When fisherman Ray Macphee’s net became snagged on something heavy on the seabed, he thought he had seen it all before.
However, what was winched aboard several days later off the Burghead coast was certainly something he had never seen in all his years at sea.
What was initially believed to be a large rock turned out to be a 12ft 6in propeller from a plane suspected to have ditched in the Moray Firth during the Second World War.
However, with no record of such an event with an aircraft matching the propeller, mystery surrounds the origin of the blades and what became of the crew.
Causing a stir in Burghead
Since the propeller was brought into port in Burghead, it has been causing a stir among regulars to the harbour eager to learn its story.
Mr Macphee was fishing for prawns aboard his boat Aranatha and he was just five minutes away from returning to shore when the snag occurred.
Eager to save his net, he returned a few days later with a different vessel, the Humber Engineer, to lift it out with a crane.
The huge metal blades have been laid out on the deck of the boat ever since with eager onlookers eager to help piece together its story and provide their own theories.
Mr Macphee said: “Obviously a lot of people have been interested. We actually had a guy down from the Battle of Britain museum, who happened to be visiting. He said ‘Whatever you do, don’t scrap it,’ so I haven’t.
“He took some photographs of it and reckons it can’t be British or German, I think it’s due to the number of blades on it, I think they just had three.
“He reckons it could be American and we’ve narrowed it down to a Barracuda or a Firefly. Barracudas flew from Nigg during the war so it could be from there.”
What will happen to Burghead propeller now?
Despite about 80 years on the Moray Firth seabed and apart from a significant impact dent to one of the blades, it is still in remarkably good condition.
Ball bearings on it are still intact and apart from sea creatures setting up home on the blades, there is barely a scratch on the metal.
However, what becomes of it now remains to be seen.
Mr Macphee is eager to resolve the mystery of its origins to provide closure to any family that may be connected to any lost crew.
He added: “There is no record of any plane of that type going down in the Moray Firth that I can find, maybe the crew ejected, I don’t know.
“From the dent to it, it looks like it has come down with a bit of force. It would be good to provide closure to someone if they are looking for it.”
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