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Speaker 1: When I'm considering what stories to feature on the show,

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Speaker 1: there are really only a few criteria that must be met. Firstly,

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Speaker 1: it has to be more than just an event. There

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Speaker 1: must be a story, a set of events with which

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Speaker 1: to thread and weave our way through. Secondly, that there

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Speaker 1: be something ultimately very human in the tales. And last,

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Speaker 1: but by no means least, that the peculiarity of the

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Speaker 1: story has yet to be satisfactorily explained. Of all the

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Speaker 1: unexplained mysteries I have come across so far, there is

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Speaker 1: one that for me has left the most indelible impression.

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Speaker 1: As far as mysteries go. You couldn't invent a better story,

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Speaker 1: A story that has over time led to some of

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Speaker 1: the most extraordinary of speculations, and has since evolved a

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Speaker 1: folklore all of its own. This is that story you're

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Speaker 1: listening to, Unexplained, and I'm Richard mcclan smith. The Flannin Isles,

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Speaker 1: also known as the Seven Hunters, are located at the

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Speaker 1: farthest reaches of the Scottish Outer Hebrides, a collection of

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Speaker 1: seven rocky islands. They form a small but majestic archipelago

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Speaker 1: of startling isolation to the east approximately seventy miles away

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Speaker 1: lies the Isle of Lewis. To the south, by forty

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Speaker 1: miles the deserted Isle of Saint Kilda, and if you

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Speaker 1: were to venture west, you would need to travel more

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Speaker 1: than two thousand miles of uninterrupted ocean before hitting the

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Speaker 1: coastline of North America. The Flannin Isles are named after

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Speaker 1: an Irish priest known as Saint Flanan, who is believed

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Speaker 1: to have made his home on the islands as far

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Speaker 1: back as the seventh century. The remains of the chapel

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Speaker 1: in which Saint Flanin has thought to have lived can

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Speaker 1: still be found on Aileen Moore, the group's largest island.

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Speaker 1: Translated from Gallic to means simply big island, Eileen More

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Speaker 1: rears out of the sea, a vast hulk of gray

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Speaker 1: black rock, topped by a rugged, grassy plateau, its sheer

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Speaker 1: cliffs measuring well over a hundred feet, with its highest

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Speaker 1: point reaching almost three hundred feet. Although uninhabited, many crofters

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Speaker 1: from near by Lewis would regularly visit the islands in

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Speaker 1: the summer months to graze their sheep. Others would arrive

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Speaker 1: to pilfer eggs and feathers from the island's bountiful population

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Speaker 1: of sea birds. Over time, due in no small part

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Speaker 1: to the association with Saint Flanin, the island developed a

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Speaker 1: strange mystique all of its own, becoming a place of

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Speaker 1: inherent sanctity to many of those who visited to view

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Speaker 1: the island in its isolation, it is easy to understand

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Speaker 1: the ore with which it would have filled those early visitors.

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Speaker 1: There were many who believed, and some still do, that

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Speaker 1: the Files were a place of great other worldly magic,

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Speaker 1: home to a host of fairies and nature spirits, and

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Speaker 1: not all of them good, an attitude borne out in

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Speaker 1: the customs and superstitions of any person daring to set

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Speaker 1: foot on one of the Seven Hunters. If, when approaching

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Speaker 1: the islands on an easterly wind, the gust were to

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Speaker 1: suddenly switch, you wouldn't think twice before turning the boat

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Speaker 1: around and heading straight back home. For any that arrived successfully,

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Speaker 1: it was customary to immediately uncover the head before performing

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Speaker 1: a complete turn clockwise, while thanking God for your safety.

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Speaker 1: So you can imagine the sense of trepidation many would

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Speaker 1: have felt when it was announced that a lighthouse would

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Speaker 1: be erected on the especially sacred Eileen Moore, a sense

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Speaker 1: of trepidation that was somewhat justified when barely more than

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Speaker 1: a year after opening, the lighthouse was to become the

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Speaker 1: tragic scene of one of the UK's most enduring of mysteries.

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Speaker 1: What exactly happened on the island sometime in December in

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Speaker 1: the year nineteen hundred has never been fully accounted for.

