Third Man phenomenon
Encyclopedia
The Third Man factor or Third Man syndrome refers to the reported situations where an unseen presence such as a "spirit
" provides comfort or support during traumatic experiences. Sir Ernest Shackleton in his book South, described his belief that an incorporeal
being joined him and two others during the final leg of their journey. Shackleton wrote, "during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia, it seemed to me often that we were four, not three." His admission resulted in other survivors of extreme hardship coming forward.
In recent years well-known adventurers like climber Reinhold Messner
and polar explorers Peter Hillary
and Ann Bancroft
have reported the experience. One study of cases involving adventurers reported that the largest group involved climbers, with solo sailors and shipwreck survivors being the second most common group, followed by polar explorers. Some journalists have related this to be the source of the guardian angel
belief and children's imaginary friends
. Scientific explanations consider this a coping mechanism for stressful situations or an example of bicameralism
. The concept was popularized by a book by John G. Geiger
The Third Man Factor, that documents scores of examples.
's groundbreaking modernist poem The Waste Land
were inspired by Shackelton's experience, as stated by the author in the notes included with the work.
In the young adult fiction novel, 'The White Darkness' by Geraldine McCaughrean
, the teen-age heroine, Sym, joins a doomed Antarctic expedition. Abandoned and lost, she is guided to safety by a "third man," her imaginary friend, Captain Lawrence Oates.
In the novel 'World War Z
', one chapter tells the story of Colonel Christina Eliopolis, a pilot that crashes in zombie-infested territory and is guided to safety by a radio operator. At the end of the chapter, Colonel Eliopolis' interviewer's questions imply the radio operator, code-named "Mets Fan", never actually existed -- a "third man".
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
" provides comfort or support during traumatic experiences. Sir Ernest Shackleton in his book South, described his belief that an incorporeal
Incorporeal
Incorporeal or uncarnate means without the nature of a body or substance . The idea of incorporeality refers to the notion that there is an incorporeal realm of existence, or "place", that is distinct from the corporeal or material universe. Incorporeal beings or objects are not made out of matter...
being joined him and two others during the final leg of their journey. Shackleton wrote, "during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia, it seemed to me often that we were four, not three." His admission resulted in other survivors of extreme hardship coming forward.
In recent years well-known adventurers like climber Reinhold Messner
Reinhold Messner
Reinhold Messner is an Italian mountaineer and explorer from Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol "whose astonishing feats on Everest and on peaks throughout the world have earned him the status of the greatest climber in history." He is renowned for making the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without...
and polar explorers Peter Hillary
Peter Hillary
Peter Hillary is the son of the late adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. When Peter Hillary summited Everest in 1990, he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat...
and Ann Bancroft
Ann Bancroft
Ann Bancroft is an American author, teacher, and adventurer. She was the first woman to successfully finish a number of arduous expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.-Biography:...
have reported the experience. One study of cases involving adventurers reported that the largest group involved climbers, with solo sailors and shipwreck survivors being the second most common group, followed by polar explorers. Some journalists have related this to be the source of the guardian angel
Guardian angel
A guardian angel is an angel assigned to protect and guide a particular person or group. Belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity...
belief and children's imaginary friends
Imaginary friend
Imaginary friends and imaginary companions are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than external physical reality. Imaginary friends are fictional characters created for improvisational role-playing. They...
. Scientific explanations consider this a coping mechanism for stressful situations or an example of bicameralism
Bicameralism (psychology)
Bicameralism is a hypothesis in psychology that argues that the human brain once assumed a state in which cognitive functions were divided between one part of the brain which appears to be "speaking", and a second part which listens and obeys—a bicameral mind...
. The concept was popularized by a book by John G. Geiger
John G. Geiger
John G. Geiger is author of The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible, which popularized the concept of the "Third Man", an incorporeal being that aids people under extreme duress. The book is the basis for National Geographic Channel's Explorer:The Angel Effect, in which Geiger appears...
The Third Man Factor, that documents scores of examples.
Famous encounters
- Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
- Ernest ShackletonErnest ShackletonSir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
- Frank SmytheFrank SmytheFrancis Sydney Smythe better known as Frank Smythe was a British mountaineer, author, photographer and botanist. He is best remembered for his mountaineering in the Alps and the Himalayas. He identified a region that he named the "Valley of Flowers", now a protected park...
- Ron DiFrancesco (9/11 survivor from the 84th floor of the South Tower)
- Robert SwanRobert SwanRobert Charles Swan, OBE, FRGS is the first person to walk to both Poles.He was born on 28 July 1956 in Durham, England and attended Aysgarth School and then Sedbergh School before completing a BA degree in Ancient History at St Chad's College, Durham University. He is currently an advocate for...
- Ann BancroftAnn BancroftAnn Bancroft is an American author, teacher, and adventurer. She was the first woman to successfully finish a number of arduous expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.-Biography:...
- Stephanie SchwabeStephanie SchwabeStephanie Jutta Schwabe is a geomicrobiologist. She completed a Ph.D. in the biogeochemical investigation of caves within the Bahamian carbonate platforms, commonly referred to as blue holes. She is an expert geologic diver mostly in Bahamian blues holes, though her experience extends to...
- Dillon WallaceDillon WallaceDillon Wallace was an American lawyer, outdoorsman, author of non-fiction, fiction and magazine articles. His first book, The Lure of the Labrador Wild was a best-seller, as were many of his later books.-Biography:...
(of the ill-fated Hubbard ExpeditionLeonidas HubbardLeonidas Hubbard was a journalist and adventurer.He was born in Michigan and studied at the University of Michigan , choosing journalism as a career. In 1901 he married Mina Adelaine Benson, a woman two years senior and at the time an assistant superintendent of a Staten Island hospital. They met...
)
Literary references
Lines 359 through 365 of T. S. EliotT. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's groundbreaking modernist poem The Waste Land
The Waste Land
The Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...
were inspired by Shackelton's experience, as stated by the author in the notes included with the work.
In the young adult fiction novel, 'The White Darkness' by Geraldine McCaughrean
Geraldine McCaughrean
Geraldine McCaughrean is a British children's novelist.The youngest of three children, McCaughrean studied teaching but did not like it, and found her true vocation in writing. She claims that what makes her love writing is the desire to escape from an unsatisfactory world...
, the teen-age heroine, Sym, joins a doomed Antarctic expedition. Abandoned and lost, she is guided to safety by a "third man," her imaginary friend, Captain Lawrence Oates.
In the novel 'World War Z
World War Z
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a 2006 post-apocalyptic horror novel by Max Brooks. It is a follow-up to his 2003 book The Zombie Survival Guide. Rather than a grand overview or narrative, World War Z is a collection of individual accounts in the form of first-person anecdote...
', one chapter tells the story of Colonel Christina Eliopolis, a pilot that crashes in zombie-infested territory and is guided to safety by a radio operator. At the end of the chapter, Colonel Eliopolis' interviewer's questions imply the radio operator, code-named "Mets Fan", never actually existed -- a "third man".