The Dyatlov Pass Incident

[Huta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident

http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/1562/the_dyatlov_pass_incident.html

 

The Dyatlov Pass Incident

 

Facts;

1) 9 Russian university students and one 37 year old (friend of one of the leader's friends) go on a skiing trip in the Ural mountains in February of 1959.

2) One student goes home early due to illness, the only survivor of the incident.

3) The students don't return on time, and after a week, a search team is sent to find out what happened.

4) The tent is found torn open from the inside, the skiier's possessions still inside. The doors are not unzipped.

5) A chain of footprints were found leading towards the forest, but vanished after 500 meters. Two bodies and the remains of a fire were found at the edge of the forest, dressed only in their underwear. Three more bodies were found between the forest and the camp, in poses that made it look like they were headed back to the camp. They were found 300, 480 and 630 meters from the fire and the other two bodies. They were also wearing minimal clothing.

6) Medical examination showed no tissue damage or other cause of death in the 5 bodies, and it was ruled death by hypothermia. One of the students did have a minor skull fracture, but there was no surface damage and it was not considered the cause of his death.

7) The following May, the remaining four bodies were found. One had died from hypothermia. The other three were found with massive skeletal trauma, but no damage to the surface tissues. The first victim had a crushed skull. The other two were found with massive chest trauma, and one had no tongue. Some of the victims were found wearing bits of clothing that appeared to have been torn or cut from the bodies of others that had died earlier.

 

one of the tents

 

Now, the less objective part of the story.

 

a. The investigators covering the case found signs at the camp of flash blindness. This would help explain the tearing open of the tents, but there is obviously no known cause.

b. High levels of radiation was found on the clothing, and later upon the release of the official Soviet files in the 1990s it was revealed that radiation was found all over the site, but no known source of contamination was located.

c. Dr Boris Vozrozh-denny, the medical examiner that worked on the bodies, said that he didn't believe the deaths were the result of human violence. The level of damage to the three killed victims was approximately the same as a car collision, yet there was absolutely no damage to the soft surface tissues of the chest and head.

d. The victims had died 6 to 8 hours after their last meal.

e. Footprints showed that ALL the students had left the camp on their own accord, including the ones found injured. No signs of intruders or attackers were found at the camp.

f. Relatives later reported that the bodies of the skiiers had completely grey hair, and the skin had shown extremely dark tan or even orange color.

g. Some people had reported sightings of glowing orange spheres in the skies in the area.

h. Scrap metal was found in the area, implying secret military testing, but the location made traditional atomic testing extremely unlikely due to unpredictability of the fallout.

i. Four watches were found on the victims, one man wearing two. One watch had stopped at 0531. The two watches worn by Thibeaux-Brignolle had stopped at 0814 and 0839. The remaining watch had also stopped at 0839.

j. Interestingly, the mountain's name, Kholat Syakhl, means "Mountain of the Dead" in the native Mansi language, and Otorten, the skiier's destination, means “Don't Go There” in Mansi.

 

some of the skiiers

 

Despite being conducted by Communist Soviet officials (who were notorious for rejecting the supernatural), the investigation's official conclusion was that the skiiers had died as the result of an "unknown compelling force". Lev Ivanov, the police officer that lead the 1959 investigation, said he had received direct orders from high ranking regional officers to dismiss the inquest and keep the information secret.

 

The files regarding the investigation were classified as top secret and hidden in a secret government archive until 1990, when they were released in censored form to the public. To this day the files have not been completely disclosed, and a number of parts of the file, including several pages and a mysterious envelope, are being held by the Soviet government.

 

 

 

Personally? I don't know what to make of it. When I read this story over, several things stood out; one being that the skiiers that were found wearing their dead friends' clothing were ready to steal from corpses and wear minimal clothing in -22 degree weather rather than return to their tent for gear, another that the footprints showed nothing in the area but the skiiers. The minor skull fracture on one of the hypothermia victims is also interesting, almost as if it was something caused by being near something, something he escaped but not his other friend.

 

An avalanche is extremely unlikely, since the tents were intact, meaning an avalanche could not have been what scared the skiiers. Whatever it was, it frightened them too badly to grab even a coat in 54 degree below freezing weather, and did so without leaving a trace at the camp. An avalanche would also have caused lascerations and surface damage to the victims, thanks to the heavy weight and numerous ice shards. Nuclear testing is also unlikely, because the location made fallout unpredicatable and the site was far too intact.

