1 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: A mixture of rain and sleet lashed the windscreen of 2 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: the old Cortina as it drove slowly past the graveyard. 3 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: The windscreen wipers could barely keep up with the onslaught. 4 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: The headstones in Pennygown Cemetery barely visible as the car 5 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: headlights swept past. Dating from the early twelve hundreds, local 6 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: law held that the penny Gown chapel and graveyard had 7 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: once been home to unfriendly fairies, but malevelent fairies were 8 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: the least of the driver's worries as he slowly inched 9 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: his car as close as he dared to the edge 10 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: of a steep drop off. It was Christmas Eve, and 11 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: David Hewitt, manager of the nearby Glenforsa hotel on the 12 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: Scottish isle of Mull, would have much preferred to be 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: back at the hotel, sipping a dram of whiskey in 14 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: front of the pete fire. What brought him out was 15 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: a growing concern for one of his guests, Peter Gibbs, 16 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: a somewhat eccentric fifty five year old Englishman. Gibbs had 17 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: arrived on malt a few days earlier with his girlfriend 18 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: after discovering that the glen Forsa hotel boasted a rough 19 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: but serviceable airstrip. Gibbs, an experienced pilot, had rented a 20 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: plane from a local outlet to do some island hopping. 21 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: Gibbs had safely returned from one such trip earlier that day, 22 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: but then, for some unfathomable reason, at nine p m. 23 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: Gibbs jumped up and announced he was taking the plane 24 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: up again for another short spin. Apparently, his last words 25 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: before he taxied down the runway and took off into 26 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: the darkly threatening skies were that if anything went wrong, 27 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: it simply throttled back and jumped to safety. The weather 28 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: deteriorated fast, the cold, blusty wind being replaced by a 29 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: steady gale, sleet, and icy rain. When Gibbs didn't return 30 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: after a short time, everyone at the hotel began to 31 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: wonder if the pilot had indeed experienced some kind of 32 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: problem and ditched the plane into the sea, which was 33 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: why hotel manager Hewitt was now maneuvering his Cortina back 34 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,079 Speaker 1: and forth on the cliff top to try and illuminate 35 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: the choppy waters below, but he saw no sign of 36 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,959 Speaker 1: the plane. Peter Gibbs would never be heard from again 37 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: in circumstances so strange that people had been trying to 38 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: unravel the mystery of what exactly happened to him. Ever since, 39 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: you're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard McLane Smith. Norman 40 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: Peter Gibbs was an expert flyer, serving as a young 41 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: flight officer in the UK's Royal Air Force during the 42 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: final years of World War II. A member of the 43 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: forty one Squadron, Gibbs became a seasoned spitfire pilot. On 44 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: his final mission, he shot down four flying bombs before 45 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: another plane crashed into the back of his Badly injured 46 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: Gibbs spent three months in hospital with petrol in his wounds, 47 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: having his kneecaps glued back together. As he would later say, 48 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: doctors advised Gibbs to give up flying, but the pilot 49 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: had a headstrong, impetuous streak, and despite everything he'd been through, 50 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: he continued to fly small planes after the war. The 51 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: multi talented Gibbabbs was also an excellent violinist and played 52 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: in several of Britain's major orchestras for a time, including 53 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: the Philharmonia Orchestra. However, his musical career abruptly ended in 54 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six when he fell out with the conductor 55 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: while on a tour of the United States. Disillusioned with 56 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: the world of classical music, in the following year of 57 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven, Gibbs sought solace in his other great passion, flying. 