Case file · High strangeness
The Flannan Isles lighthouse mystery
On 26 December 1900 the relief boat found the lighthouse on Eilean Mòr, in the Flannan Isles, empty: its three keepers, James Ducat, Thomas Marshall and Donald MacArthur, had vanished.
1900 CE · 58.29, -7.59 · status: disputed
The account
The last log entry was 15 December. A coat was still on its peg, and storm damage was found at the west landing. Wilfrid Gibson's 1912 poem added details like an overturned chair and an uneaten meal.
The sceptical view
The official inquiry concluded that the men were swept away by a huge wave while securing equipment; the 'eerie' details are mostly from the poem.