 

Obviously, UFOs are a popular explanation. Another is some form of entity or ghost.

 

My natural guess is some kind of military testing, largely because of the scrap metal. What sort of weapon, I have no idea - a sonic weapon might be believable if they had all suffered from similar injuries, but the wounds were inconsistent enough to make that a stretch. (Plus there was no damage to the inner ears of the victims). UFOs are also unlikely, because it simply doesn't add up, if they have the technology and the ability to travel across space, they wouldn't have had a problem killing the skiiers. The inconsistant injuries also hurt this theory, as it makes some futuristic weapon just as unlikely for the aliens as it was for the Soviet government. And neither military testing or aliens explain what scared the skiiers, in either case they would probably have all been killed without waking, rather than leaving in a panic.

 

So what does Tip.it think?

[VEGHATERMEATLOVER]

I think someone killed them that was human.

I belive that this person was a pyschopath (have you read the stephen king novel number. 1 fan)

 

I don't know why most conceptions of aliens is that all they do is kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, suggestivly probe, kill, kill, kill

[Huta]

I think someone killed them that was human.

I belive that this person was a pyschopath (have you read the stephen king novel number. 1 fan)

 

I don't know why most conceptions of aliens is that all they do is kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, suggestivly probe, kill, kill, kill

 

if he can hit as hard as a car without making a single footprint, as well as scare away 7 healthy guys singlehandedly, I'd sure hate to meet him.

 

c. Dr Boris Vozrozh-denny, the medical examiner that worked on the bodies, said that he didn't believe the deaths were the result of human violence. The level of damage to the three killed victims was approximately the same as a car collision, yet there was absolutely no damage to the soft surface tissues of the chest and head.

[VEGHATERMEATLOVER]

Sledgehammer?

[Skull]

I've always been interested in these types of stories, but they are the kind of things that even if there is a definite conclusion as to what happened some day (ie. Russians admit to nuclear testing, etc) people will still continue to think that it's aliens or something of the sort. It's like secret military installations in the United States, even after we know what technologies we were testing at the time and they fit the descriptions of what was seen, the eyewitnesses are still going to claim alien.

 

 

I'm not positive what to think about this one, the skeletal trauma throws off the explanation of radiation as the sole cause, especially if there was no damage to the flesh.

[mlclm]

I'm glad my abundant cracked.com knowledge can come into play.

[hide]So there's six things that freak people out about this one:

 

1. The no-tongued woman

 

2. A mysterious orange tan on the dead bodies

 

3. The ripped tents

 

4. The hikers' lack of clothing

 

5. The crushing damage done to three of the hikers

 

6. The traces of radioactivity

 

The big fact that gets lost in the re-telling of this story is that the bodies weren't found until weeks later. It's not like somebody turned their back, then five minutes later all their friends were dead and half naked.

 

That makes the missing tongue a lot easier to explain. As disturbing as it may be, the first thing a scavenging animal is going to go for is probably the soft tissue of an open mouth, especially if it still smelled like the burrito the hiker just ate. Laying out in the sun surrounded by white snow for days also accounts for the weird tan.

 

The trauma and the destroyed tent points to an avalanche. Their state of undress can be explained by paradoxical undressing, a known behavior of hypothermia victims when their brains start to freeze and malfunction. In other words, it's the kind of behavior you'd expect from a group of injured avalanche victims wandering around in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.

 

What about the radioactivity? Or stranger details that turn up in some accounts, like orange lights in the sky? Well, there's the fact that none of that stuff turns up in the original documents from the incident, and appears to have been added later by people who just can't resist making things spookier than they are.

 

It's those later accounts that have stuck in the public memory, because so many of the original reports were destroyed (this was the Cold War-era Soviet Union, which treated casserole recipes as state secrets).

 

So none of the details on their own prove anything other than a tragic hiking accident. The conspiracy-loving public widely reject this, too busy lighting their torches and getting their pitchforks to go hunt down an, "unknown compelling force."

 

Otherwise known as "snow."[/hide]

[Huta]

Sledgehammer?

