WEBVTT - Season 08 Episode 7: The Rocky Mountain

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<v Speaker 1>A mixture of rain and sleet lashed the windscreen of

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<v Speaker 1>the old Cortina as it drove slowly past the graveyard.

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<v Speaker 1>The windscreen wipers could barely keep up with the onslaught.

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<v Speaker 1>The headstones in Pennygown Cemetery barely visible as the car

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<v Speaker 1>headlights swept past. Dating from the early twelve hundreds, local

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<v Speaker 1>law held that the penny Gown chapel and graveyard had

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<v Speaker 1>once been home to unfriendly fairies, but malevelent fairies were

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<v Speaker 1>the least of the driver's worries as he slowly inched

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<v Speaker 1>his car as close as he dared to the edge

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<v Speaker 1>of a steep drop off. It was Christmas Eve, and

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<v Speaker 1>David Hewitt, manager of the nearby Glenforsa hotel on the

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<v Speaker 1>Scottish isle of Mull, would have much preferred to be

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<v Speaker 1>back at the hotel, sipping a dram of whiskey in

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<v Speaker 1>front of the pete fire. What brought him out was

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<v Speaker 1>a growing concern for one of his guests, Peter Gibbs,

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<v Speaker 1>a somewhat eccentric fifty five year old Englishman. Gibbs had

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<v Speaker 1>arrived on malt a few days earlier with his girlfriend

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<v Speaker 1>after discovering that the glen Forsa hotel boasted a rough

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<v Speaker 1>but serviceable airstrip. Gibbs, an experienced pilot, had rented a

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<v Speaker 1>plane from a local outlet to do some island hopping.

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<v Speaker 1>Gibbs had safely returned from one such trip earlier that day,

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<v Speaker 1>but then, for some unfathomable reason, at nine p m.

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<v Speaker 1>Gibbs jumped up and announced he was taking the plane

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<v Speaker 1>up again for another short spin. Apparently, his last words

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<v Speaker 1>before he taxied down the runway and took off into

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<v Speaker 1>the darkly threatening skies were that if anything went wrong,

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<v Speaker 1>it simply throttled back and jumped to safety. The weather

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<v Speaker 1>deteriorated fast, the cold, blusty wind being replaced by a

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<v Speaker 1>steady gale, sleet, and icy rain. When Gibbs didn't return

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<v Speaker 1>after a short time, everyone at the hotel began to

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<v Speaker 1>wonder if the pilot had indeed experienced some kind of

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<v Speaker 1>problem and ditched the plane into the sea, which was

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<v Speaker 1>why hotel manager Hewitt was now maneuvering his Cortina back

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<v Speaker 1>and forth on the cliff top to try and illuminate

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<v Speaker 1>the choppy waters below, but he saw no sign of

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<v Speaker 1>the plane. Peter Gibbs would never be heard from again

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<v Speaker 1>in circumstances so strange that people had been trying to

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<v Speaker 1>unravel the mystery of what exactly happened to him. Ever since,

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<v Speaker 1>you're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard McLane Smith. Norman

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<v Speaker 1>Peter Gibbs was an expert flyer, serving as a young

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<v Speaker 1>flight officer in the UK's Royal Air Force during the

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<v Speaker 1>final years of World War II. A member of the

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<v Speaker 1>forty one Squadron, Gibbs became a seasoned spitfire pilot. On

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<v Speaker 1>his final mission, he shot down four flying bombs before

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<v Speaker 1>another plane crashed into the back of his Badly injured

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<v Speaker 1>Gibbs spent three months in hospital with petrol in his wounds,

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<v Speaker 1>having his kneecaps glued back together. As he would later say,

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<v Speaker 1>doctors advised Gibbs to give up flying, but the pilot

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<v Speaker 1>had a headstrong, impetuous streak, and despite everything he'd been through,

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<v Speaker 1>he continued to fly small planes after the war. The

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<v Speaker 1>multi talented Gibbabbs was also an excellent violinist and played

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<v Speaker 1>in several of Britain's major orchestras for a time, including

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<v Speaker 1>the Philharmonia Orchestra. However, his musical career abruptly ended in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifty six when he fell out with the conductor

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<v Speaker 1>while on a tour of the United States. Disillusioned with

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<v Speaker 1>the world of classical music, in the following year of

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifty seven, Gibbs sought solace in his other great passion, flying.

