates Which one is the crossbow?
Hourglass. Three ghosts.
One of us must learn to play.
The trumpet was the other one.Because there's.
I know a man with a ghost.
I can't.
who killed the light keepersand threw their bodies over the cliff.
For what,a couple of weeks worth of rice and flour?
(27:24):
It ain't pirates.
And keep in mindthat as we're going through
all of these “thrownover the cliff” scenarios,
that history has shown that bodiesfrom ships that had wrecked in the area
most often would show upon a neighboring shore.
The sea in this areais not known to keep her dead.
But none of the bodies of the three lightkeepers was ever recovered.
(27:48):
So now that we've weeded outall of the mundane,
no fun explanations, let's lookat some of the more strange ones.
Eilean Mor has always been regardedas a magical place,
which is why the locals call it “theOther Country,”
believed to be inhabited by fairies, elvesand supernatural entities.
(28:08):
In the 16th century, a man named DonaldMonroe claimed to have found small bones
attributed to a race of little people who,
legend has it, clashedwith early Christian settlers.
Maybe that's
why Saint Flannan didn't stick aroundto build more than just as little chapel.
Local folklore describes EileanMor as haunted
(28:28):
with tales of supernatural beingsand rituals to appease them.
The most prevalent
being the Phantom of the Seven Hunters,the nickname of the seven Flannan Islands,
who is said to carry peopleoff of the island to an unknown fate.
On the more innocent sideof the folklore scale,
it is said thatthe grass on top of the island is magical.
(28:51):
Remember when I said that shepherdswould take their sheep out there to graze?
It's true.
Although I have no ideahow they actually get the sheep on a boat
and then land them on an islandthat has no real landing sites.
But they did.
The grass was said to cause pregnant sheep
to have twins and cure any sheepthat was sick.
(29:11):
However, they never stayed overnight.
That was considered a bad idea,that the spirits might construe
as disrespectful.
Of course, we have the ever present alienabduction theory.
Seriously, this is aboutthe only thing that can account
for these three menjust absolutely vanishing.
But as usual, we also have zero evidencethat this did occur.
(29:35):
They're crafty little suckers.
But my favorite legend is that of the BlueMen of Minch.
Minch is the waterway
separating the Inner Hebridesfrom the Outer Hebrides Islands.
Local folklore tells of blue, human sized
mermen-like creaturesthat inhabit the water there.
But these guys are not like the cute,friendly mermaids.
(29:57):
Should your boat be unlucky enoughto encounter one or more of these guys,
be prepared.
They are going to challenge your captainto a rhyming poetry duel.
They throw out the first lineand the captain has to rhyme it.
Your face is a wreck.
You're a blight on the nurse.
your face brings to mindthe end of a horse.
(30:18):
If he fails this oceanic rap battle,the blue man's powerful
tail will whip up a frenzy in the waterturbulent enough to sink the ship.
Boom!
Your boat and everyone on her is gone.
So I guess the theoryrelating to the lighthouse
is that the blue men got a little tiredof hanging out in Minch, and
(30:38):
made theirway offshore a ways to the lighthouse
and started stirring up some troublewhile they're away from home.
don't stop.
No, it won't be nice.
Think about it.
What would make that third personleave the lighthouse
unless they are witnessingsomething truly supernatural?
(30:59):
But in the end, Eilean Mor
Lighthouse continued to operate with herhuman crew until it was automated in 1971,
with no further strangeness, reported.
Well, mostly...ifyou don't count the reports of people
hearing the names of the three menbeing spoken on the wind...or
the three blackbirds that Joseph Mooresaw flying away from the door
(31:21):
of the lighthouse, that he swearswere the transformed spirits of the three
light keepers...or
or the strange knocks that were sometimesheard on the door to the lighthouse.
With no one standing on her front step.
Remember the poem called “Flannan Isles” by Wilfred Wilson Gibson?
I think he sums up the whole affair best.
(31:41):
We seem to stand for an
endless while, thoughstill no word was said.
Three men alive on flan,an aisle who thought on three men dead.
If you'd like to continue to the next stopon this paranormal train ride,
click right here.
Be careful out there.
(32:01):
And I will see youhere again, on The InBetween.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!