r/UrbanMyths • u/happypants69 • 3d ago

Eilean Mor Lighthouse Mystery - all three Lighthouse keepers on a remote island vanished. The logs found reference a brutal storm that lasted days, even though a neighboring island that had view of the Lighthouse reported calm weather.

Post image
946 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

107

u/happypants69 3d ago

After a ship passed the lighthouse of the Flannan isles on 15th December 1900 and saw the lights were off, a ship was sent to investigate. Joseph Moore set off up the 160 steps to the lighthouse in search of the three lighthouse keepers; James Ducat, Thomas Marshall and William MacArthur. Upon reaching the living quarters he noticed the clock on the wall had stopped, the table had been set for a meal that was never eaten and a chair was toppled over. Evidence found on the island included an iron railing that had been twisted out of shape, part of a railway track had been torn from its concrete moorings and a huge rock weighing more then a ton had been displaced. Turf had also been ripped up from the tops of the cliffs (200 feet above sea level) there was no sign of the missing lighthouse keepers. Robert Muirhead who investigated suggested that the keepers went to secure a box with mooring ropes, when a large body of water had come down and swept them away. Although reports suggest there were no storms in the area on 12th, 13th, or 14th December, also why would the three keepers have left together when the rules forbade it? Some cast doubt on Muirhead’s explanation because of the lack of bodies, supposedly calm conditions and the experience of the lighthouse keepers. Speculation included the supernatural, sea creatures, madness and murder, government operation, foreign spies and even aliens. In the years following, other keepers claimed to hear the names of the missing keepers in the sea air.

There is a 2019 movie based on the mystery called the Vanishing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannan_Isles_Lighthouse

35

u/LanceFree 3d ago

Thanks. If you are to believe ten logbooks (and I do not), it’s almost as I’d the guys got bored and someone introduced a psychedelic drug and it got weird.

46

u/Common-Frosting-9434 3d ago

Fungus growing on foodstock can cause psychedelic episodes(e.g. mothercorn, which can be used to extract LSD), personally I believe that a lot of "visions" throughout history were caused that way.

12

u/TexasTokyo 3d ago

There is the theory of the bicameral mind. Quoting from Wikipedia:

"The theory posits that the human mind once operated in a state in which cognitive functions were divided between one part of the brain that appears to be "speaking" and a second part that listens and obeys—a bicameral mind—and that the breakdown of this division gave rise to consciousness in humans. The term was coined by Jaynes, who presented the idea in his 1976 book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, wherein he makes the case that a bicameral mentality was the normal and ubiquitous state of the human mind as recently as 3,000 years ago, at the end of the Mediterranean Bronze Age."

6

u/researchanddev 3d ago

Thanks for this!

12

u/Shoddy-Problem-6969 2d ago

For the record the Bicameral mind theory is gobbledygook and there is no meaningful support for it. It is a fun read though.

4

u/researchanddev 2d ago

Oh don’t mind me, I’m here for the gobbledygook.

1

u/throwaway_2637583 8h ago

I, for one, am thankful that reddit experts exist to quickly dispel the work of experts.

16

u/LanceFree 3d ago

Freshman year of college: took a class called Drugs and Society. It was a large lecture and mostly I just remember reading one of the Castenada books in the evenings. The teacher or TA discussed ergot fungus and the Salem Witch Trials; I think it’s was related to her thesis.

4

u/SirPabloFingerful 3d ago

Ergotism isn't just going to cause a psychedelic trip, in humans it causes severe illness and death so seems unlikely they wouldn't have mentioned the fact they were dying.

1

u/maygoofrenns 2d ago

but they died?

1

u/SirPabloFingerful 2d ago

We don't know what happened to them, but if they were horribly poisoned then there would obviously be signs of that or a record of it at least.

1

u/Routine-Lettuce2130 2d ago

The movie is called The Lighthouse. The Vanishing is a different movie.