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<v Speaker 1>He joined the Surrey Flying Club and bought a Tiger

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<v Speaker 1>Mooth biplane. Gibbs's son, Michael, was taken up in the

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<v Speaker 1>biplane on numerous occasions, later describing his father as having

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<v Speaker 1>a huge shock of dark hair and prominent eyebrows. He

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<v Speaker 1>also recalled how his father was a bit of a

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<v Speaker 1>dare devil who loved flying close to the ground. By

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy five, Gibbs, now fifty five, was the managing

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<v Speaker 1>director of a successful property development company with a keen

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<v Speaker 1>interest in developing luxury hotels. On December twentieth of that year,

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<v Speaker 1>Gibbs traveled via Ferry to the Isle of Mant, part

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<v Speaker 1>of a group of islands known as the Inner Hebrides

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<v Speaker 1>off the west coast of Scotland. His plan was to

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<v Speaker 1>visit available properties in the area with a view to

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<v Speaker 1>buying one. While being based at the Glenfser Hotel. Its girlfriend,

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<v Speaker 1>Felicity Granger, a thirty two year old university lecturer, accompanied him.

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<v Speaker 1>Gibbs had been especially delighted to learn that the Glen

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<v Speaker 1>Forsa had its own airstrip. It was built a decade

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<v Speaker 1>earlier to serve as the island's only runway for an

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<v Speaker 1>air ambulance service. The facility was primitive, with a grassy

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<v Speaker 1>surface and no runway lights. Classed as suitable for vs

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<v Speaker 1>FR or visual flight rules only, it was never used

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<v Speaker 1>in poor weather or after dark unless there was an emergency.

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<v Speaker 1>Delighted by the possibility of flying around the islands, Gibbs

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<v Speaker 1>got in touch with Ian Hamilton, a local man with

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<v Speaker 1>a Cessna. He hired out from a place near Oben,

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<v Speaker 1>a short hop away on the mainland. The two seater

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<v Speaker 1>light plane was in frequent civilian use at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>designed for flight training, touring, and personal use. Only seven

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<v Speaker 1>years old, it was painted red and white and was

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<v Speaker 1>equipped with navigation and a radio communications system. When Hamilton

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<v Speaker 1>asked to see Gibbs's private pilot's license, Gibbs told him

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<v Speaker 1>he didn't have it with him because he hadn't anticipated

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<v Speaker 1>flying on that trip, but this was a lie. Gibbs's

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<v Speaker 1>license had lapsed some time time before. On the morning

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<v Speaker 1>of December twenty fourth, Gibbs and his girlfriend Felicity flew

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<v Speaker 1>from Mull to Broadfoot on the Isle of Sky and

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<v Speaker 1>spent a pleasant day viewing properties there. Flying back to

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<v Speaker 1>the Glen Forsa Hotel, they enjoyed a full three course

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<v Speaker 1>meal and a bottle of claret. With it being Christmas time,

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<v Speaker 1>the hotel was lively. It was a popular place for

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<v Speaker 1>the locals to drink and had a busy bar trade

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<v Speaker 1>with his guests. Cozily ensconced in the hotel lounge and bar,

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<v Speaker 1>hotel manager Hewitt and his wife settled down in their

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<v Speaker 1>own quarters to watch some Christmas Eve TV. They were

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<v Speaker 1>startled when at around nine pm they heard the cesna's

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<v Speaker 1>engine starting uplicity. Granger later said that Gibbs had suddenly

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<v Speaker 1>declared that he was going to take the plane up

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<v Speaker 1>on a short flight to see what a circuit of

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<v Speaker 1>the air strip would be like at night. It said

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<v Speaker 1>that hotel staff tried to dissuade him. There was no moon.