 

go back to the zombie thread.

[Skull]

Yeah, avalanche was one of the things I though would have probably caused it.

[Danqazmlp]

I think someone killed them that was human.

I belive that this person was a pyschopath (have you read the stephen king novel number. 1 fan)

 

I don't know why most conceptions of aliens is that all they do is kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, suggestivly probe, kill, kill, kill

 

That basically. Murderers can sometimes cover their tracks incredibly well, and especially in those times in wasn't uncommon for murders to go unsolved.

[VEGHATERMEATLOVER]

Bloody hell, I only half read anything but when I read cracked it made me feel like someone was actully talking to me :)

 

and bloody hell, It has to be either a cult or a real pyscopath.

[deathdrow]

Sledgehammer?

It says there were no surface wounds, a sledgehammer would cause a surface wound.

THINK. Before you post.

[Huta]

I'm glad my abundant cracked.com knowledge can come into play.

[hide]So there's six things that freak people out about this one:

 

1. The no-tongued woman

 

2. A mysterious orange tan on the dead bodies

 

3. The ripped tents

 

4. The hikers' lack of clothing

 

5. The crushing damage done to three of the hikers

 

6. The traces of radioactivity

 

The big fact that gets lost in the re-telling of this story is that the bodies weren't found until weeks later. It's not like somebody turned their back, then five minutes later all their friends were dead and half naked.

 

That makes the missing tongue a lot easier to explain. As disturbing as it may be, the first thing a scavenging animal is going to go for is probably the soft tissue of an open mouth, especially if it still smelled like the burrito the hiker just ate. Laying out in the sun surrounded by white snow for days also accounts for the weird tan.

 

The trauma and the destroyed tent points to an avalanche. Their state of undress can be explained by paradoxical undressing, a known behavior of hypothermia victims when their brains start to freeze and malfunction. In other words, it's the kind of behavior you'd expect from a group of injured avalanche victims wandering around in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.

 

What about the radioactivity? Or stranger details that turn up in some accounts, like orange lights in the sky? Well, there's the fact that none of that stuff turns up in the original documents from the incident, and appears to have been added later by people who just can't resist making things spookier than they are.

 

It's those later accounts that have stuck in the public memory, because so many of the original reports were destroyed (this was the Cold War-era Soviet Union, which treated casserole recipes as state secrets).

 

So none of the details on their own prove anything other than a tragic hiking accident. The conspiracy-loving public widely reject this, too busy lighting their torches and getting their pitchforks to go hunt down an, "unknown compelling force."

 

Otherwise known as "snow."[/hide]

 

I've heard that explanation, but it leaves out too many details.

 

First, the only part about the radioactivity that was added later was the radioactivity found at the site, and that was learned through the Soviet government's own files.

 

Second, radioactive clothing was referenced as it was first reported, before the rumor mill even had a chance to get started.

 

The trauma does't point to an avalanche, either. An avalanche is not a bunch of soft fluffy snow; it's ice shards, rocks, trees, dirt, and a whole bunch of nasty sharp stuff. There's no way they would have been caught in an avalanche without doing at least minor damage to their skin, but there was NOTHING.

 

And none of this explains what scared them out of the tent in the middle of the night, scared them so badly they didn't bother to grab a coat. Definitely wasn't an avalanche, because the campsite was intact.

 

Edit: Oh, and it's wrong.

 

The first 5 bodies were found almost immediately. The last 4 weren't found for almost 3 months, but because of the temperature they were almost completely preserved.

[mlclm]

I'm glad my abundant cracked.com knowledge can come into play.

[hide]So there's six things that freak people out about this one:

 

1. The no-tongued woman

 

2. A mysterious orange tan on the dead bodies

 

3. The ripped tents

 

4. The hikers' lack of clothing

 

5. The crushing damage done to three of the hikers

 

6. The traces of radioactivity

 

The big fact that gets lost in the re-telling of this story is that the bodies weren't found until weeks later. It's not like somebody turned their back, then five minutes later all their friends were dead and half naked.

 

That makes the missing tongue a lot easier to explain. As disturbing as it may be, the first thing a scavenging animal is going to go for is probably the soft tissue of an open mouth, especially if it still smelled like the burrito the hiker just ate. Laying out in the sun surrounded by white snow for days also accounts for the weird tan.

