How do you imagine what it is like to work as a lighthouse keeper? Probably similar to an introvert’s dream—you’re alone on a rock in the middle of the sea with nothing but the raging waves and the light to keep you company. But being alone can have its downside too; no one will know.
If something happens to you, and that was exactly the case on the keepers of the Flannan Isles lighthouse. It was a fine and calm day on December 15, 1900. Under such weather conditions, lighthouses aren’t crucial for the safety of passing ships.
But it was still noted as a bit odd by the Arctur, a steamer passing by the Flannan Isles on its way to Philadelphia. At the lighthouse on Eilean Mor, it was not operational. The ship’s captain noted it in his log and left it at that. It was only three days later when the Archer arrived at the port of Leith that.
The strangeness was officially reported. A ship was immediately rigged with a relief lighthouse keeper, Joseph Moore, to be delivered to Island War. But the weather had been bad since the day before, and it couldn’t set sail for more than a week. Finally, on December 26th, the relief boat Hesperus arrived at the lighthouse but.
Even as they approached, they could tell that it’s not been maintained this whole time. The lighthouse had normally been manned by three people: James Ducat and Thomas Marshall, the regular keepers, and Donald Macarthur, the occasional one who has been substituting for another keeper on sick leave.
There was a fourth one, a rotating man who was on store at the time. The Hesperus crew, however, was met by no one. Normally, at least one of them would have been waiting for the ship on the dock. That was the first sign of trouble but by far.
Not the last. Upon arrival, James Harvey, captain of the ship, also noticed that there was no signal flag on the flagstaff to welcome the relief boat, and all the supply crates had been left on the landing, while they should have been inside. Harvey blew the ship’s whistle. No.
Reaction. A flare was fired in the air. No effect either. The sense of unease grew on the Hesperus, so Moore decided to deploy a boat and go on shore alone to investigate. It was ominously quiet on the island. The lighthouse stood dark and lifeless.
Only seagulls keeping it company. Moore went on to explore the territory and the building itself, and what he found unsettled him even further. There was no sign of the keepers, not even a trace left. Both the main gate and the entrance door to the lighthouse were closed.
The beds were unmade, and, most eerily, the clocks stopped. That meant the men were absent for more than a week. Pensive and alarmed, Moore returned to the ship and took three volunteers back to shore to further investigate.
Inside the lighthouse, they saw other signs of the keepers left in a hurry. There was an overturned chair near the dinner table, and two of the three protective oilskin coats were missing. The third was still on the hook, which was very strange. The weather during the past week was.
Terrible, so why would one of the men leave the building without protection, and in any case, the rules dictated that there should always be at least one keeper on the post, tending to the lighthouse? For all three of them to leave at once, something terrible must have happened. When the men returned to the Hesperus,
Captain Harvey used the telegraph to send a note to the Northern Lighthouse Board. It said that a dreadful accident had happened at the Flannans and that all the keepers had disappeared. His guess was that the poor souls had been swept away by the raging sea or had fallen from a cliff. Harvey requested an official.
Investigation to be conducted, and on December 29th, Robert Muirhead, a Northern Lighthouse Board superintendent, arrived to do just that. And here’s where things truly took a turn for the eerie. Muirhead found the lighthouse logbook that the men kept until their.
Disappearance, that is, about dinner time on December 15th. On December 12th, Thomas Marshall wrote that there were severe winds the likes of which he’d never seen in 20 years. Also, the two other men began acting in a highly unusual way. Ducat, according to the logbook, was very quiet.
And Macarthur was crying. Highly unusual in this instance was a huge understatement. All three of the keepers were tough, hardened men, and Macarthur was a veteran mariner. It was simply impossible that he could have been crying because of the storm, no matter how bad it was.
The entry from December 13th told that the winds were still howling and the sea was even more violent than the day before. The log implied that the three men were terrified, which was again very strange since they were experienced keepers and knew that they were safe inside the lighthouse.
The elements could do nothing against a sturdy stone structure built specifically to withstand rough weather conditions like these. But perhaps the most unsettling of this was the fact that there were actually no storms cited on the 12th, 13th, or 14th of December in that area. It was written in the log that the skies.
Finally cleared only on the morning of December 15th, and that was the last entry. The keepers went missing on the evening of the same day. There are so many inconsistencies in this whole story that it remains a mystery to this day. Not only did the official investigation.
Not find any clear evidence of what had happened in the Eilean Mor lighthouse, but it also made the situation even more perplexing. As soon as the news reached the mainland, wild theories from all corners of the UK started circulating. Still, there was also at least the official version of events, and that made.