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Speaker 1: It is quite simply a mystery that remains to this

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Speaker 1: day unexplained. In seventeen eighty two, a series of ferocious

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Speaker 1: storms battered the Scottish coast, resulting in the deaths of

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Speaker 1: many seamen, including those of two herring boats that were

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Speaker 1: smashed on the rocks of the Kintire Peninsula on the

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Speaker 1: West coast. As a result, the Northern Lighthouse Board was

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Speaker 1: established to oversee the construction of a number of lighthouses

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Speaker 1: to be stationed on the most treacherous of Scottish coast lands. Although,

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Speaker 1: as ever initially motivated by trade, the ensuing feat of

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Speaker 1: engineering was driven by a genuine desire characteristic of the

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Speaker 1: Scottish Enlightenment, to work not for individual prestige but for

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Speaker 1: the greater good of mankind. Leading the team of engineers

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Speaker 1: was Thomas Smith, the great grandfather of none other than

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Speaker 1: famed Scottish author Robert Louis Stephenson. Although the family profession

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Speaker 1: would prove ultimately unfitting for Robert, it was nonetheless his

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Speaker 1: uncle David who oversaw the construction of the lighthouse on

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Speaker 1: Eileen Moor. However, it would be some time before such

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Speaker 1: a plan would come to fruition. Maybe it was concern

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Speaker 1: over the exposure of such a location to the harshest

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Speaker 1: of the Atlantics uncompromising weather, or perhaps it was a

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Speaker 1: reluctance to build on such mystical ground. But finally, after

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Speaker 1: forty years of pleading, the Lighthouse Board agreed to the construction.

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Speaker 1: The build began in eighteen ninety four and was due

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Speaker 1: to take two years, but was beset by the tumultuous

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Speaker 1: weather and even rougher seas characteristic of the area. The

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Speaker 1: lighthouse was to be built on the south side of

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Speaker 1: the island, where the rock reaches its highest point, surrounded

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Speaker 1: on both sides by sheer cliffs, none of which were

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Speaker 1: less than one hundred and fifty feet in height, meaning

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Speaker 1: that all supplies had to be hauled by hand up

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Speaker 1: the cliff side. A perilous set of steps were carved

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Speaker 1: into the rock leading to the building. At the top

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Speaker 1: for support, there was only a modest iron railing to

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Speaker 1: remind you of the rocky peril that lay in wait

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Speaker 1: for anyone foolish enough to deviate from the path, such

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Speaker 1: as the steep incline of the steps. A small service

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Speaker 1: railway was installed, where a cable supported railcar could be

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Speaker 1: used to transport heavy goods to and from the landing platform.

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Speaker 1: Shortly before the build was completed, the foreman, mister Deeds,

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Speaker 1: died suddenly, an event that in hindsight could be considered

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Speaker 1: a disturbing portent of what was to come. It certainly

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Speaker 1: wouldn't have been lost on many of the construction workers,

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Speaker 1: well accustomed with the superstitions related to the island. Nevertheless,

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Speaker 1: a full two years after construction was due to complete,

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Speaker 1: on the first of December eighteen ninety nine, the one

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Speaker 1: hundred and forty thousand candle power lamp, perched atop a

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Speaker 1: majestic white tower two hundred and seventy five feet above

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Speaker 1: sea level, was lit for the first time. As the

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Speaker 1: rotation device kicked into life. Out of the darkness shone

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Speaker 1: a beam of light, illuminating the black north Atlantic waters

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Speaker 1: for miles around. There were fore keepers required to operate

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Speaker 1: a newly opened lighthouse as a psychological necessity. There would

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Speaker 1: only be three men on the island at any given time,

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Speaker 1: while the fourth took a fortnight's leave. The first man

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Speaker 1: to be stationed on the island was forty three year

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Speaker 1: old principal keeper and married father of four, James Duckett,

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Speaker 1: a seasoned lighthouse practitioner with over twenty years of experience.

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Speaker 1: James hailed from our Growth on the east coast of Scotland.

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Speaker 1: He would later be joined by first assistant keeper William

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Speaker 1: Ross and twenty eight year old second asistant keeper Thomas Marshall.