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<v Speaker 1>They said it was too dark and the wind was rising,

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<v Speaker 1>but Gibbs, already wearing his flight suit brushed past the

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<v Speaker 1>protesting staff regardless, strode out into the darkness and headed

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<v Speaker 1>toward the plane. In the past, he'd landed planes by

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<v Speaker 1>the light of candles in jam jars, the lack of

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<v Speaker 1>runway lights wasn't a concern. Felicities scurried along behind with

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<v Speaker 1>two powerful flashlights to help Gibbs see what he was

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<v Speaker 1>doing as he began his pre flight checks. Some later

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<v Speaker 1>said that Gibbs seemed to take an unusually long time

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<v Speaker 1>to get the plane ready. Hotel manager David Hewitt grabbed

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<v Speaker 1>a pair of binoculars and said that he saw the

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<v Speaker 1>plane's on board lights flicker on and off for a while.

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<v Speaker 1>There were also reports that around nine thirty p m.

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<v Speaker 1>As the plane began to taxi down the runway, there

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<v Speaker 1>appeared to be two flashlights moving independently on the primitive

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<v Speaker 1>landing field, suggesting the possibility that there was a third

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<v Speaker 1>person present that night. Coming loudly. The cessner lifted off

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<v Speaker 1>and banked north over the sound of mul Assuming Gibbs

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<v Speaker 1>was simply going to make a circuit around the hotel,

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<v Speaker 1>guests and staff rushed upstairs to get a better view.

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<v Speaker 1>They then dimmed the hotel lights in the hope of

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<v Speaker 1>better seeing the planes navigation lights. Meanwhile, as she later

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<v Speaker 1>explained it, Felicity apparently stood with the flashlights to mark

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<v Speaker 1>the end of the runway in preparation for Gibbs's return.

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<v Speaker 1>The wind was picking up and it was getting colder

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<v Speaker 1>by the minute. Then Felicity watched with confusion as Gibbs's plane,

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<v Speaker 1>instead of making the promised circuit, just continued to head

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<v Speaker 1>east until its navigation lights disappeared completely behind some distant trees.

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<v Speaker 1>After half an hour of waiting for Gibbs to return,

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<v Speaker 1>Felicity was getting seriously cold. The breeze had turned into

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<v Speaker 1>a biting westerly wind. Then rain and sleep had started

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<v Speaker 1>to fall. It was just after ten pm when she

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<v Speaker 1>eventually gave up and rushed into the hotel bar, where

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<v Speaker 1>she told a member of staff to contact the emergency services.

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<v Speaker 1>By then, hotel manager Hewitt had already gone out and

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<v Speaker 1>was up on the cliff top scanning the coastline, but

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<v Speaker 1>there was nothing they could do. Gibbs had seemingly vanished

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<v Speaker 1>into the stormy night. The police arrived later in the

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<v Speaker 1>evening and began questioning hotel guests about the circumstances. Of

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<v Speaker 1>Gibbs's departure. The next day, emergency services mounted a huge

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<v Speaker 1>search and rescue operation which extended over the Christmas holidays.

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<v Speaker 1>RAF and Royal Navy helicopters scoured the island and the

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<v Speaker 1>surrounding sea, while teams from the Mountain Rescue Service, forestry

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<v Speaker 1>workers and many local volunteers searched not only the Isle

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<v Speaker 1>of Man but adjacent parts of the Western Highlands. They

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<v Speaker 1>worked tirelessly, battered by brutal storm weather that lasted three days.

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<v Speaker 1>TV and radio broadcasts across Scotland also alerted listeners to

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<v Speaker 1>keep a lookout for Gibbs or the wreckage of its plane,

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<v Speaker 1>but both had vanished without a trace, inevitably in lieu

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<v Speaker 1>of any concrete answers. Numerous theories sprang up to explain

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<v Speaker 1>the strange disappearance. The obvious assumption was that the plane

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<v Speaker 1>had experienced mechanical difficulties, or that Gibbs had become disorientated,

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<v Speaker 1>crashed into the sea and sunk. A quick circuit of

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<v Speaker 1>the airfield in the rapidly worsening weather with no runway

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<v Speaker 1>lights was no easy task even for the experienced Gibbs,

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<v Speaker 1>and perhaps the dimming of bar lights inside the hotel,

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<v Speaker 1>had left the pilot unable to locate the airstrip? Or

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<v Speaker 1>were they events part of a deliberate plan. Was Gibbs

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<v Speaker 1>facing some sort of financial crisis, having a mental breakdown,

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<v Speaker 1>or had he perhaps been diagnosed with an incurable illness

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<v Speaker 1>factors that might have driven him to commit suicide. Had

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<v Speaker 1>Gibbs even been in the Cessna when it took off?

