(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Chris Downer)
The Flannan Isle mystery, which involves the unexplainable disappearance of three keepers, has remained unsolved because there's no concrete evidence to explain the bizarre incident.
The Flannan Isle Mystery
In December 1900, the three keepers—Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, and Donald MacArthur—of the Flannan Isle Lighthouse off the northwest coast of Scotland mysteriously vanished. To this day, their sudden disappearance has remained a mystery, and the incident has been dubbed "The Flannan Isle Mystery."
First clues to the enigma surrounding Flannan Isle Lighthouse were found on Dec. 15, 1990, when the steamship Anchtor noted in its log that the light was out of commission during inclement weather. Three days after docking at Leith, word of the problem on Flannan was relayed to the Northern Lighthouse Board. This was further supported by the discovery made during the investigation by the relief ship Hesperus, which discovered the island in an enigmatic state of disorder.
Jim Harvie, the captain of Hesperus, sounded his horn and sent up a flare, hoping to alert the three lighthouse keepers, but there was no response.
The typical provision boxes, a flag on the flagstaff, and a warm welcome from the lighthouse keepers were absent. Relief lighthouse keeper Joseph Moore disembarked from the Hesperus and began climbing the lighthouse's 135 steep steps. Three enormous black birds perched on the cliffs above him watched his progress with beady eyes.
When Moore arrived at the lighthouse compound, he saw that the gate and main door were closed. As he entered the living area, he saw that a chair had been knocked over, the kitchen wall clock had stopped, and the table was set for a dinner that had never been eaten. The only sign of life was a caged canary.
And the beds were not even made. A set of oilskins was also discovered, indicating that one of the keepers may have departed without them. This is strange and concerning, given the bad weather recorded in the logs.
Moore informs Hesperus's captain of his discoveries when he returns to the eastern landing. Harvie sent two more men ashore to join Moore in the investigation.
The entire island was searched for hints or any indication of the keepers, but nothing turned up. The west landing suffered extensive damage, including torn turf and a damaged supply box with its contents scattered everywhere. As the keeper's log attested, the damage had already happened before the disappearance.
The log preceding the mysterious disappearance included strange notes about a terrible storm, strong winds, and low morale among the keepers. Despite being over a hundred feet above sea level, a supply box had been broken open, and its contents were everywhere.
A massive rock weighing over a ton had been moved, a section of a railway track had been ripped from its concrete moorings, and iron railings on the side of a path had bent and twisted out of shape. Additionally, the turf had been torn from the cliffs' summits two hundred feet above sea level.
However, the bad weather conditions noted in the log were either fabricated or localized because there were no reports of storms in the area in the days preceding the disappearance. Most significantly, the three keepers were nowhere to be seen.
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What Happened to the 3 Missing Keepers of the Flannan Isle Lighthouse?
Harvie concluded that they were blown over the cliffs or probably drowned while securing a crane or something similar. Meanwhile, Robert Muirhea, the lighthouse board superintendent who knew all the missing men well as he was the one who recruited them, did his investigation. He speculated that they were still on duty until dinner on Dec. 15.
He believed that Mashall and Ducat headed out into the storm to secure the equipment stored there, and MacArthur followed when they did not return.
He added that an oversized sea probably rushed up the face of the rock, went above them, and came down with immense force, sweeping them away.
The incident that inspired the 2019 thriller "The Vanishing" has attracted various theories. One theory suggests that the three men left by boat to escape debts. Another claims they were spirited away by the skeletal crew of a ghost ship. Some believe they had been kidnapped by foreign spies.
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