Anomalous zone. United Kingdom

One of the harshest inhabited places on Earth can be considered the North Atlantic, namely the Hebrides. The sun here is only 60 days a year, the rest of the time — rain, snow and fog.

Rocky Islands are scattered everywhere, which can not be moored because of the huge waves and numerous shoals. It would seem that there is nothing special in the archipelago, if not for the sinister and mysterious events that took place on the island in 1900 Eileen Mor, or rather, at the lighthouse there.

The inner Hebrides are about 80 hectares of uninhabited rocky terrain. True, some places still grow grass and even come across trees, but people do not live here since 1971. On the largest island of the archipelago, Eileen Mor, which means "big island" in Gaelic, a lighthouse with a capacity of 140 thousand candles was built in 1899, because in these places many ships went off course and crashed on the rocks.

It was estimated that its light should have been visible for more than 30 miles. At the end of the last century, it was fully automated, and the need for maintenance disappeared.

The island has long had a bad reputation, it was rumored that here was the last refuge of elven spirits who do not tolerate strangers. Even sailors who had seen a lot of things did not risk landing on Eileen Mor.

DOOMSDAY

For almost a year the beacon was working properly and warned of the risk of the ships. But on December 15, 1900, the captain of a ship passing by the island noticed that the lighthouse was not lit, and telegraphed to the shore. Soon telegrams began to arrive from other ships in the vicinity of Eileen Mor.

Just at this time there was to be a change of the lighthouse Keeper. But due to the prolonged storm, Joseph Moore, a lighthouse Keeper, was only able to go to the island ten days later than the scheduled date. On new year's eve, December 26, the clipper Hesperus delivered a shift to Eileen Mor.

When Mor landed at the Western pier, he didn't find anyone waiting for him, which was not their way. There was also no container for food and other supplies, usually waiting for the arrival of the shift. Even after the screams and shots in the air, the island was still silent.

Joseph knew that some tragedy had occurred here if no one had lit the fire. After all, he knew everyone who was supposed to be at the lighthouse — Thomas Marshall, Donald MacArthur, James Ducat, who, according to him, were conscientious and experienced workers. Moreover, three weeks ago, Joseph Moore personally visited the island, noting that all employees are in full health.

Joseph had to go up to the lighthouse alone, because the sailors accompanying him were scared to death. A strange picture appeared before him: the doors and Windows of the tower were locked, and an empty flagpole stood in front of the entrance. As creepy as it was, the head caretaker had to go inside. 

The room was in perfect order, except for the overturned kitchen table, which looked as if someone was going to fix it. The caretakers ' storm cloaks hung neatly on a rack, and the dishes were washed and put away.

The wardrobe was missing two waterproof jackets and two pairs of rubber boots. A Toolbox disappeared from the workshop. The logbook was still there, but what Moore read in it only added to the confusion and fear:

"December 12. Day. Strong North-westerly wind. The sea is lashing furiously. I've never seen such a storm.

December 12. Midnight. The storm is still raging. It's impossible to go outside. The passing ship, without hearing the foghorn, approached the lighthouse so close that you can see the lights of the cabins. Dukat is annoyed. MacArthur is crying.

December 13. Noon. Storm throughout the night. Gray daylight. Dukat and MacArthur cry and pray.

December 14. No exit. We all pray.

December 15. The storm is over. The sea is calm. God is above everything."

Concerned, Joseph returned to the ship and, with the help of three sailors, began to investigate the mysterious disappearance.

THE INVISIBLE STORM

For three days, Joseph and the sailors searched the entire island, meter by meter. By the way, it is not such a large piece of land measuring 720 by 450 meters. But they couldn't find any trace of the missing people. However, the search team came across something that they could not explain. 

For example, the lamps at the lighthouse were completely ready for use: the wicks were cut, the oil was filled, it was only necessary to bring the fire, but for some reason this was not done. A metal container for food was also found, but for some reason it was taken to the Eastern pier, which was rarely used. 

It was also strange that the pier looked like a mad giant was running amok: the iron railings were pulled out of the concrete base and badly bent, the food containers were crumpled, and things prepared for shipment were scattered everywhere. It could be attributed to the raging elements, but all this was at an altitude of 33 meters above sea level. And even higher, at an altitude of 60 meters, Moore found the displacement of a huge piece of granite rock.

The first suggestion that people were washed away by the storm wave had to be immediately discarded, since according to the instructions, the caretakers were not supposed to go to the pier at the same time. In addition, even if it was force majeure, they would wear raincoats when leaving the tower in a storm. 

It was also strange that these days neither the ships nor the coast guard recorded the storm. True, the weather was not very good, but the storm began only in the morning of December 16, when the lighthouse fire had not shone for a day. And Dukat and MacArthur were hereditary sailors, brave and even otlayannymi people, during storms never prayed and even more so did not cry. It turns out that all three of them were not themselves for several days. 