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<v Speaker 1>And what about that claim that two flashlights were moving

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<v Speaker 1>on the airstrip independently of each other. Had there been

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<v Speaker 1>three people present that night, including someone other than Gibbs

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<v Speaker 1>or felicity? Was it mere coincidence that two days previously

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<v Speaker 1>there had been a robbery in Oban involving the theft

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<v Speaker 1>of diamonds. Two farmers near Oben claimed they heard a

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<v Speaker 1>plane go overhead at around ten pm on Christmas Eve?

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<v Speaker 1>Was this Gibbs and an accomplice, perhaps escaping with a

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<v Speaker 1>planeload of jewels. As it turned out, there was enough

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<v Speaker 1>fuel on board to make it to Ireland, which was

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<v Speaker 1>just over an hour's flight time away. On April twenty first,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy six, four months after Gibbs went missing, Isle

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<v Speaker 1>of mul Shepherd Donald McKinnon was enjoying the vista on

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<v Speaker 1>a cold and breezy day as he walked his dog

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<v Speaker 1>on a hillside overlooking the penny Gown Cemetery. He stopped

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<v Speaker 1>for a moment to watch the clouds scudding low over

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<v Speaker 1>the sound of mull skirting a thicket of larch. McKinnon's

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<v Speaker 1>dog ran into the trees and suddenly started whining. When

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<v Speaker 1>McKinnon strode over to comfort them, he saw the body

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<v Speaker 1>of a man lying straddled across a fallen tree. The

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<v Speaker 1>man was clearly dead and in an advanced state of decomposition,

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<v Speaker 1>mostly held together by his clothing. The body was facing

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<v Speaker 1>due north, which seemed to suggest that whoever it was

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<v Speaker 1>had been walking downhill and tripped over the fallen tree.

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<v Speaker 1>The location was only four hundred feet up the hillside,

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<v Speaker 1>not far from the road below, and less than a

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<v Speaker 1>mile from the Glen Hotel. Having discovered the body, Shepherd

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<v Speaker 1>Donald McKinnon rushed home immediately and called the police. When

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<v Speaker 1>they arrived, they had to cut a branch off the

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<v Speaker 1>fallen tree where the corpse was wedged in order to

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<v Speaker 1>remove it. It seemed almost certain it was Gibbs. Despite

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<v Speaker 1>the decay, he was recognizable from his flight suit and boots.

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<v Speaker 1>A subsequent forensic examination eventually confirmed it so. A few

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<v Speaker 1>days after that, Gibbs his girlfriend Felicity arrived on the island.

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<v Speaker 1>Hotel manager David Hewitt took her to see the spot

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<v Speaker 1>where the body had been found. As they looked down

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<v Speaker 1>at the tree with its now hacked off branch, Hewitt

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<v Speaker 1>noticed something in a patch of heather that had been

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<v Speaker 1>depressed by the weight of the body. It was a

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<v Speaker 1>piece of Gibbs's scalp. Hewitt scooped the remains into a

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<v Speaker 1>plastic bag, saying nothing to Felicity as he did so.

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<v Speaker 1>Far from settling the question of what had happened to

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<v Speaker 1>Gibbs that fateful Christmas Eve, the discovery of his body

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<v Speaker 1>only served to deepen the mystery. It seemed strange that

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<v Speaker 1>it had been in plain sight all this time. Why

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<v Speaker 1>hadn't it been found during the search of the island

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<v Speaker 1>by hundreds of volunteers who'd passed through the area, and

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<v Speaker 1>where was the plane. While the theory of Gibbs running

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<v Speaker 1>away to live a new life was instantly disproved, other

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<v Speaker 1>rumors began to circulate. The body was sent for a

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<v Speaker 1>post mortem in Glasgow, and the findings made things even stranger.

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<v Speaker 1>Only minor injuries were found on the body, namely a

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<v Speaker 1>small cut on one leg, likely acquired when Gibbs tripped

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<v Speaker 1>over the fallen tree. More serious injuries that would indicate

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<v Speaker 1>he'd bailed out of a plane over land weren't present.