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Speaker 1: As the first Christmas of the New century approached, Ross

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Speaker 1: was forced off the island due to ill health, with

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Speaker 1: regular light keeper Joseph Moore not due for a further

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Speaker 1: two weeks. Ross was replaced by forty year old occasional

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Speaker 1: keeper and ex soldier Donald MacArthur. Donald, who was also

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Speaker 1: married with children, hailed from the nearby town of Braiscleet

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Speaker 1: on the Isle of Lewis. I often wonder how it

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Speaker 1: might have felt for the men returning to the lighthouse

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Speaker 1: after their regulatory breaks. At that moment, having stepped off

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Speaker 1: the delivery boat, watching the last contact with civilization disappear

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Speaker 1: from view. Perhaps there was some relief at returning to

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Speaker 1: the quiet sanctuary away from the daily hassles of life,

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Speaker 1: or perhaps it was more with great sadness that they

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Speaker 1: found themselves again alone on a distant rock, far away

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Speaker 1: from their wives and children. With the switch over completed

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Speaker 1: on eleventh of December, MacArthur promptly banished all thoughts of home.

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Speaker 1: A quick settled into his role. As the night approached,

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Speaker 1: the men set about doing what they did best, duly

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Speaker 1: noting the day's observations in the lighthouse log book. At

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Speaker 1: the end of the day, with the familiar sounds of

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Speaker 1: a North Atlantic storm rattling around the island, the men

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Speaker 1: settled in for the night. As a waning moon appeared

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Speaker 1: in the sky above. Down below the island, Moore Light

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Speaker 1: shone far and wide, as it had done for every

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Speaker 1: other night of its year long life. The first sign

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Speaker 1: of trouble came at midday on Tuesday, December fifteenth, Roughly

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Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty miles to the northwest of the

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Speaker 1: Seven Hunters, a cargo ship named SS arch Tour was

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Speaker 1: making steady progress on her route toward the port of

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Speaker 1: Leith in Edinburgh. The steamship Captain by Thomas John Holman

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Speaker 1: had left the American city of Philadelphia on the twenty

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Speaker 1: eighth November, carrying over four and a half thousand tons

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Speaker 1: of cargo. Although most of the voyage had been beset

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Speaker 1: by stormy weather, by late afternoon on the fifteenth, the

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Speaker 1: storm had abated somewhat, leaving fine, clear skies above. A

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Speaker 1: few hours later, and the ship was fast approaching the

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Speaker 1: Flannon Isles. On deck stood a greatly perturbed Captain Holman.

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Speaker 1: By his estimation, they should have been no more than

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Speaker 1: five miles from Eileen Moore, But as he stood under

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Speaker 1: the vast, expansive sky, surrounded by only the darkest of seas,

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Speaker 1: he could not make out any sign of the lighthouse, or,

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Speaker 1: more precisely, its light, the beam of which on a

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Speaker 1: night such as this, would have been visible for over

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Speaker 1: twenty miles. Assuming a miscalculation on his part, Captain Holman

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Speaker 1: continued to steer the vessel on its course towards Edinburgh.

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Speaker 1: The following day, however, the ship appeared clearly to be

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Speaker 1: plotting a correct course. The captain resolved to uncover the

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Speaker 1: discrepancy of the night before, but was almost surprised to

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Speaker 1: find nothing wrong with his calculations. The ship had indeed

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Speaker 1: passed by the lighthouse, so where then was the light

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Speaker 1: disturbed by the apparent blackout of the lighthouse. Captain Holman

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Speaker 1: planned to report the matter to the relevant authorities on

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Speaker 1: arrival to Leith. Unfortunately, that message never arrived. Two days later,

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Speaker 1: Captain Holman and the SS arch Tour ran aground on

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Speaker 1: the approach to Leith Port. Perhaps it was the shock

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Speaker 1: of the event that had dislodged the Flanninisles from Captain

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Speaker 1: Holman's mind, or perhaps with his navigation skills now under

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Speaker 1: heavy scrutiny, he was reluctant to bring up the possible

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Speaker 1: miscalculation from the two nights before. With no news to

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Speaker 1: the contrary, the lighthouse board would have no reason to

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Speaker 1: think anything strange had taken place on Eileen Moor. But

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Speaker 1: with the next rotation of keepers due a few days later,

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Speaker 1: all that was about to change. On the twenty sixth

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Speaker 1: of December nineteen hundred, the lighthouse tender boat, a long

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Speaker 1: steamer named the Haspiras, made its way towards the largest

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Speaker 1: of the Flannin Isles. The ship had been due to

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Speaker 1: arrive the previous day, but severe storms in the area

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Speaker 1: had delayed its departure. On board was regular keeper Joseph Moore,

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Speaker 1: who was scheduled to start his latest shift that day.

