Hello and welcome to the show! In this episode of Wyrd Wessex, Craig and Andy dive into the enduring mystery of the Am Fear Liath Mòr, or the Big Grey Man, a legendary entity said to haunt Ben Macdui, Scotland's second-highest mountain.

Chilling Encounters

The hosts detail a series of unsettling encounters reported by seasoned climbers, scientists, and naturalists, all of whom were highly respected individuals:

• Professor J. Norman Collie (1891): The most famous account, where Collie heard giant footsteps following him in the mist, was seized with terror, and vowed never to return.
• Peter Densham (1945): A mountaineer who felt a "cold pressure" and was pushed toward a cliff edge, an experience he believed was "psychic."
• Richard Frere: He felt an intense, abstract "presence" and heard a high, singing note coming from the mountain itself. His friend, who spent a night alone on the summit, saw a 20-foot-tall brown creature.
• Wendy Wood: She heard a harsh, booming voice with Gaelic consonants and distinct footfalls behind her, despite being alone.
• Dr. A. M. Kellis: On a clear night, he saw a mysterious 10-foot-tall figure that his brother, sitting nearby, completely missed.
• George Duncan: A veteran mountaineer who saw a figure he believed to be the devil in a black robe, surrounded by smoke.
• Alexander Tweenian: This mountaineer, carrying a revolver, actually fired three times at a strange shape that loomed up at him in the mist. He later believed he had shot "the only Fialia Moore [his] imagination will ever see."
• Captain Sir Hugh Rankin: A Mahayana Buddhist who, with his wife, encountered a tall, powerfully built figure they instantly recognized as a Bodhisattva—a "perfected man" of their faith.

Theories and Explanations

The Wyrdo's discuss a wide range of possible explanations for the phenomena:

• Physical Explanations: The Brocken Spectre (an optical illusion), infrasound (low-frequency sound that can induce feelings of dread), and disorientation from extreme weather or fatigue.
• Paranormal & Folklore: The possibility of it being a cryptid (like a Scottish Bigfoot), the spirit of the mountain itself, the ghost of a poet, or a "thin place" where the veil between worlds is permeable.
• Extraterrestrial: The Aetherius Society, a UFO-based group, believes Ben Macdui houses a secret "Great White Brotherhood" spiritual retreat and an alien lab.

The wyrdo's conclude by highlighting that the most compelling part of the mystery is that these profound, unsettling experiences are reported almost exclusively on this specific mountain by people with immense mountaineering experience.

Stay Wyrd!

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Written by Craig Brooks and hosted by Craig Brooks and Andy Stevens

Edited by Craig Brooks

Intro music by Leonell Cassio - The Paranormal Is Real (ft. Carrie)

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