page_title: Flannan Isles Lighthouse
section_title: Later theories and interpretations
hierarchical_section_title: Flannan Isles Lighthouse / Disappearances in 1900 / Later theories and interpretations
caption_attribution_description: Eilean a' Ghobha and Roareim, the westernmost of the Flannan Isles, with Brona Cleit in the distance. Flannan Isles.
context_page_description: Flannan Isles Lighthouse is a lighthouse near the highest point on Eilean Mòr, one of the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is best known for the mysterious disappearance of its keepers in 1900.
context_section_description: Over time, a story has developed of the existence of unusual log book entries. They supposedly have Thomas Marshall saying on December 12 that there were "severe winds the likes of which I have never seen before in twenty years". He also is said to have reported that James Ducat had been ‘very quiet’ and Donald MacArthur had been crying. MacArthur was a veteran mariner with a reputation for brawling, and thus it would be strange for him to be crying in response to a storm. Log entries on the 13th of December were said to have stated that the storm was still raging, and that all three men had been praying. This was also puzzling, as all three men were experienced lighthouse keepers who knew they were in a secure structure 150 feet above sea level and should have known they were safe inside. Furthermore, there had been no reported storms in the area on the 12th, 13th and 14th of December. The final log entry is said to have been made on the 15th of December, stating ‘Storm ended, sea calm. God is over all’. An investigation by Mike Dash for the Fortean Times, revealed that the logbooks were later additions to the story not based on fact.
  Subsequent researchers have taken into account the geography of the islands. The coastline of Eilean Mòr is deeply indented with narrow gullies called geos. The west landing, which is situated in such a geo, terminates in a cave. In high seas or storms, water would rush into the cave and then explode out again with considerable force. It was possible MacArthur may have seen a series of large waves approaching the island and, knowing the likely danger to his colleagues, ran down to warn them only to be washed away as well in the violent swell. Recent research by James Love discovered that Marshall was previously fined five shillings when his equipment was washed away during a huge gale. It is likely, in seeking to avoid another fine, that he and Ducat tried to secure their equipment during a storm and were swept away as a result. The fate of MacArthur, although required to stay behind to man the lighthouse, can be guessed to be the same. Love speculates that MacArthur probably tried to warn or help his colleagues and was swept away too. This theory also has the advantages of explaining the set of oilskins remaining indoors and MacArthur's coat remaining on its peg, although perhaps not the closed door and gate. Another theory is based on the first-hand experiences of Walter Aldebert, a keeper on the Flannans from 1953 to 1957. He believed one man may have been washed into the sea but then his companions, who were trying to rescue him, were washed away by more freak waves.
  A further proposal is based on the psychology of the keepers. Allegedly MacArthur was a volatile character; this may have led to a fight breaking out near the cliff edge by the West Landing that caused all three men to fall to their deaths. Another theory is that one of the men went insane, murdered the other two, threw their bodies into the sea, and then jumped in to his own death.
  Among modern theories are those connected to paranormal activity, such as abduction by aliens. Fictional use of this premise was featured in the Doctor Who serial Horror of Fang Rock. The mystery also was the inspiration for the composer Peter Maxwell Davies's modern chamber opera The Lighthouse (1979). The British rock group Genesis wrote and recorded "The Mystery of Flannan Isle Lighthouse" in 1968 while working on their first album, but it was not released until 1998 in Genesis Archive 1967–75. The 2018 film The Vanishing is also based on the same story. The 2019 film directed by Robert Eggers titled  The Lighthouse  also loosely references this tragedy.
caption: The westernmost of the Flannan Isles: Eilean a' Ghobha and Roareim with Brona Cleit in the distance
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