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Speaker 1: But as Captain James Harvey brought the ship closer to land,

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Speaker 1: it was clear that something wasn't right. It was common

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Speaker 1: practice for the keepers to raise a flag in preparation

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Speaker 1: for the next rotation, but as Captain Harvey scoured the island,

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Speaker 1: he could see no sign of the flag. His concern

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Speaker 1: turned to alarm when several blasts from the ship's horn

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Speaker 1: brought no response from the three light keepers. The subsequent

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Speaker 1: firing of a distress rocket again failed to yield any response.

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Speaker 1: Greatly unnerved, the captain ordered the rowboat into the water

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Speaker 1: and sent Joseph Moore to investigate. It is difficult to

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Speaker 1: imagine just what was going through Moore's mind as the

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Speaker 1: small boat pulled up below those tearing cliffs, the gray,

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Speaker 1: murky waters seeming unusually calm for the bitterly cold December day,

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Speaker 1: Moore stepped off the boat and cautiously made his way

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Speaker 1: up the steep stone steps. As he approached the summit,

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Speaker 1: the top of the lighthouse came into view, passing the

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Speaker 1: ruins of the ancient chapel. He called out to the men,

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Speaker 1: but again there was no reply, no familiar faces to

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Speaker 1: greet him. Something was deeply wrong. A short time later,

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Speaker 1: Moore arrived outside the lighthouse and slowly opened the front door.

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Speaker 1: What he discovered has formed the basis for one of

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Speaker 1: the greatest maritime mysteries of modern times. After the lighthouse,

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Speaker 1: he found the inside door also closed, but curiously, the

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Speaker 1: kitchen door was wide open. The fireplace was cold, indicating

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Speaker 1: it had not been lit for some days. One of

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Speaker 1: the chairs appeared to have been pushed away from the table,

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Speaker 1: perhaps in a hurry. The rest of the room was

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Speaker 1: spotlessly clean. When he entered the bedrooms, he found them empty,

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Speaker 1: left as they would have been since the morning. In fact,

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Speaker 1: everything was in perfect order. The lamp for the light

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Speaker 1: was clean, the foundation was full, and the blinds on

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Speaker 1: the windows correctly orientated. The only thing that was missing

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Speaker 1: was the men. They had simply vanished from the face

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Speaker 1: of the earth. As if to add a further twist,

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Speaker 1: More also noticed that every clock in the building had stopped.

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Speaker 1: Are you always taking care of your family. Do you

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00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,920
Speaker 1: often take care of others and not yourself. Now it's

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00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,440
Speaker 1: time to take care of yourself, to make time for you.

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00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,760
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00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,680
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00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:27,200
Speaker 1: nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed sometimes, maybe

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00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:31,280
Speaker 1: you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, or you

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00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,880
Speaker 1: might be struggling with a personal or family issue, teledoc

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00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,600
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00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,480
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00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:47,560
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Speaker 1: Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash

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Speaker 1: Unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com

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Speaker 1: slash Unexplained podcast. The thoroughly spoot More returned to the

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Speaker 1: rowboat and requested the help of second mate McCormack, who,

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Speaker 1: along with another seaman, followed Moore back to the lighthouse

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Speaker 1: to renew the search of the area. Unable to find

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Speaker 1: any clues as to what had happened, the three men

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Speaker 1: promptly returned to the boat and made their way back

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Speaker 1: to the Hesperias. Ever, the professional Captain Harvey's first instinct

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Speaker 1: was to make sure that the light would be up

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Speaker 1: and running again that night. Moore was ordered to return

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Speaker 1: to the island along with three volunteers, the boy Master

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Speaker 1: Alan McDonald and two seamen, Messrs Campbell and Lamont. Having

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Speaker 1: dropped the men off again, Captain Harvey set off immediately

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Speaker 1: for braz Cleat in Lewis. Later that day, Harvey sent

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Speaker 1: his now infamous telegram to the Secretary of the Northern

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Speaker 1: Lighthouse Board in Edinburgh, the immortal first line, reading A

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Speaker 1: dreadful accident has happened at Flannen, but the mystery had

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Speaker 1: only just begun that first night. Taking over from the

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Speaker 1: missing lighthouse keepers would not have been easy for the

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Speaker 1: four volunteers, having no doubt been upset by the turn

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Speaker 1: of events, It would have taken some strength to stop

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Speaker 1: their minds from wandering as to what exactly had taken place.

