Shackleton’s “third man” during the South Georgia crossing

Record summary

During the 1916 crossing of South Georgia, Ernest Shackleton later described an impression that an additional unseen companion accompanied the party, an experience also associated with Frank Worsley and Tom Crean in later discussion. The episode became a prominent example of the “third man factor,” in which exhausted or endangered travelers sense a presence. It matters for comparison with apparition reports while remaining compatible with stress, isolation and environmental explanations. The precise wording and distribution of the experience should be checked against expedition memoirs and later scholarship.