Nobody at The Highland Times is entirely sure where Aye Munro came from, where he lives, or how he first appeared on our radar, and attempts to extract anything resembling a useful answer from the man himself have so far got us precisely nowhere.

We know he calls himself Aye Munro, although whether that is the name on his birth certificate is another matter entirely, and for the moment he seems perfectly content to let us wonder.

There is a photograph of him standing beside the Evanton sign, but anyone hoping this might narrow the search should probably think again, because being photographed beside a village sign proves little more than that at some point Aye Munro was standing beside a village sign.

We have discovered that asking him a straightforward question does not necessarily produce a straightforward answer, particularly when the question concerns Aye himself.

Ask where he lives and the conversation moves elsewhere.

Ask what he did before arriving at The Highland Times and something suddenly requires his attention.

Ask why nobody ever seems to get a photograph of his face and you are likely to receive the sort of look normally reserved for somebody who has completely missed the point.

What we have established is that Aye has an unusual appetite for stories which do not quite fit together, particularly those where the accepted explanation has become accepted largely because everyone eventually stopped asking questions.

That does not make him a man who believes everything he hears, and quite the opposite may be closer to the truth.

Aye possesses a healthy suspicion of extraordinary claims, internet experts, convenient coincidences and anyone who announces they have discovered the truth before producing an hour and forty seven minute video explaining why.

Unfortunately for everyone seeking an easy life, he applies exactly the same suspicion to governments, corporations, institutions and official explanations.

His philosophy appears remarkably simple.

Something is not true because an anonymous bloke on the internet says it is, but neither is it necessarily true because somebody behind a lectern says it is.

Evidence matters.

Details matter.

And occasionally the tiny detail everyone else has forgotten turns out to be the most interesting part of the story.

That curiosity is what has brought Aye Munro to these pages, where readers will encounter him in Conspiracy Corner whenever something catches his attention and he decides it deserves a closer look.

We are not entirely certain what he is going to find, which is probably just as well because Aye does not seem particularly interested in telling us beforehand.

There is also the possibility that we will gradually discover more about the man himself, although experience so far suggests we should not count on it.

For now, we know his name.

Probably.

We know what he looks like from behind.

Definitely.

And we know Aye Munro has started asking questions.

That may have to do.