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Speaker 1: It would have been a very somber night Indeed, the

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Speaker 1: following day, More and his companions renewed their search of

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Speaker 1: the island, but found no clues to help with their investigation.

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Speaker 1: That was until they came across the western landing point.

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Speaker 1: Approaching the landing, the men found that a number of

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Speaker 1: iron railings of the tramway had been ripped from their

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Speaker 1: foundations and mangled out of shape. A box containing mooring

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Speaker 1: robes had vanished despite having been firmly wedged into a

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Speaker 1: crevice and then anchored. Despite some of the more fanciful

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Speaker 1: thoughts that may have sprung to mind, the first assumptions

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Speaker 1: of the replacement crew centered on some kind of freak

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Speaker 1: storm that may have blown the men from the island. However,

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Speaker 1: when Moore submitted his report at the events two days later,

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Speaker 1: it contained one startling detail. All men stationed at Ailey,

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Speaker 1: Moore had a set of wet weather wear to cope

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Speaker 1: with the extreme conditions. In the case of Duckett and Marshall,

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Speaker 1: this took the form of weather proof boots and oilskin coats. MacArthur, however,

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Speaker 1: only being an occasional keeper, was not so well equipped

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Speaker 1: and had only what he called his wearing coat at

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Speaker 1: his disposal. When Moore searched the lighthouse, he discovered Duckett

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Speaker 1: and Marshall's gear was missing, but MacArthur's coat was still

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Speaker 1: on its peg, which could only mean that, whatever had happened,

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Speaker 1: MacArthur had left the lighthouse in his shirt sleeves, a

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Speaker 1: strange fact if you consider just how severe the weather

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Speaker 1: must have been to blow the men from the island.

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Speaker 1: What could possibly have happened that would send mccarthur running

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Speaker 1: out into a severe storm without his jacket. A few

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Speaker 1: days later, the Northern Lighthouse Board sent Superintendent Robert Muirhead

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Speaker 1: to investigate further. Muerhead confirmed More's initial findings and pointed

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Speaker 1: to a particularly heavy storm front that was believed to

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Speaker 1: have hit the island during the time of the men's

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00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:24,080
Speaker 1: disappearance as the most likely culprit. A boy that had

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Speaker 1: been fastened to the railings one hundred and ten feet

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Speaker 1: up had vanished as well. A large block of stone

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Speaker 1: weighing upwards of a ton had been clearly dislodged by

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Speaker 1: something before falling onto the path below. In conclusion, it

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Speaker 1: was his belief that a freak wave had hit the

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Speaker 1: island and somehow whisked the men cleaned from the rock.

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Speaker 1: The report was published a few weeks later, and the

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Speaker 1: case was officially closed. There have been many falsehoods surrounding

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Speaker 1: the Flanonile's mystery, most often to do with reports of

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Speaker 1: strange recordings apparently found written in the log book shortly

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Speaker 1: before the men disappeared. They speak of something dark brewing

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00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:15,080
Speaker 1: and the fracturing of the men's mental states. One log

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00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,840
Speaker 1: had supposedly noted that all had been calm, suggesting initial

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Speaker 1: reports of bad weather to have been mistaken in truth.

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Speaker 1: Thanks to an exhaustive study on the subject by writer

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Speaker 1: Mike Dash, it appears this part of the story and

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00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:32,240
Speaker 1: some other questionable elements, were in fact fabricated some years

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Speaker 1: after the event. What is known is that the last

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Speaker 1: recorded log entry seems to have been made on Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: the fifteenth of December. Needless to say, in the absence

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Speaker 1: of a satisfactory explanation for the event, many are only

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00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:49,359
Speaker 1: too keen to fill in the vacuum, with theories ranging

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00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:54,840
Speaker 1: from the workings of malicious spirits to straight out alien abduction. Certainly,

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Speaker 1: at the time of Muerhead's original report, there weren't many

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Speaker 1: willing to believe the conclusion that a mere wave could

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Speaker 1: be responsible. After all, such a thing was widely held

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00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,720
Speaker 1: to be nothing but a myth itself, or at least

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Speaker 1: it was. On the first of January nineteen ninety five,

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Speaker 1: measuring equipment located on the Dropner oil rig in the

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00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,840
Speaker 1: North Sea, just off the coast of Norway recorded what

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00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,920
Speaker 1: is now considered the first official evidence of a freak wave,

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00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,760
Speaker 1: crashing into the platform at a staggering sixty one feet

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00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:30,439
Speaker 1: at peak height. And yet, in twenty thirteen, author and

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00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,080
Speaker 1: historian Keith McCloskey conducted his own research into the incident.