0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:38.720
<v Speaker 1>The toxicology results also negative. And if Gibbs had bailed

0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:41.679
<v Speaker 1>out over the sea or been forced to ditch in

0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:46.040
<v Speaker 1>the water, why did forensic tests find no traces of

0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:50.760
<v Speaker 1>salt from seawater or marine organisms on his body or

0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:55.119
<v Speaker 1>in his clothing. It seemed to rule out any possibility

0:17:55.480 --> 0:18:00.600
<v Speaker 1>that Gibbs had been forced to swim to shore. Pologist's

0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:05.560
<v Speaker 1>report concluded that Gibbs had simply died from exposure, with

0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:09.400
<v Speaker 1>the condition of the body being consistent with having lain

0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:13.400
<v Speaker 1>out in the elements for four months. But what if

0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:17.560
<v Speaker 1>Gibbs had died somewhere else in some other manner, and

0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:31.600
<v Speaker 1>his body had been placed on the tree. In June

0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:36.359
<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy six, Norman Peter Gibbs was finally laid to

0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:40.920
<v Speaker 1>rest A few months later. In October, Isle of Maul

0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:45.760
<v Speaker 1>farmer Robert Duncan was walking along the coast two miles

0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.760
<v Speaker 1>northwest of the Glenforter Hotel when he found a washed

0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:53.760
<v Speaker 1>up aircraft tire and inner tube of the type used

0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:58.080
<v Speaker 1>on Cessna aircraft. It would be a whole decade later

0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:03.000
<v Speaker 1>when in September nineteen eighty six a local clam diver

0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:07.240
<v Speaker 1>named George Foster claimed to be out diving when he

0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:11.040
<v Speaker 1>discovered the wreckage of a small red and white aircraft

0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:15.360
<v Speaker 1>with the same registration as the one Gibbs had been flying.

0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.600
<v Speaker 1>It was, he said, about one hundred feet deep in

0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:23.400
<v Speaker 1>the water and a mile east of the Glenforsa hotel.

0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:29.359
<v Speaker 1>Foster took photographs which he said showed an aircraft in pieces,

0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.320
<v Speaker 1>with one of the wheels torn off and both wings missing.

0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:38.120
<v Speaker 1>He also claimed that the cockpit doors were locked. However,

0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:42.160
<v Speaker 1>his images of the apparent wreckage were so low quality

0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:48.080
<v Speaker 1>it wasn't possible to definitively identify the plane either way.

0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:53.560
<v Speaker 1>With everything he'd claimed to see, Foster expressed doubts about

0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:58.000
<v Speaker 1>the official version of events. He also wondered why the

0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:02.400
<v Speaker 1>authorities didn't follow up his report and lift the wreckage

0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:06.399
<v Speaker 1>to clear the matter up once and for all. It

0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.280
<v Speaker 1>would only have taken a couple of airbags to bring

0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.560
<v Speaker 1>it to the surface, he claimed was some kind of

0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:19.439
<v Speaker 1>cover up going on. Retired engineering academic and author Alan

0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:24.960
<v Speaker 1>Organ spent years investigating the circumstances around the last flight

0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:30.160
<v Speaker 1>of Norman Peter Gibbs. His tireless delving into the science

0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:34.360
<v Speaker 1>of the various scenarios culminated in his twenty to fifteen

0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:39.560
<v Speaker 1>book Unraveling the Great mull Air Mystery. The lack of

0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:43.560
<v Speaker 1>salt water or other marine traces in gibbs Its clothing

0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:47.080
<v Speaker 1>seemed to rule out the possibility that the pilot had

0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:51.479
<v Speaker 1>bailed into the sea. However, Organ spoke with a local

0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:54.840
<v Speaker 1>diver who told him that there are places around the

0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:58.720
<v Speaker 1>coast of Scotland where runoff from an adjacent hillside or

0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:02.960
<v Speaker 1>stream concerned sometimes result in areas of the sea where

0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:07.280
<v Speaker 1>fresh water effectively sits on top of the seawater in

0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:11.000
<v Speaker 1>a layer up to five feet deep. If Gibbs had

0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:14.280
<v Speaker 1>entered the water in such a spot, he might only

0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:17.960
<v Speaker 1>have been soaked with fresh water. The problem with that

0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:21.200
<v Speaker 1>theory was that the stormy conditions the night of the

0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:25.560
<v Speaker 1>disappearance made it likely that the choppy waters would mix

0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:30.600
<v Speaker 1>the fresh water and seawater together. There was another possibility,

0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:35.440
<v Speaker 1>having potentially laid out on the open hillside for four months.

