It's a mystery that has baffled historians for over 120 years - what happened to the three Eilean Mor lighthouse keepers who seemingly disappeared without a trace?
On 26th December 1900, a ship's captain made the grim discovery of an enduring mystery that has gone on to capture the imagination of generations of Scots.
Captain James Harvey arrived at the tiny uninhabited Flannan islands in the Outer Hebrides with the intent of relieving one of the Lighthouse keepers there and delivering supplies.
Surprised to find no-one waiting for them, the replacement lighthouse keeper Joseph Moore was sent ashore to investigate.
It was there that he made the horrifying discovery of the unlocked lighthouse and the three keepers having seemingly vanished into thin air - with no clear evidence as to why.
A telegram then dispatched to the Northern Lighthouse Board Headquarters in Edinburgh spoke of a "dreadful accident" with the keepers Thomas Marshall, James Ducat and Donald MacArthur all having "disappeared from the island".
Investigation
A subsequent investigation reportedly uncovered the lighthouse’s log which featured notes alluding to a severe storm and the men's deteriorating mental state.
The final log entry, which was reportedly made on the 15th December, referenced that the storm had ended and the sea was calm before adding "God is over all".
Other discoveries led the man running the investigation, Robert Muirhead, to conclude that all three had been swept away by a rogue wave while battling to secure a life buoy near the landing bay.
None the less, the mysterious circumstances and the fact the island was thought to be cursed, has led to constant speculation over the trio's fate over the years.
The reliability of some of the accounts hasn't helped, many believe much of the subsequent information was fabricated by plays and stories inspired by the event (such as that of English poet Wilfrid Wilson Gibson who wrote Flannan Isle based on the disappearance).
Stories of an upturned chair, half-eaten food and even the Lighthouse logs themselves have been called into question.
Theories
Theories that have sprung up have included the men being taken by foreign pirates, abducted by aliens (thanks to a 70s episode of Doctor Who), eaten by the hundreds of seabirds who made the rock their home, and even an attack by a giant sea serpent (with some even crediting Nessie).
Author of A Natural History Of Lighthouses, John Love, believes the answer is a little more prosiac, speaking about the subject in 2015 he stated that there was no need to "invoke the sinister or the paranormal", instead he believed that it was simply a tragic act of nature, which saw the three men swept out into the sea by large waves buffeting the island.
Whatever tragic event snatched the three men away, the mystery of the disappearance at the lighthouse on this barren rock in the Atlantic Sea isn't going to go away any time soon.