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Speaker 1: Enlisting the help of Eddie Graham, a meteorologist from the

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00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:42,639
Speaker 1: University of Highlands and Islands in Inverness, McCloskey reanalyzed the

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Speaker 1: weather patterns for the Flannin Isles around the time of

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Speaker 1: the fifteenth of December nineteen hundred. What he discovered was startling.

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00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,800
Speaker 1: Although the weather appears to have indeed been rough, it

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00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,800
Speaker 1: certainly wouldn't have been anything that the three seasoned lightkeepers

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00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:01,439
Speaker 1: hadn't experienced before. What's more, with wind speed estimated to

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00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,439
Speaker 1: have peaked at roughly sixty miles per hour, any waves

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00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,040
Speaker 1: generated by such a storm would barely have made it

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00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 1: above thirty feet, a fact or the more incredible when

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Speaker 1: you consider that mc clusky's own findings and Superintendent Mewhead's

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00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,680
Speaker 1: earlier report suggest that the men would have been at

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00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,439
Speaker 1: well over a hundred feet when they were supposedly taken.

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00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 1: The largest freak wave ever recorded was ninety five feet high,

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00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,080
Speaker 1: so if it was a freak wave, it would have

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00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:31,679
Speaker 1: to have been the largest wave ever known. And what

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Speaker 1: of the strange case of MacArthur's jacket. A senior keeper

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Speaker 1: of the Northern Lighthouse Board, Alister Henderson, is insistent that

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Speaker 1: under any normal circumstances, the lighthouse would never have been

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Speaker 1: left unattended. It is a fairly standard rule followed by

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Speaker 1: all lighthouse keepers, let alone one so experienced as Duckett,

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Speaker 1: Marshall and MacArthur. Perhaps more disturbingly, referring to the Mwerhead report,

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Speaker 1: it is Henderson's belief that the true events were in

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00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,520
Speaker 1: fact covered up. After all, Muirhead's was the only official

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Speaker 1: report to emerge from the incident. There was no fatal

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00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,200
Speaker 1: accident report that would have been standard for such an event.

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Speaker 1: Even more alarmingly, key documentation that contained evidence of everything

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Speaker 1: that happened on the island disappeared mysteriously after Muirhead left

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Speaker 1: the island. If MacArthur never left the lighthouse, where exactly

359
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,160
Speaker 1: did he go, or if he did indeed leave the building,

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00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,480
Speaker 1: what possible reason could he have had for breaking such

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00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:35,040
Speaker 1: a fundamental convention? Might ultimately MacArthur hold the key to

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00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:49,680
Speaker 1: the mystery. In an age well before social media and smartphones,

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00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 1: working on the rock in the year nineteen hundred would

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00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,160
Speaker 1: have meant a complete and utter cutoff from all communication

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Speaker 1: with the world, a state of affairs comparable to astronauts

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Speaker 1: traveling through the isolation of space, who even then are

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00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 1: able to communicate with others on the ground to alleviate

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Speaker 1: the psychological confinement. Furthermore, it is a condition that astronauts

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00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:15,159
Speaker 1: today will spend months preparing for under constant psychological analysis,

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00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,920
Speaker 1: as scientists seek to determine their capability to endure such

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00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 1: a situation. Is it possible that MacArthur, who it is reported,

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Speaker 1: had worked almost consistently without a break for two and

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Speaker 1: a half months leading up to December the fifteenth, had

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00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:35,040
Speaker 1: simply snapped, having been cooped up on what must have

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00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,439
Speaker 1: at times felt like the very edge of the world,

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Speaker 1: miles from civilization. With gale force winds battering the coast

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00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:46,720
Speaker 1: all around, the circumstances were certainly ripe. Perhaps, with the

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00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:49,199
Speaker 1: other two men having left the building to undertake some

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00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,400
Speaker 1: routine operations, MacArthur had simply lost his mind and wandered

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Speaker 1: coatless into the storm, bludgeoning his companions to death before

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Speaker 1: throwing himself into the waters below. It wouldn't be the

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00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,880
Speaker 1: first time that such conditions had driven somebody to madness.