58 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: He joined the Surrey Flying Club and bought a Tiger 59 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: Mooth biplane. Gibbs's son, Michael, was taken up in the 60 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: biplane on numerous occasions, later describing his father as having 61 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: a huge shock of dark hair and prominent eyebrows. He 62 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: also recalled how his father was a bit of a 63 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: dare devil who loved flying close to the ground. By 64 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, Gibbs, now fifty five, was the managing 65 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,559 Speaker 1: director of a successful property development company with a keen 66 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: interest in developing luxury hotels. On December twentieth of that year, 67 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: Gibbs traveled via Ferry to the Isle of Mant, part 68 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: of a group of islands known as the Inner Hebrides 69 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: off the west coast of Scotland. His plan was to 70 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: visit available properties in the area with a view to 71 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: buying one. While being based at the Glenfser Hotel. Its girlfriend, 72 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: Felicity Granger, a thirty two year old university lecturer, accompanied him. 73 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: Gibbs had been especially delighted to learn that the Glen 74 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: Forsa had its own airstrip. It was built a decade 75 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: earlier to serve as the island's only runway for an 76 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: air ambulance service. The facility was primitive, with a grassy 77 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: surface and no runway lights. Classed as suitable for vs 78 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: FR or visual flight rules only, it was never used 79 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: in poor weather or after dark unless there was an emergency. 80 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: Delighted by the possibility of flying around the islands, Gibbs 81 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,039 Speaker 1: got in touch with Ian Hamilton, a local man with 82 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: a Cessna. He hired out from a place near Oben, 83 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: a short hop away on the mainland. The two seater 84 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,119 Speaker 1: light plane was in frequent civilian use at the time, 85 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: designed for flight training, touring, and personal use. Only seven 86 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: years old, it was painted red and white and was 87 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: equipped with navigation and a radio communications system. When Hamilton 88 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: asked to see Gibbs's private pilot's license, Gibbs told him 89 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: he didn't have it with him because he hadn't anticipated 90 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: flying on that trip, but this was a lie. Gibbs's 91 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: license had lapsed some time time before. On the morning 92 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: of December twenty fourth, Gibbs and his girlfriend Felicity flew 93 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: from Mull to Broadfoot on the Isle of Sky and 94 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: spent a pleasant day viewing properties there. Flying back to 95 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: the Glen Forsa Hotel, they enjoyed a full three course 96 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: meal and a bottle of claret. With it being Christmas time, 97 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: the hotel was lively. It was a popular place for 98 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: the locals to drink and had a busy bar trade 99 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: with his guests. Cozily ensconced in the hotel lounge and bar, 100 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: hotel manager Hewitt and his wife settled down in their 101 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: own quarters to watch some Christmas Eve TV. They were 102 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: startled when at around nine pm they heard the cesna's 103 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: engine starting uplicity. Granger later said that Gibbs had suddenly 104 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: declared that he was going to take the plane up 105 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: on a short flight to see what a circuit of 106 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: the air strip would be like at night. It said 107 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 1: that hotel staff tried to dissuade him. There was no moon. 108 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: They said it was too dark and the wind was rising, 109 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: but Gibbs, already wearing his flight suit brushed past the 110 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: protesting staff regardless, strode out into the darkness and headed 111 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: toward the plane. In the past, he'd landed planes by 112 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: the light of candles in jam jars, the lack of 113 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: runway lights wasn't a concern. Felicities scurried along behind with 114 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: two powerful flashlights to help Gibbs see what he was 115 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: doing as he began his pre flight checks. Some later 116 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 1: said that Gibbs seemed to take an unusually long time 117 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: to get the plane ready. Hotel manager David Hewitt grabbed 118 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: a pair of binoculars and said that he saw the 119 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: plane's on board lights flicker on and off for a while. 120 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: There were also reports that around nine thirty p m. 121 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: As the plane began to taxi down the runway, there 122 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: appeared to be two flashlights moving independently on the primitive 123 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: landing field, suggesting the possibility that there was a third 124 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:33,679 Speaker 1: person present that night. Coming loudly. The cessner lifted off 125 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: and banked north over the sound of mul Assuming Gibbs 126 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: was simply going to make a circuit around the hotel, 127 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: guests and staff rushed upstairs to get a better view. 128 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: They then dimmed the hotel lights in the hope of 129 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: better seeing the planes navigation lights. Meanwhile, as she later 130 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: explained it, Felicity apparently stood with the flashlights to mark 131 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: the end of the runway in preparation for Gibbs's return. 132 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: The wind was picking up and it was getting colder 133 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: by the minute. Then Felicity watched with confusion as Gibbs's plane, 134 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,280 Speaker 1: instead of making the promised circuit, just continued to head 135 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 1: east until its navigation lights disappeared completely behind some distant trees. 