On December 26, 1900, something inexplicable happened on Eileen More, the largest of the islands of the Flannan archipelago in Scotland. Three lighthouse keepers disappeared and were never seen again. Their mysterious disappearance is still one of the unsolved mysteries of history.
Deserted island
Three caretakers - Captain Thomas Marshall, James Ducat and Donald MacArthur - disappeared without a trace from the island, leaving behind only countless speculations and guesses.
In December 1900, a small ship was sent to one of the islands of the archipelago - Eileen Mor. The island was completely uninhabited except for the three lighthouse keepers.
The ship was carrying food supplies and a new shift of caretakers. But due to bad weather, his arrival was delayed. When the ship finally reached Eileen Mor Island, there was not even a sign of the presence of the three caretakers. The ship's captain, James Harvey, honked and fired a flare to get the attention of the keepers. But there was no reaction.
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Strange circumstances
Usually, when a ship with supplies arrived, one of the caretakers would wait on the cliff at the entrance to the lighthouse to greet them. Therefore, such a silence seemed strange. The lighthouse itself and its equipment were in a normal state: there were reserves of oil for lighting in the lamps, and traces of ash on the grate.
The only unusual detail was the two disappeared waterproof raincoats that the caretakers usually wore outside. The third cloak, which belonged to Donald MacArthur, remained in place, which means that the caretaker, despite the severe weather, left without him.
This disappearance of the caretakers was not only extremely unusual, but simply contrary to the established rules, according to which at least one person must be constantly present at the lighthouse. So why did they all leave office?
Captain's telegram
Captain James Harvey urgently sent a telegram to Scotland, which was sent to Edinburgh to the North Lighthouse administration. Here's what the captain wrote:
“A terrible incident took place on Flannan. Three caretakers disappeared from the island. No signs of life were found on the island this afternoon upon arrival. We launched a rocket. There was no answer. They sent to the bank of Moore, who examined the lighthouse, but did not find the caretakers. Clock stopped. Some signs hint that the incident happened about a week ago. Perhaps the poor guys were swept off a cliff by the wave, or they drowned while trying to fix some equipment. Night is falling, we can do nothing more now. I leave on Moore Island, MacDonald and three other sailors to keep the lighthouse shining until further instructions come from you. We will not return to Oban until I hear from you. I'll stay on the telegraph office until evening, in case you want to contact me."
A few days later, Robert Moorehead of North Lighthouse, who personally selected all three caretakers, went to Eileen Mor Island to investigate the mysterious disappearance.
His inspection of the lighthouse and the area revealed nothing new, beyond what Moore had already reported. The only exception was the only detail: the lighthouse log - a list kept by the caretakers. Moorehead quickly noticed that the notes had been somewhat unusual in recent days.
Mysterious records
On December 12th, Thomas Marshall, Second Mate, recorded "the strongest wind I have ever seen in my twenty years." He also noticed that James Ducat, the head overseer, had been "very quiet" in recent days, and the third mate MacArthur was crying.
This last remark seemed particularly strange. Donald MacArthur was an experienced sailor and a stout brawler known in the mainland. Why would he cry?
The December 13 entry noted that the storm was still raging and three men began to pray. Again, strange. Why would three experienced caretakers, safely hidden behind the thick walls of the new lighthouse, 45 meters above sea level, so afraid of the storm that they began to pray? They were completely safe.
The strangest thing is that in these dates in December, no other storm reports were recorded in this area. In truth, the weather was fairly calm, and only seriously deteriorated after December 17th.
Official version
The last entry was made on the 15th. It was short: “The storm is over, the sea is calm. The Lord is above us. How should this be understood? The researchers speculated that the two rangers were washed into the sea by a wave during the storm. Donald MacArthur rushed to the rescue, but also found himself at sea. But no confirmation of this version was found, the body was never washed ashore.
It looks like the three men just left the island for good. In the decades that followed, new lighthouse keepers on Eileen More Island reported hearing strange voices in the howling of the wind, pronouncing the names of the three missing people. There were more and more assumptions about this mysterious incident, but the fact remains: the secret of the Eileen Mor lighthouse remains unsolved to this day.
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Author: Maxim Ewald