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Speaker 1: On Thursday, eighteenth of August nineteen sixty, eighteen year old

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Speaker 1: David Colin and his father had decided to take a

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Speaker 1: day trip to visit Ross Island, off the southwest coast

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00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 1: of Scotland. On the island stood a lighthouse that had

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Speaker 1: been built in eighteen forty three by Alan Stephenson, another

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Speaker 1: uncle of Robert Louis Stephenson. David and his father set

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00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,199
Speaker 1: off from the local sailing club and arrived at the

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00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,919
Speaker 1: island shortly before lunch. As a courtesy, David thought it

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00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,560
Speaker 1: right that they should inform the lighthouse keepers that they

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00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 1: were there. After knocking on the door, David received no response,

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00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,920
Speaker 1: except from a rather overenthusiastic dog that he assumed must

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00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:51,119
Speaker 1: have belonged to one of the keepers. Unperturbed, David and

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00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 1: his father returned to their walk, but as the day

396
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,040
Speaker 1: wore on, the keepers had still not returned, the only

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00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:00,800
Speaker 1: sign of life being the ominous ringing of an unanswered

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00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:06,720
Speaker 1: telephone coming from inside the lighthouse. Eventually, David's father plucked

399
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 1: up the courage to enter the building. Inside, he found

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00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 1: lighthouse keeper Hugh Clark dead, with fellow keeper Robert Dixon

401
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:19,919
Speaker 1: nowhere to be seen. After an extensive manhunt, the twenty

402
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,760
Speaker 1: four year old Dixon was eventually apprehended and brought to

403
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:27,000
Speaker 1: trial for the murder of Hugh Clark. The trial was

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00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: no less dramatic, as David himself recounts. As Lord Cameron

405
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,159
Speaker 1: donned the hideous black cap and prepared to pronounce a

406
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,639
Speaker 1: sentence of death by hanging, the courtroom grew darker and

407
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 1: darker until coinciding with the judge's awful words, the courtroom

408
00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:45,000
Speaker 1: was shaken by an enormous flash of lightning and a

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00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:50,600
Speaker 1: colossal peal of thunder. Dixon's execution was set for the

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00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:55,480
Speaker 1: twenty first of December nineteen sixty. However, five days prior

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00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,080
Speaker 1: to the fateful day, Dixon was reprieved on account of

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Speaker 1: what was judged to be his unstable mental condition at

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Speaker 1: the time of the crime. Robert Dixon's apparent moment of

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00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,520
Speaker 1: psychopathy was thought to have been stimulated in no small

415
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,639
Speaker 1: part by the stress of working in such close proximity

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00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:16,040
Speaker 1: with others in a state of such intense isolation. Was

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00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 1: it a similar fate that befell the island Moore keepers?

418
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:33,399
Speaker 1: Or was it something even more sinister at play? In

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00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 1: nineteen oh four, four years after the disappearance of the men,

420
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 1: newly installed lighthouse keeper John mcclachlan was cleaning the glass

421
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,399
Speaker 1: casing of the light when he slipped and fell to

422
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,919
Speaker 1: his death. Counting the foreman who died shortly before the

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00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,159
Speaker 1: lighthouse opened, five people had died on the island in

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00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:54,000
Speaker 1: less than five years since the lighthouse was constructed. No

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00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: other lighthouse in the UK has been beset by such tragedy.

426
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,800
Speaker 1: Was the island simply cured by what locals sometimes refer

427
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 1: to as the phantom of the hunters taking its revenge

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00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:10,280
Speaker 1: for the careless invasion of its unearthly realm? In the

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00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:13,840
Speaker 1: memoirs written by relief keeper Joseph Moore many years later,

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00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,159
Speaker 1: it is clear that the event had affected him profoundly.