136 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: After half an hour of waiting for Gibbs to return, 137 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: Felicity was getting seriously cold. The breeze had turned into 138 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: a biting westerly wind. Then rain and sleep had started 139 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: to fall. It was just after ten pm when she 140 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: eventually gave up and rushed into the hotel bar, where 141 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: she told a member of staff to contact the emergency services. 142 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: By then, hotel manager Hewitt had already gone out and 143 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: was up on the cliff top scanning the coastline, but 144 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: there was nothing they could do. Gibbs had seemingly vanished 145 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: into the stormy night. The police arrived later in the 146 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: evening and began questioning hotel guests about the circumstances. Of 147 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: Gibbs's departure. The next day, emergency services mounted a huge 148 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,599 Speaker 1: search and rescue operation which extended over the Christmas holidays. 149 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: RAF and Royal Navy helicopters scoured the island and the 150 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: surrounding sea, while teams from the Mountain Rescue Service, forestry 151 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: workers and many local volunteers searched not only the Isle 152 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: of Man but adjacent parts of the Western Highlands. They 153 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:58,320 Speaker 1: worked tirelessly, battered by brutal storm weather that lasted three days. 154 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: TV and radio broadcasts across Scotland also alerted listeners to 155 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: keep a lookout for Gibbs or the wreckage of its plane, 156 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: but both had vanished without a trace, inevitably in lieu 157 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 1: of any concrete answers. Numerous theories sprang up to explain 158 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: the strange disappearance. The obvious assumption was that the plane 159 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: had experienced mechanical difficulties, or that Gibbs had become disorientated, 160 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: crashed into the sea and sunk. A quick circuit of 161 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: the airfield in the rapidly worsening weather with no runway 162 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: lights was no easy task even for the experienced Gibbs, 163 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: and perhaps the dimming of bar lights inside the hotel, 164 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: had left the pilot unable to locate the airstrip? Or 165 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: were they events part of a deliberate plan. Was Gibbs 166 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: facing some sort of financial crisis, having a mental breakdown, 167 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: or had he perhaps been diagnosed with an incurable illness 168 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: factors that might have driven him to commit suicide. Had 169 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: Gibbs even been in the Cessna when it took off? 170 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: And what about that claim that two flashlights were moving 171 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 1: on the airstrip independently of each other. Had there been 172 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:29,679 Speaker 1: three people present that night, including someone other than Gibbs 173 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:35,319 Speaker 1: or felicity? Was it mere coincidence that two days previously 174 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: there had been a robbery in Oban involving the theft 175 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: of diamonds. Two farmers near Oben claimed they heard a 176 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: plane go overhead at around ten pm on Christmas Eve? 177 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: Was this Gibbs and an accomplice, perhaps escaping with a 178 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: planeload of jewels. As it turned out, there was enough 179 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: fuel on board to make it to Ireland, which was 180 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: just over an hour's flight time away. On April twenty first, 181 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy six, four months after Gibbs went missing, Isle 182 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: of mul Shepherd Donald McKinnon was enjoying the vista on 183 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 1: a cold and breezy day as he walked his dog 184 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: on a hillside overlooking the penny Gown Cemetery. He stopped 185 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: for a moment to watch the clouds scudding low over 186 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: the sound of mull skirting a thicket of larch. McKinnon's 187 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: dog ran into the trees and suddenly started whining. When 188 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: McKinnon strode over to comfort them, he saw the body 189 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: of a man lying straddled across a fallen tree. The 190 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: man was clearly dead and in an advanced state of decomposition, 191 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: mostly held together by his clothing. The body was facing 192 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: due north, which seemed to suggest that whoever it was 193 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: had been walking downhill and tripped over the fallen tree. 194 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: The location was only four hundred feet up the hillside, 195 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: not far from the road below, and less than a 196 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: mile from the Glen Hotel. Having discovered the body, Shepherd 197 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: Donald McKinnon rushed home immediately and called the police. When 198 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: they arrived, they had to cut a branch off the 199 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 1: fallen tree where the corpse was wedged in order to 200 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: remove it. It seemed almost certain it was Gibbs. Despite 201 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: the decay, he was recognizable from his flight suit and boots. 