0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:39.760
<v Speaker 1>It's possible that Gibbs's body and clothing were simply washed

0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:43.360
<v Speaker 1>clean by the rain, but all that would only mean

0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:47.000
<v Speaker 1>something if Gibbs had even dished the plane in the

0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:57.920
<v Speaker 1>first place. Is it really possible that Gibbs had ditched

0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:03.240
<v Speaker 1>the plane just offshore from Glenforth Hotel, managed to swim

0:22:03.280 --> 0:22:06.480
<v Speaker 1>to shore, then attempted to walk back to the hotel,

0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:10.400
<v Speaker 1>climbing the hill, only to then trip over the fallen

0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:15.640
<v Speaker 1>tree in the dark, knocking himself unconscious and perishing from exposure.

0:22:16.240 --> 0:22:22.000
<v Speaker 1>As the autopsy had concluded, Landing in seawater there was

0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:27.879
<v Speaker 1>likely under fifty degrees fahrenheit without special gear typically results

0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:32.000
<v Speaker 1>in an average survival time of one hour. Assuming the

0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:35.480
<v Speaker 1>swim to shore had been around three hundred yards, That

0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:39.119
<v Speaker 1>distance would likely take around half an hour in flat

0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:43.800
<v Speaker 1>calm conditions, longer in a heavy sea, but it was

0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:48.800
<v Speaker 1>theoretically possible at least without succumbing to hypothermia and drowning.

0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:53.360
<v Speaker 1>But there were other physiological challenges Gibbs would have had

0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:57.960
<v Speaker 1>to face. When a body hits cold water, the initial

0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:03.000
<v Speaker 1>gasp reflex followed by a steady heat loss typically causes

0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:08.560
<v Speaker 1>a person's mental processes to become confused. The swim would

0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:11.919
<v Speaker 1>have been tough enough, and then if Gibbs had reached

0:23:11.960 --> 0:23:16.240
<v Speaker 1>the shore, as he stood up, freezing cold and dripping wet,

0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:20.000
<v Speaker 1>the blood in his chilled body would have drained rapidly

0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:25.399
<v Speaker 1>from his brain, leading to more confusion. This phenomenon is

0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:30.000
<v Speaker 1>so well known and potentially lethal that rescue crews always

0:23:30.119 --> 0:23:33.720
<v Speaker 1>keep a person horizontal when they're pulled out of cold

0:23:33.800 --> 0:23:38.480
<v Speaker 1>water on his own in the dark without the benefit

0:23:38.560 --> 0:23:44.240
<v Speaker 1>of a search and rescue team or a flashlight. Likely dazed, confused,

0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:48.800
<v Speaker 1>and fairy cold, Gibbs then faced climbing the four hundred

0:23:48.800 --> 0:23:51.199
<v Speaker 1>foot hill in front of him to get back to

0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:55.840
<v Speaker 1>the hotel. This might have seemed like a sensible strategy.

0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:59.359
<v Speaker 1>Once on the hill, you would have a good viewpoint

0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:05.359
<v Speaker 1>from which to orient himself. Author Alan Organ decided to

0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.280
<v Speaker 1>put the theory to the test by attempting to make

0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:12.000
<v Speaker 1>the climb himself, starting at the point on the shore

0:24:12.280 --> 0:24:16.719
<v Speaker 1>directly below where gibbs His body had eventually been discovered.