 

The trauma and the destroyed tent points to an avalanche. Their state of undress can be explained by paradoxical undressing, a known behavior of hypothermia victims when their brains start to freeze and malfunction. In other words, it's the kind of behavior you'd expect from a group of injured avalanche victims wandering around in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.

 

What about the radioactivity? Or stranger details that turn up in some accounts, like orange lights in the sky? Well, there's the fact that none of that stuff turns up in the original documents from the incident, and appears to have been added later by people who just can't resist making things spookier than they are.

 

It's those later accounts that have stuck in the public memory, because so many of the original reports were destroyed (this was the Cold War-era Soviet Union, which treated casserole recipes as state secrets).

 

So none of the details on their own prove anything other than a tragic hiking accident. The conspiracy-loving public widely reject this, too busy lighting their torches and getting their pitchforks to go hunt down an, "unknown compelling force."

 

Otherwise known as "snow."[/hide]

 

I've heard that explanation, but it leaves out too many details.

 

First, the only part about the radioactivity that was added later was the radioactivity found at the site, and that was learned through the Soviet government's own files.

 

Second, radioactive clothing was referenced at the very early on, as it was first reported.

 

The trauma does't point to an avalanche, either. An avalanche is not a bunch of soft fluffy snow; it's ice shards, rocks, trees, dirt, and a whole bunch of nasty sharp stuff. There's no way they would have been caught in an avalanche without doing at least minor damage to their skin, but there was NOTHING.

 

And none of this explains what scared them out of the tent in the middle of the night, scared them so badly they didn't bother to grab a coat. Definitely wasn't an avalanche, because the campsite was intact.

Their state of undress can be explained by paradoxical undressing, a known behavior of hypothermia victims when their brains start to freeze and malfunction. In other words, it's the kind of behavior you'd expect from a group of injured avalanche victims wandering around in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.

I'm not saying an avalanche is the absolute answer, but I have a hard time believing that aliens attacked them (then left with no trace) just for S&G's.

 

Edit: Yes, they were found as soon as they realized something was wrong. They were going on a trip and one friend left early. There would have been no need to worry if they weren't present in their normal lives until after the trip should have ended (18 days after their friend left).

[Huta]

I'm glad my abundant cracked.com knowledge can come into play.

[hide]So there's six things that freak people out about this one:

 

1. The no-tongued woman

 

2. A mysterious orange tan on the dead bodies

 

3. The ripped tents

 

4. The hikers' lack of clothing

 

5. The crushing damage done to three of the hikers

 

6. The traces of radioactivity

 

The big fact that gets lost in the re-telling of this story is that the bodies weren't found until weeks later. It's not like somebody turned their back, then five minutes later all their friends were dead and half naked.

 

That makes the missing tongue a lot easier to explain. As disturbing as it may be, the first thing a scavenging animal is going to go for is probably the soft tissue of an open mouth, especially if it still smelled like the burrito the hiker just ate. Laying out in the sun surrounded by white snow for days also accounts for the weird tan.

 

The trauma and the destroyed tent points to an avalanche. Their state of undress can be explained by paradoxical undressing, a known behavior of hypothermia victims when their brains start to freeze and malfunction. In other words, it's the kind of behavior you'd expect from a group of injured avalanche victims wandering around in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.

 

What about the radioactivity? Or stranger details that turn up in some accounts, like orange lights in the sky? Well, there's the fact that none of that stuff turns up in the original documents from the incident, and appears to have been added later by people who just can't resist making things spookier than they are.

 

It's those later accounts that have stuck in the public memory, because so many of the original reports were destroyed (this was the Cold War-era Soviet Union, which treated casserole recipes as state secrets).

 

So none of the details on their own prove anything other than a tragic hiking accident. The conspiracy-loving public widely reject this, too busy lighting their torches and getting their pitchforks to go hunt down an, "unknown compelling force."

 

Otherwise known as "snow."[/hide]

 

I've heard that explanation, but it leaves out too many details.

 

First, the only part about the radioactivity that was added later was the radioactivity found at the site, and that was learned through the Soviet government's own files.

 

Second, radioactive clothing was referenced at the very early on, as it was first reported.