202 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: A subsequent forensic examination eventually confirmed it so. A few 203 00:15:55,680 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: days after that, Gibbs his girlfriend Felicity arrived on the island. 204 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: Hotel manager David Hewitt took her to see the spot 205 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: where the body had been found. As they looked down 206 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: at the tree with its now hacked off branch, Hewitt 207 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: noticed something in a patch of heather that had been 208 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: depressed by the weight of the body. It was a 209 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: piece of Gibbs's scalp. Hewitt scooped the remains into a 210 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: plastic bag, saying nothing to Felicity as he did so. 211 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: Far from settling the question of what had happened to 212 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 1: Gibbs that fateful Christmas Eve, the discovery of his body 213 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: only served to deepen the mystery. It seemed strange that 214 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: it had been in plain sight all this time. Why 215 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: hadn't it been found during the search of the island 216 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: by hundreds of volunteers who'd passed through the area, and 217 00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: where was the plane. While the theory of Gibbs running 218 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:04,640 Speaker 1: away to live a new life was instantly disproved, other 219 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: rumors began to circulate. The body was sent for a 220 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: post mortem in Glasgow, and the findings made things even stranger. 221 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: Only minor injuries were found on the body, namely a 222 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: small cut on one leg, likely acquired when Gibbs tripped 223 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: over the fallen tree. More serious injuries that would indicate 224 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: he'd bailed out of a plane over land weren't present. 225 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: The toxicology results also negative. And if Gibbs had bailed 226 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,679 Speaker 1: out over the sea or been forced to ditch in 227 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: the water, why did forensic tests find no traces of 228 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: salt from seawater or marine organisms on his body or 229 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 1: in his clothing. It seemed to rule out any possibility 230 00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: that Gibbs had been forced to swim to shore. Pologist's 231 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: report concluded that Gibbs had simply died from exposure, with 232 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,400 Speaker 1: the condition of the body being consistent with having lain 233 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,400 Speaker 1: out in the elements for four months. But what if 234 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: Gibbs had died somewhere else in some other manner, and 235 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: his body had been placed on the tree. In June 236 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy six, Norman Peter Gibbs was finally laid to 237 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: rest A few months later. In October, Isle of Maul 238 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: farmer Robert Duncan was walking along the coast two miles 239 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: northwest of the Glenforter Hotel when he found a washed 240 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: up aircraft tire and inner tube of the type used 241 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: on Cessna aircraft. It would be a whole decade later 242 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: when in September nineteen eighty six a local clam diver 243 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 1: named George Foster claimed to be out diving when he 244 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:11,040 Speaker 1: discovered the wreckage of a small red and white aircraft 245 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,360 Speaker 1: with the same registration as the one Gibbs had been flying. 246 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 1: It was, he said, about one hundred feet deep in 247 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,400 Speaker 1: the water and a mile east of the Glenforsa hotel. 248 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: Foster took photographs which he said showed an aircraft in pieces, 249 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: with one of the wheels torn off and both wings missing. 250 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,120 Speaker 1: He also claimed that the cockpit doors were locked. However, 251 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 1: his images of the apparent wreckage were so low quality 252 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't possible to definitively identify the plane either way. 253 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: With everything he'd claimed to see, Foster expressed doubts about 254 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: the official version of events. He also wondered why the 255 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: authorities didn't follow up his report and lift the wreckage 256 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 1: to clear the matter up once and for all. It 257 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: would only have taken a couple of airbags to bring 258 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: it to the surface, he claimed was some kind of 259 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 1: cover up going on. Retired engineering academic and author Alan 260 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 1: Organ spent years investigating the circumstances around the last flight 261 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 1: of Norman Peter Gibbs. His tireless delving into the science 262 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:34,360 Speaker 1: of the various scenarios culminated in his twenty to fifteen 263 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: book Unraveling the Great mull Air Mystery. The lack of 264 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: salt water or other marine traces in gibbs Its clothing 265 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: seemed to rule out the possibility that the