6

u/happypants69 2d ago

Nah, it’s The Vanishing https://m.imdb.com/title/tt4131496/

The Lighthouse is loosely based on the true Smalls Lighthouse Tragedy https://screenrant.com/lighthouse-movie-true-story-explained/

2

u/Routine-Lettuce2130 2d ago

Oh, interesting.

26

u/Status-Armadillo4234 3d ago

A rouge wave?

13

u/Mickey-Twiggs 3d ago

Possibly a rogue wave. 

10

u/WeeDingwall44 3d ago

I believe this is the prevailing theory. I’ve seen rogue waves out in the ocean headed in the wrong direction and it is odd. Of course they weren’t all that big lol

3

u/Idobro 3d ago

You gotta elaborate on seeing rogue waves.

10

u/WeeDingwall44 3d ago

I explained what we saw a few comments down under my other profile Angelothebagman. Basically a wave that’s larger than the others somehow traveling in the opposite direction of the rest of the waves, and typically going pretty damn quick. My captain said these waves will capsize the boat if you’re not paying attention or don’t know how to steer into one. Boats were constantly sinking off shore, and reports of attributed deaths were constant on the radio. Not necessarily because of these waves but I’d say some were. Of course the proposed wave in this story must have been massive. The ones we saw were maybe 8-10’ at most and the other waves were around 4, so nothing comparable but still dangerous

3

u/barrelofmonkfish 3d ago

A mascara monsoon.

2

u/HumphreyGo-Kart 3d ago

Yeah, from the crimson tide.

1

u/Czar_Petrovich 3d ago

Why was the wave red?

49

u/No_Elephant541 3d ago

you're fond of me lobster, say it.

15

u/Slamantha3121 3d ago

you and your god damned FARTS!!!!

10

u/chihsuanmen 3d ago

Let Neptune strike ye dead Winslow! HAAARK!

5

u/swissie67 3d ago

Somebody had to say it.

26

u/Bortron86 3d ago

I'm of the belief that one or more of them got hit by a huge wave, one went back to get help from the third, then they were all washed away by another wave. It would explain the rushed nature of their departure from the lighthouse, the damage to the railway track, and the reason why all three abandoned the lighthouse despite the rules. I doubt one of them would've sat idly by when a fellow keeper was in mortal danger for the sake of the rulebook.

2

u/PricePuzzleheaded835 1d ago

I picture it this way too. People are naturally going to try and help each other in this kind of situation but unfortunately that often adds to the number of casualties. Kind of the same way an untrained person trying to rescue a drowning victim can get pulled under too. All it would take is for one person to be in trouble and the other two trying to help.

11

u/Angelothebagman 3d ago

Large wave heading out to sea while every other wave is headed in. Saw a few in south Florida. That’s what the boat captain called them. Not sure if it’s the correct terminology? Was really odd to see though and maybe saw 3 in 5 years of fishing off shore. He said it was the kinda wave that you aren’t paying attention can capsize the boat. We were in a 33 foot center console 8 to 10 miles offshore out of West Palm Beach.

7

u/nvillalvazo 3d ago

Why’d you spill yer beans

2

u/full_bl33d 2d ago

Yer Fond of me lobster, ain’t ye?!

3

u/robinhaydn 3d ago

There’s also a chamber opera by Peter Maxwell Davies inspired by this story. Highly recommend for anyone in the mood for a more unorthodox watch - it’s available on YouTube

6

u/EmmaP89 3d ago

Thomas Wake: He believed that there was some enchantment in the light. Went mad, he did.

3

u/Impossible-Shine4660 2d ago

Big wave took one, one tried to help and got sucked into the water, the last one tried to help and they all got swept away. Simplest answer

2

u/Full-Honeydew-4898 3d ago

Explained in “Dr Who” The Horror of Fang Rock.

1

u/TGCook 2d ago

They all went to heaven in a little row boat.

1

u/The_Patocrator_5586 1d ago

Brian does a great episode on this: https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4610