 

The trauma does't point to an avalanche, either. An avalanche is not a bunch of soft fluffy snow; it's ice shards, rocks, trees, dirt, and a whole bunch of nasty sharp stuff. There's no way they would have been caught in an avalanche without doing at least minor damage to their skin, but there was NOTHING.

 

And none of this explains what scared them out of the tent in the middle of the night, scared them so badly they didn't bother to grab a coat. Definitely wasn't an avalanche, because the campsite was intact.

Their state of undress can be explained by paradoxical undressing, a known behavior of hypothermia victims when their brains start to freeze and malfunction. In other words, it's the kind of behavior you'd expect from a group of injured avalanche victims wandering around in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.

I'm not saying an avalanche is the absolute answer, but I have a hard time believing that aliens attacked them (then left with no trace) just for S&G's.

 

I don't think it was aliens either, as you can see by the last paragraph I wrote. (I don't even believe in aliens).

 

I really don't have an explanation.

[Seraphi]

Soviet supermonster?

 

Nah, in all honesty, I think what Cracked.com says on the topic is true.

[Dizzle229]

Possible that Ivan was doing other experiments involving radiation? Aside from atomic testing I mean.

[Me_Hate_Libs]

Russians are an extremely screwed up type of people. I say that as a Russian born there. We're messed up. It's likely the government.

[Dax]

Sounds like they were asking for it, knowing the names of the places. :P Otherwise, it'd have something to do with the Government and that letter... But I want some alien interference!

 

An interesting story. :-k

[stonewall337]

Many things couldn't be explained in the past, or even know. How does water witching work, for example? Just because there is currently no good answer doesn't make a supernatural occurrence a necessity. Just like the mystery on Roanoke island (sp), I doubt we will ever know,

[dave0293]

Obviously, the only logical explanation is that this incident is an example of extraterrestrial life.

[stevepole]

I'm glad my abundant cracked.com knowledge can come into play.

[hide]So there's six things that freak people out about this one:

 

1. The no-tongued woman

 

2. A mysterious orange tan on the dead bodies

 

3. The ripped tents

 

4. The hikers' lack of clothing

 

5. The crushing damage done to three of the hikers

 

6. The traces of radioactivity

 

The big fact that gets lost in the re-telling of this story is that the bodies weren't found until weeks later. It's not like somebody turned their back, then five minutes later all their friends were dead and half naked.

 

That makes the missing tongue a lot easier to explain. As disturbing as it may be, the first thing a scavenging animal is going to go for is probably the soft tissue of an open mouth, especially if it still smelled like the burrito the hiker just ate. Laying out in the sun surrounded by white snow for days also accounts for the weird tan.

 

The trauma and the destroyed tent points to an avalanche. Their state of undress can be explained by paradoxical undressing, a known behavior of hypothermia victims when their brains start to freeze and malfunction. In other words, it's the kind of behavior you'd expect from a group of injured avalanche victims wandering around in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.

 

What about the radioactivity? Or stranger details that turn up in some accounts, like orange lights in the sky? Well, there's the fact that none of that stuff turns up in the original documents from the incident, and appears to have been added later by people who just can't resist making things spookier than they are.

 

It's those later accounts that have stuck in the public memory, because so many of the original reports were destroyed (this was the Cold War-era Soviet Union, which treated casserole recipes as state secrets).

 

So none of the details on their own prove anything other than a tragic hiking accident. The conspiracy-loving public widely reject this, too busy lighting their torches and getting their pitchforks to go hunt down an, "unknown compelling force."

 

Otherwise known as "snow."[/hide]

 

This is basically what I concluded. I've heard of hypothermia victims stripping off their clothes before and was the first thing I concluded when I first read through this. The evidence that points to aliens or secret military operations is near none and it is honestly sad to know people conclude to those ridiculous accusations.

[Wizz]

The radioactivity? If they were indeed lacking clothes shouldn't the tan affected only the areas that are exposed. Also how can the skin produce Melanin if it's already dead? The tan must have happened when they were alive.

[jemathonical]

A fascinating read. Alien invasion seems rather out there but stil slightly possible. Who knows what's out there. But to be on the safe side of things it was probably an avalanche liked people above me said. I never knew that people rp off their clothes once their brains freeze so that was good to learn.