Some sense. You see, the western landing of the lighthouse premises was severely damaged by recent storms. Iron railings were bent, the iron railway beside the path was torn out of concrete, and turf had been ripped away from the top of a cliff that stood 200 feet tall.
This evidence showed that the waves and the wind had been particularly savage, and there lay the explanation to the mysterious vanishing of the keepers on the 15th of December. Two of the men must have gone out into the storm to secure the box on the western landing which contained mooring ropes. They had been out for some time when the.
Third one left inside, as the rules required, noticed an abnormally large wave coming down on the island fast. Deciding there was no time to waste, he leaped to his feet, overturning the chair he had been sitting on and rushed off to warn the other two of the imminent danger. He was in a big hurry, so he didn’t stop.
To grab the oilskin coat on the way out. But apparently, he was too late. When he reached his fellow keepers, the wave had already reached the island, and as they were all dangerously close to the edge, it swept them all from the landing.
Seems a plausible enough theory, but there are a couple of gaps in it: firstly, it doesn’t explain where the storm even came from. The keepers disappeared in the evening of December 15th, and by all accounts, the weather that day was fine, and the sea was calm. Even the keepers’ own logbook confirmed it.
So how would a huge wave appear on that day without any warning? And secondly, again according to the entries in the lighthouse logbook, the damage to the western landing had been done before the men’s disappearance. So they must have witnessed the mayhem but had not, in fact, gone out into it. Since 1900, many more theories have been.
Born, including one about a freak wave washing away one of the men and the others being swept away by subsequent waves while helping him. Also, some theorized that a big wave might have entered a narrow gully by the western landing and burst back with force, pushing the men who were trying to.
Secure their equipment over the edge. In this theory, the third keeper was also running to help his colleagues but suffered the same fate as them. But whatever hypotheses were given, credible or nonsensical, none of them have given us any clue as to what really happened to the three bold men from Eilean Mor.
Who knows, maybe someday the truth will be discovered. What do you think caused the lighthouse keepers to disappear from the island?
FAQs about Old Lighthouse Mystery
Question #1: How tall is Old Baldy Lighthouse? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse stands at a height of 110 feet.
Question #2: How old is the Sanibel Lighthouse? Answer: The Sanibel Lighthouse, also known as Point Ybel Light, was first lit in 1884, making it over 130 years old.
Question #3: Where is the Old Lighthouse Citadel Room? Answer: The Old Lighthouse Citadel Room is located in Goa, India, within the Aguada Fort.
Question #4: How old is the St. Augustine Lighthouse? Answer: The St. Augustine Lighthouse in Florida was completed in 1874, making it around 149 years old.
Question #5: How old is the Lighthouse of Alexandria? Answer: The ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was built in the 3rd century BCE and no longer exists.
Question #6: How old is the Ocracoke Lighthouse? Answer: The Ocracoke Lighthouse in North Carolina was built in 1823, making it nearly 200 years old.
Question #7: How many steps in Old Baldy Lighthouse? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse has 108 steps to reach the top.
Question #8: How old is Cape Hatteras Lighthouse? Answer: The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina, built in 1870, is around 152 years old.
Question #9: When was Old Baldy Lighthouse built? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse was built in 1817, making it over 200 years old.
Question #10: Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse – where is it? Answer: Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse is located in Mackinaw City, Michigan, near the Mackinac Bridge.
Question #11: How old is Dr. Fishman Chicago Lighthouse? Answer: Specific information about Dr. Fishman and Chicago Lighthouse’s age is not provided in the question.
Question #12: What county is the Old Baldy Lighthouse located? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse is located in Brunswick County, North Carolina.
Question #13: How old is the Navy vs. Lighthouse joke? Answer: The age of the Navy vs. Lighthouse joke is not specified in the question.
Question #14: How old is the Cape May Lighthouse? Answer: The Cape May Lighthouse in New Jersey was built in 1859, making it around 163 years old.
Question #15: 10-year-old boy who drowned at Lighthouse at Peninsula State Park Answer: Specific details about the incident, such as the date and circumstances, are not provided in the question.
Question #16: What time do you meet the old fighter at the Lighthouse? Answer: Information about the specific time to meet the old fighter at the lighthouse is not provided in the question.
Question #17: How to get Old Lighthouse of Knights and Brides? Answer: Details on obtaining the Old Lighthouse in the game “Knights and Brides” are not specified in the question.