pilot had 266 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:51,479 Speaker 1: bailed into the sea. However, Organ spoke with a local 267 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: diver who told him that there are places around the 268 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: coast of Scotland where runoff from an adjacent hillside or 269 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,960 Speaker 1: stream concerned sometimes result in areas of the sea where 270 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: fresh water effectively sits on top of the seawater in 271 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: a layer up to five feet deep. If Gibbs had 272 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: entered the water in such a spot, he might only 273 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: have been soaked with fresh water. The problem with that 274 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: theory was that the stormy conditions the night of the 275 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: disappearance made it likely that the choppy waters would mix 276 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: the fresh water and seawater together. There was another possibility, 277 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: having potentially laid out on the open hillside for four months. 278 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: It's possible that Gibbs's body and clothing were simply washed 279 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,360 Speaker 1: clean by the rain, but all that would only mean 280 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: something if Gibbs had even dished the plane in the 281 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 1: first place. Is it really possible that Gibbs had ditched 282 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: the plane just offshore from Glenforth Hotel, managed to swim 283 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 1: to shore, then attempted to walk back to the hotel, 284 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,400 Speaker 1: climbing the hill, only to then trip over the fallen 285 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:15,640 Speaker 1: tree in the dark, knocking himself unconscious and perishing from exposure. 286 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: As the autopsy had concluded, Landing in seawater there was 287 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:27,879 Speaker 1: likely under fifty degrees fahrenheit without special gear typically results 288 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: in an average survival time of one hour. Assuming the 289 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 1: swim to shore had been around three hundred yards, That 290 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 1: distance would likely take around half an hour in flat 291 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: calm conditions, longer in a heavy sea, but it was 292 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: theoretically possible at least without succumbing to hypothermia and drowning. 293 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,360 Speaker 1: But there were other physiological challenges Gibbs would have had 294 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 1: to face. When a body hits cold water, the initial 295 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: gasp reflex followed by a steady heat loss typically causes 296 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: a person's mental processes to become confused. The swim would 297 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,919 Speaker 1: have been tough enough, and then if Gibbs had reached 298 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: the shore, as he stood up, freezing cold and dripping wet, 299 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: the blood in his chilled body would have drained rapidly 300 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:25,399 Speaker 1: from his brain, leading to more confusion. This phenomenon is 301 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: so well known and potentially lethal that rescue crews always 302 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: keep a person horizontal when they're pulled out of cold 303 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: water on his own in the dark without the benefit 304 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: of a search and rescue team or a flashlight. Likely dazed, confused, 305 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 1: and fairy cold, Gibbs then faced climbing the four hundred 306 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,199 Speaker 1: foot hill in front of him to get back to 307 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: the hotel. This might have seemed like a sensible strategy. 308 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: Once on the hill, you would have a good viewpoint 309 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 1: from which to orient himself. Author Alan Organ decided to 310 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: put the theory to the test by attempting to make 311 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: the climb himself, starting at the point on the shore 312 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,719 Speaker 1: directly below where gibbs His body had eventually been discovered. 313 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:21,199 Speaker 1: Even though he did this in broad daylight, equipped with 314 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:26,199 Speaker 1: dry walking boots and clothing, it was difficult going in 315 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 1: many places there were vertical rock walls three to nine 316 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 1: feet high with few breaks in between them, which would 317 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 1: also have been impossible to see in the dark. But why, 318 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,719 Speaker 1: Organ also wondered, would Gibbs crossed the perfectly decent paved 319 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 1: road that led directly back to the hotel. Did human 320 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: physiology again point to the answer. It wasn't just that 321 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 1: it was dark and sleeting. With restricted visibility, Gibbs, his cold, 322 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: wet feet would likely have lost all sensation. It's possible 323 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: he didn't even realize that he was crossing a road 324 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:12,480 Speaker 1: at all. Alan Organ eventually gave up on the climb, 325 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: having taken forty minutes to get only halfway to where 326 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:23,119 Speaker 1: the body was found. His conclusion was a stunning one. 327 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:28,919 Speaker 1: According to Organ, Gibbs never actually made the climb because 328 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: he wasn't in the plane when it took off that night. 