0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:21.199
<v Speaker 1>Even though he did this in broad daylight, equipped with

0:24:21.440 --> 0:24:26.199
<v Speaker 1>dry walking boots and clothing, it was difficult going in

0:24:26.280 --> 0:24:30.000
<v Speaker 1>many places there were vertical rock walls three to nine

0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:33.840
<v Speaker 1>feet high with few breaks in between them, which would

0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:38.400
<v Speaker 1>also have been impossible to see in the dark. But why,

0:24:38.960 --> 0:24:43.719
<v Speaker 1>Organ also wondered, would Gibbs crossed the perfectly decent paved

0:24:43.840 --> 0:24:49.520
<v Speaker 1>road that led directly back to the hotel. Did human

0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:54.080
<v Speaker 1>physiology again point to the answer. It wasn't just that

0:24:54.160 --> 0:24:59.359
<v Speaker 1>it was dark and sleeting. With restricted visibility, Gibbs, his cold,

0:24:59.440 --> 0:25:04.280
<v Speaker 1>wet feet would likely have lost all sensation. It's possible

0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:07.320
<v Speaker 1>he didn't even realize that he was crossing a road

0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:12.480
<v Speaker 1>at all. Alan Organ eventually gave up on the climb,

0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:17.280
<v Speaker 1>having taken forty minutes to get only halfway to where

0:25:17.320 --> 0:25:23.119
<v Speaker 1>the body was found. His conclusion was a stunning one.

0:25:23.320 --> 0:25:28.919
<v Speaker 1>According to Organ, Gibbs never actually made the climb because

0:25:28.960 --> 0:25:32.560
<v Speaker 1>he wasn't in the plane when it took off that night.

0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:44.919
<v Speaker 1>On her website fear off Landing dot com, retired engineer,

0:25:45.400 --> 0:25:51.600
<v Speaker 1>experienced cesnapilot and mechanic Sylvia Wrigley has also examined all

0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:56.560
<v Speaker 1>the evidence, and her conclusions agree with Alan Organ. She

0:25:56.720 --> 0:26:00.359
<v Speaker 1>too has proposed that Gibbs never left the ground on

0:26:00.400 --> 0:26:05.199
<v Speaker 1>that last flight. Wriggly points out that Gibbs made a

0:26:05.200 --> 0:26:08.399
<v Speaker 1>big show to everyone in the hotel that he was

0:26:08.440 --> 0:26:12.520
<v Speaker 1>going to take the plane up in dangerous conditions, conditions

0:26:12.600 --> 0:26:15.240
<v Speaker 1>that would have made it hard for onlookers to see

0:26:15.280 --> 0:26:22.080
<v Speaker 1>what was happening out on the runway. Why. Wriggly suggests

0:26:22.160 --> 0:26:25.600
<v Speaker 1>that the Cessna's control column could have been fitted with

0:26:25.680 --> 0:26:29.040
<v Speaker 1>what's known as a gust block, which would have disabled

0:26:29.040 --> 0:26:33.240
<v Speaker 1>the column. Once under full power, the aircraft would be

0:26:33.440 --> 0:26:38.520
<v Speaker 1>enabled to fly off the strip unaided. The Cessna would

0:26:38.520 --> 0:26:43.199
<v Speaker 1>then simply drift according to the prevailing wind. Once the

0:26:43.240 --> 0:26:46.560
<v Speaker 1>engine ran out of gas, it would stall and ditch

0:26:46.720 --> 0:26:50.760
<v Speaker 1>wherever it happened to be. If that was somewhere out

0:26:50.880 --> 0:26:55.480
<v Speaker 1>over the Atlantic, no one would be the wiser. Was

0:26:55.520 --> 0:26:59.159
<v Speaker 1>the plane fixed to fly unaided? Or was there a

0:26:59.280 --> 0:27:03.680
<v Speaker 1>third person who snuck into the Cessna while Gibbs made

0:27:03.760 --> 0:27:08.720
<v Speaker 1>his escape, piloting the plane to another airfield, then later

0:27:09.119 --> 0:27:12.000
<v Speaker 1>having the plane dumped from a boat into the sea

0:27:12.560 --> 0:27:16.679
<v Speaker 1>to fake a crash. Did Gibbs get lost as he

0:27:16.760 --> 0:27:20.520
<v Speaker 1>made his escape on foot over the hill behind the hotel,

0:27:21.359 --> 0:27:27.280
<v Speaker 1>falling then dying of exposure, perhaps failing to rendezvous with

0:27:27.359 --> 0:27:32.920
<v Speaker 1>accomplices waiting to help him steal away did those accomplices

0:27:33.359 --> 0:27:36.720
<v Speaker 1>secretly go looking for him, only to find him dead,