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00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:21,120
Speaker 1: Thinking back on that chilly December day in nineteen hundred

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00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 1: that he first came upon the empty lighthouse, he writes

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00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,359
Speaker 1: of a mysterious event from the night before. That night,

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00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,120
Speaker 1: he hadn't been sleeping well, and for some reason had

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00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:34,520
Speaker 1: been drawn to the window looking out. He thought that

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00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,280
Speaker 1: he saw the boat house on fire, but when he

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00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:40,320
Speaker 1: investigated further, he found it to be just a figment

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00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,840
Speaker 1: of his imagination. He knew instantly that it was a

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00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 1: portent for something awful. Detailing again the event, which he

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00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:52,000
Speaker 1: described as very strange. Indeed, he believed as all to

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00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 1: be cursed in some way. In truth, we will never

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00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 1: know exactly what happened on that cold December day in

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00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 1: nineteen hundred. On September twenty eighth, nineteen seventy one, the

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00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,800
Speaker 1: Eileen Moore Lighthouse became fully automated and continues to guide

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00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:15,600
Speaker 1: ships through the dark North Atlantic nights. Perhaps what appeals

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00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 1: most about this story is the sheer improbability of the

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00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 1: most rational explanation. But might there be something else, something

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00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,560
Speaker 1: that strikes at the very heart of all of us?

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00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: For aren't we all, in a way keepers of the

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00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: light isolated on a rock forever, on the verge of

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00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 1: being swept from existence by a giant, mythical wave. And

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00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 1: for what it's worth, my own view as intriguing the

453
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 1: notion is that the men were the unfortunate victims of

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00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,160
Speaker 1: some other worldly event. I believe what occurred was a

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00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:50,719
Speaker 1: little more prosaic, but no less extraordinary. For is there

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00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,520
Speaker 1: anything more incredible than the notion that MacArthur, having watched

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00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,560
Speaker 1: his colleagues become endangered by some unfathomable storm, had rushed

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00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 1: from the safety of the lighthouse to help them, and

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00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:04,240
Speaker 1: in so doing had lost his own life in the process.

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00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,080
Speaker 1: That ultimately, it was in trying to protect the lives

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00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 1: of each other and the many others passing by on

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00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 1: the stormy seas, that these ordinary folk, doing a job

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00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:30,760
Speaker 1: that was far from ordinary, lost their lives. When I

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00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:34,320
Speaker 1: think about this story, i'm reminded of Cormac McCarthy's incredible

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00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,680
Speaker 1: post apocalyptic novel The Road, And forgive me for those

466
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,200
Speaker 1: who haven't read it, as this will contain a spoiler.

467
00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 1: The Road details a terminally bleak journey of survival as

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00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:46,960
Speaker 1: one man and his son try to reach the south

469
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 1: coast of America in the aftermath of a catastrophic event.

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00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 1: As they grow increasingly weak and the journey becomes more

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00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,720
Speaker 1: and more dangerous, the father fights desperately to keep his

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00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,680
Speaker 1: son from harm. He tells him they must survive because

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00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 1: they are the good guys who are carrying the fire.

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00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: The phrase seems glib, but it's enough to keep the

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00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,080
Speaker 1: boy going, even though he doesn't quite get it, and

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00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,560
Speaker 1: nor do we really, that is until the novel's fateful end,

477
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 1: when both we and the boy finally understand the fire

478
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:31,960
Speaker 1: was him. Though three men dwell on flattered aisle to

479
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 1: key heed the lamp alone death, we stood under the

480
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 1: lee we call no glimmer through the night. A passing

481
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 1: ship at dawn had brought the news, and quickly we said, saying,

482
00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:07,440
Speaker 1: to find out what strange thing might all the keepers

483
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:19,880
Speaker 1: of the deep sea light. The winter day broke blue

484
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 1: at fry with a glancing sun and a glancing spray.

485
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:37,200
Speaker 1: Ask for the swell les madeway a scallonas a gull

486
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: in flight, but as we need their lonely eye. I

487
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 1: looked up at the naked high saw the lighthouse towering

488
00:32:55,920 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 1: wide with blinded lantern that all night I'd never shared

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00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: a spark of comfort through the dot. All elements of

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00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:34,320
Speaker 1: Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe

491
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,320
Speaker 1: and rate the show on i Tunes. Feel free to

492
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 1: get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the

493
00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,400
Speaker 1: stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an

494
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,080
Speaker 1: explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can

495
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:46,959
Speaker 1: reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or on

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00:33:46,960 --> 00:34:58,759
Speaker 1: Twitter at Unexplained Pod. Now. It's time to take care

497
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:03,040
Speaker 1: of yourself. To make time for you, teledoc gives you

498
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Speaker 1: access to a licensed therapist to help you get back

499
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Speaker 1: to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by

500
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Speaker 1: phone or video anytime between seven am to nine pm

501
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