There was also a discrepancy in the fact that the caretakers ' bunks were dismantled, as if people had already gone to bed, but for some reason they did not fulfill their duties-they did not light the lighthouse, and then suddenly they all ran together to the Eastern pier. They could not be washed away by the wave, because Marshall clearly wrote: the storm is over.

Another official duty of the lighthouse employees was to register weather conditions on a slate at the entrance. The last entry on it was saved from December 12, and the lines below were erased by someone.

OFFICIAL VERSION

On December 29, Robert Muirhead, head of the Scottish lighthouse authority, who arrived on the island, announced the official version of the investigation. It consisted in the fact that the employees, seeing the storm, rushed to strengthen the boxes for supplies on the pier and were washed away by the wave, that is, they violated the instructions. Of course, this version was convenient for the government, so as not to assign pensions to the families of the victims.

Half a century later, in 1953-1957, when Walter Aldebert was working at the lighthouse, he once saw a huge narrow wave that, in clear weather, was approaching Eileen Mor. When it hit the shore, it rolled to the threshold of the tower. It was a good thing the caretaker was inside at the time. It was he who put forward the theory that there was a similar wave on the ill-fated day on which the three employees disappeared. 

In his opinion, two caretakers worked on the pier, and the third was engaged in lighting. From above, he saw the impending danger and hurried to warn his colleagues, but did not calculate the power of the elements. Thus, all three were washed away by the wave. But this version also crashes about strange log entries. In addition, if a person runs to help, it is unlikely that they will think about locking the doors and Windows.

VOLUNTARY LINK

The results of the official investigation did not satisfy Moore, and he remained on the island to find an explanation for the mysterious disappearance. No one wanted to keep him company, so ominous was the story.

He had plenty of time to think. The version with a huge wave, he did not even consider. Moore had an idea that one of the employees had gone mad, killed the other two, and committed suicide. However, it is known that shortly before the tragedy, all of them were in their right mind. However, the people were gone, as if they were carried away by an unknown force.

The chief warden spent a long 10 years on the island, until a new employee was appointed in January 1910, and Moore resumed his main post. When he got back to the mainland, he didn't talk too much about what he'd been through on Eileen Mor, so that he wouldn't be known as a madman. But some things still managed to find out friends. 

Moore said that while on the island, he constantly felt a heavy, oppressive atmosphere and a sense of someone's presence. It's hard to tell if it was his imagination or if he actually heard the cries for help several times. This usually happened on the evening before the storm. 

One day, when the storm was particularly violent, Joseph distinctly heard his name called. The man, despite the bad weather, ran out into the street and began shouting the names of the missing caretakers. And at some point, he allegedly heard what was answered. Whether it was a figment of his imagination or the screams of gulls circling overhead, he didn't know.

When the ship came for Moore, he stood on the dock and called his comrades for the last time. And at that moment, according to him, three huge black birds of an indeterminate breed took off from the tower and disappeared over the horizon.

Alexandra ORLOVA

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Almost 120 years later, the disappearance of Donald MacArthur, Thomas Marshall, and James Ducat at the Flannan Islands lighthouse remains a subject of great intrigue, with theories and stories swirling around it. 

Some attribute the incident to supernatural forces, while others claim it was just a terrible accident when three men were swept away by rough seas and their bodies were never washed back to shore. Some even question the authenticity of the entries in the logbook, which say they were written after the fact, while fiercely arguing with those who asked how then they were written in the handwriting of a crew member? The mysterious nature of their disappearance was certainly helped by the publication in 1912 of Wilfrid Wilson Gibson's epic "Flannan Island", in which he writes from the point of view of a man looking for men:

“And, as we listen’d in the gloom

Of that forsaken living-room–

O chill clutch on our breath–

We thought how ill-chance came to all

Who kept the Flannan Light:

And how the rock had been the death…”

As for the Flannal island lighthouse itself, it stands on the same grassy peak of Eileen Mor, where it has undergone several upgrades and transformations over the years, finally becoming automated in 1971. You may visit the island during group boat trips.

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Thanks to the attention of the press, the tragic story of the disappearance of the lighthouse keepers quickly received a public response and just as quickly became overgrown with all sorts of speculation.

Not long in coming, and frankly conspiracy theories related to the intervention of foreign States, contacts with extraterrestrial intelligence or abduction of a race of short people, allegedly from ancient times inhabited the local cliffs. Perhaps it was because of these rumors that the next lighthouse keepers on the island of Eileen Mor repeatedly reported strange voices, which they imagined in the howling wind, calling the names of the missing men.

Interest in this mysterious story has not waned until now. in 2019, the film "Disappearance" with Gerard Butler, which takes place just on the island of Eileen Mor, is released; it is also worth mentioning the recent chamber Thriller directed by Robert Eggers with the telling title "the lighthouse" with Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.

Both tapes somehow quote what happened on the island. As for the truth, it is now impossible to say for sure what actually happened in December 1900 on Eileen-More. The only thing that does not cause doubts is that the memory of this tragedy will continue to excite the minds of fans of mysticism and riddles.