0:27:37.320 --> 0:27:42.080
<v Speaker 1>then retreat unable to alert the authorities without revealing their

0:27:42.119 --> 0:27:46.800
<v Speaker 1>own culpability in the plot. Or did they turn against

0:27:46.800 --> 0:27:50.600
<v Speaker 1>Gibbs and kill him before moving his corpse to its

0:27:50.720 --> 0:27:55.760
<v Speaker 1>final location to make it seem like an accident. It's

0:27:55.880 --> 0:28:00.200
<v Speaker 1>tempting to build extravagant plots, but there is one last

0:28:00.280 --> 0:28:05.760
<v Speaker 1>clue that might yet yield the answer. Before his private

0:28:05.880 --> 0:28:10.320
<v Speaker 1>pilot's license had lapsed during a previous flying test, he'd

0:28:10.359 --> 0:28:15.159
<v Speaker 1>been ordered to wear glasses at all times, Yet his girlfriend,

0:28:15.280 --> 0:28:20.280
<v Speaker 1>Felicity Granger, stated that she'd never seen him wear glasses

0:28:20.640 --> 0:28:24.120
<v Speaker 1>and that she was certain Gibbs wasn't wearing them when

0:28:24.160 --> 0:28:29.960
<v Speaker 1>he flew that last time. Perhaps having taken off impetuously

0:28:30.320 --> 0:28:35.399
<v Speaker 1>and over confidently in the dark, with low visibility and

0:28:35.560 --> 0:28:41.520
<v Speaker 1>impaired vision, Gibbs simply lost sight of the airstrip. Then,

0:28:42.120 --> 0:28:45.400
<v Speaker 1>having crashed the plane into the sea, he'd managed to

0:28:45.440 --> 0:28:48.400
<v Speaker 1>make it back to land, but in his effort to

0:28:48.520 --> 0:28:52.760
<v Speaker 1>walk back to the hotel, he'd simply slipped and knocked

0:28:52.840 --> 0:28:58.960
<v Speaker 1>himself out before dying of exposure. Almost fifty years on,

0:28:59.480 --> 0:29:04.200
<v Speaker 1>it seems likely that these questions will remain unanswered, and

0:29:04.320 --> 0:29:07.680
<v Speaker 1>that the mull Air Mystery as it came to be known,

0:29:08.360 --> 0:29:16.800
<v Speaker 1>will forever remain unexplained. Thank you as ever for listening

0:29:16.840 --> 0:29:19.440
<v Speaker 1>to the show. Please subscribe and rate it if you

0:29:19.480 --> 0:29:23.000
<v Speaker 1>haven't already done so. Unexplained will be coming to YouTube

0:29:23.080 --> 0:29:26.160
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0:29:26.200 --> 0:29:29.480
<v Speaker 1>future developments there. You can subscribe to the channel at

0:29:29.520 --> 0:29:33.520
<v Speaker 1>YouTube dot com Forward Slash at Unexplained Pod. You can

0:29:33.560 --> 0:29:36.560
<v Speaker 1>also now find us on TikTok at TikTok dot com

0:29:36.600 --> 0:29:41.000
<v Speaker 1>Forward Slash at Unexplained Podcast. This episode was written by

0:29:41.080 --> 0:29:46.520
<v Speaker 1>Diane Hope and produced by me Richard McLain smith. Diane

0:29:46.560 --> 0:29:49.560
<v Speaker 1>is an audio producer and sound recordedst in her own right.

0:29:49.960 --> 0:29:52.760
<v Speaker 1>You can find out more about her work at Dianehope

0:29:52.840 --> 0:29:58.640
<v Speaker 1>dot com and on Instagram at in the Soundfield. Unexplained

0:29:58.680 --> 0:30:03.120
<v Speaker 1>as an AV Club production podcast created by Richard McClain smith.

0:30:03.800 --> 0:30:07.080
<v Speaker 1>All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are

0:30:07.120 --> 0:30:11.760
<v Speaker 1>also produced by me Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. The book

0:30:11.800 --> 0:30:15.760
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<v Speaker 1>purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores.

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0:30:27.000 --> 0:30:30.360
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0:30:30.440 --> 0:30:33.160
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