329 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:44,919 Speaker 1: On her website fear off Landing dot com, retired engineer, 330 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 1: experienced cesnapilot and mechanic Sylvia Wrigley has also examined all 331 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: the evidence, and her conclusions agree with Alan Organ. She 332 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 1: too has proposed that Gibbs never left the ground on 333 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:05,199 Speaker 1: that last flight. Wriggly points out that Gibbs made a 334 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,399 Speaker 1: big show to everyone in the hotel that he was 335 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,520 Speaker 1: going to take the plane up in dangerous conditions, conditions 336 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,240 Speaker 1: that would have made it hard for onlookers to see 337 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:22,080 Speaker 1: what was happening out on the runway. Why. Wriggly suggests 338 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: that the Cessna's control column could have been fitted with 339 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: what's known as a gust block, which would have disabled 340 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: the column. Once under full power, the aircraft would be 341 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 1: enabled to fly off the strip unaided. The Cessna would 342 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:43,199 Speaker 1: then simply drift according to the prevailing wind. Once the 343 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: engine ran out of gas, it would stall and ditch 344 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: wherever it happened to be. If that was somewhere out 345 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:55,480 Speaker 1: over the Atlantic, no one would be the wiser. Was 346 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 1: the plane fixed to fly unaided? Or was there a 347 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:03,680 Speaker 1: third person who snuck into the Cessna while Gibbs made 348 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 1: his escape, piloting the plane to another airfield, then later 349 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: having the plane dumped from a boat into the sea 350 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: to fake a crash. Did Gibbs get lost as he 351 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: made his escape on foot over the hill behind the hotel, 352 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: falling then dying of exposure, perhaps failing to rendezvous with 353 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 1: accomplices waiting to help him steal away did those accomplices 354 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:36,720 Speaker 1: secretly go looking for him, only to find him dead, 355 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: then retreat unable to alert the authorities without revealing their 356 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: own culpability in the plot. Or did they turn against 357 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: Gibbs and kill him before moving his corpse to its 358 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: final location to make it seem like an accident. It's 359 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,200 Speaker 1: tempting to build extravagant plots, but there is one last 360 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 1: clue that might yet yield the answer. Before his private 361 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 1: pilot's license had lapsed during a previous flying test, he'd 362 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:15,159 Speaker 1: been ordered to wear glasses at all times, Yet his girlfriend, 363 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: Felicity Granger, stated that she'd never seen him wear glasses 364 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,120 Speaker 1: and that she was certain Gibbs wasn't wearing them when 365 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:29,960 Speaker 1: he flew that last time. Perhaps having taken off impetuously 366 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:35,399 Speaker 1: and over confidently in the dark, with low visibility and 367 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: impaired vision, Gibbs simply lost sight of the airstrip. Then, 368 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: having crashed the plane into the sea, he'd managed to 369 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: make it back to land, but in his effort to 370 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: walk back to the hotel, he'd simply slipped and knocked 371 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: himself out before dying of exposure. Almost fifty years on, 372 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: it seems likely that these questions will remain unanswered, and 373 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 1: that the mull Air Mystery as it came to be known, 374 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: will forever remain unexplained. Thank you as ever for listening 375 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: to the show. Please subscribe and rate it if you 376 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: haven't already done so. Unexplained will be coming to YouTube 377 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: very shortly in video form, so please watch out for 378 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: future developments there. You can subscribe to the channel at 379 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: YouTube dot com Forward Slash at Unexplained Pod. You can 380 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: also now find us on TikTok at TikTok dot com 381 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: Forward Slash at Unexplained Podcast. This episode was written by 382 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: Diane Hope and produced by me Richard McLain smith. Diane 383 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: is an audio producer and sound recordedst in her own right. 384 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: You can find out more about her work at Dianehope 385 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 1: dot com and on Instagram at in the Soundfield. Unexplained 386 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: as an AV Club production podcast created by Richard McClain smith. 387 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are 388 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:11,760 Speaker 1: also produced by me Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. The book 389 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,760 Speaker 1: and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. You can 390 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. 391 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,160 Speaker 1: Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get 392 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,960 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with 393 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on 394 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: the show. 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