Question #18: Old School RuneScape – how to get into the Lighthouse? Answer: To access the Lighthouse in Old School RuneScape, players must complete the quest “Sea Slug.”
Question #19: How old is Oak Island Lighthouse in NC? Answer: The Oak Island Lighthouse in North Carolina was completed in 1958, making it around 65 years old.
Question #20: How old is Round Island Lighthouse? Answer: The Round Island Lighthouse in Michigan was constructed in 1895, making it around 127 years old.
Question #21: How old is Cape May Lighthouse? Answer: The Cape May Lighthouse, completed in 1859, is approximately 163 years old.
Question #22: Old man who is a lighthouse keeper Answer: Specific information about the old man or lighthouse keeper is not provided in the question.
Question #23: How old is Tansley in To the Lighthouse? Answer: In Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse,” Mr. Tansley is in his twenties.
Question #24: Old Baldy Lighthouse – when was it built? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse was built in 1817, making it over 200 years old.
Question #25: How old is Jupiter Lighthouse? Answer: The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse in Florida was completed in 1860, making it around 162 years old.
Question #26: When was Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse built? Answer: Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Michigan was built in 1889.
Question #27: Where is the Old Lighthouse in Knights and Brides? Answer: The location of the Old Lighthouse in the game “Knights and Brides” depends on the specific quest or game mechanics.
Question #28: How old do you have to be to be a lighthouse keeper? Answer: There is no specific age requirement to be a lighthouse keeper; qualifications typically include relevant skills and experience.
Question #29: What is the name of the plaza in front of the Old Lighthouse Museum in Michigan City, Indiana? Answer: The specific name of the plaza in front of the Old Lighthouse Museum in Michigan City is not provided in the question.
Question #30: Movie where captain meets old girlfriend living in a lighthouse with 18 children Answer: Specific details about the movie, such as the title or actors, are not provided in the question.
Question #31: What was the name of the old lighthouse in Gulfport, Mississippi? Answer: The name of the old lighthouse in Gulfport, Mississippi, is not specified in the question.
Question #32: What is the nickname of the Old Baldy Lighthouse? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse is often nicknamed “Old Baldy.”
Question #33: How old is Old Baldy Lighthouse? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse was built in 1817, making it over 200 years old.
Question #34: How old is St. Joseph, Michigan, Lighthouse? Answer: The St. Joseph, Michigan, Lighthouse was built in 1859, making it around 163 years old.
Question #35: What did the old lighthouse lanterns’ light bulbs look like? Answer: The appearance of light bulbs in old lighthouse lanterns varied, typically featuring a simple design with a filament.
Question #36: What is the address of the Old Michigan Lighthouse Museum? Answer: The specific address of the Old Michigan Lighthouse Museum is not provided in the question.
Question #37: How old is the Morris Island Lighthouse? Answer: The Morris Island Lighthouse in South Carolina was completed in 1876, making it around 146 years old.
Question #38: How old is the Tybee Island Lighthouse? Answer: The Tybee Island Lighthouse in Georgia was completed in 1773, making it around 249 years old.
Question #39: How did old lighthouse lights turn? Answer: Old lighthouse lights were often turned manually using a system of gears and a crank.
Question #40: How old is Aberdeen South Lighthouse? Answer: The Aberdeen South Lighthouse in Scotland was completed in 1797, making it around 225 years old.
Question #41: How old is Hook Lighthouse? Answer: Hook Lighthouse in Ireland is one of the oldest operational lighthouses globally, dating back to the early 13th century.
Question #42: Who designed Old Baldy Lighthouse? Answer: The specific designer of Old Baldy Lighthouse is not provided in the question.
Question #43: How old is Ocracoke Lighthouse? Answer: The Ocracoke Lighthouse in North Carolina was built in 1823, making it nearly 200 years old.
Question #44: How old is Charles Tansley in To the Lighthouse? Answer: In Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse,” Charles Tansley is in his twenties.
Question #45: How old is Cape Canaveral Lighthouse? Answer: The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse in Florida was completed in 1848, making it around 174 years old.
Question #46: What lighthouse can you see from Old Orchard Beach? Answer: The specific lighthouse visible from Old Orchard Beach is not provided in the question.
Question #47: Old School RuneScape – how do I get in the lighthouse? Answer: In Old School RuneScape, players can access the lighthouse by completing the quest “Sea Slug.”
Question #48: How tall is Old Baldy Lighthouse? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse stands at a height of 110 feet.
Question #49: How old is Old Baldy Lighthouse? Answer: Old Baldy Lighthouse was built in 1817, making it over 200 years old.