Mystery Machine.

1963

Noble
Well here is an interesting read about this mysterious case...What do you think?...

Strange Debris Found at Dyatlov Pass, Site of Mysterious Deaths

It’s one of history’s great unsolved and conspiracy-generating mysteries. In 1959, the frozen bodies of a nine-member ski-hiking expedition were found partially undressed near their Ural Mountain campsite in an area whose indigenous name means “Dead Mountain.” The official reason given for the skiers’ strange behavior (like slicing open their tent from the inside) was “natural force they were unable to overcome,” the investigation documents were classified and the public was banned from the area for three years, which irritated those who heard witnesses had seen fireballs that could have been Russian missile tests, energy orbs or alien spaceships. Now, nearly 60 years later, a possible piece of solid evidence may have been found … with its own discovery also shrouded in mystery and intrigue.

Dyatlov_Pass_incident_02-570x451.jpg

A view of the tent as the rescuers found it on Feb. 26, 1959. (public domain)


The latest piece in this mysterious Dyatlov pie begins in 2008 when a tourist claims to have found a large chunk of metal near the site. The 3-foot-by-3-foot (one square meter) piece was either too heavy or perhaps too frightening for this person to bring back in 2008, so it remained there until this year when URA.Ru reported that an expedition had returned to the remote location using GPS coordinates kept by the finder and retrieved it.

“It seems easy only the first 100 meters – in fact it is hard to carry and very uncomfortable. We even at that time hardly managed to deliver it, although we specially prepared it.”

Alexander Zarubin told URA.Ru reported on the expedition for URA.Ru (report here with numerous pictures of the chunk, the area and the team) and says that after the difficult retrieval, it was delivered to Yuri Kountsevich, head of the Dyatlov Foundation dedicated to maintaining the Dyatlov Museum and continuing the investigation of the unsolved mystery. Kountsevich’s initial analysis, along with others who have looked at it, is that the metal is part of a rocket fuel tank, possibly from an intercontinental ballistic UR-100.

Does this metal fragment help solve the mysterious 1959 deaths of the skiers on Dyatlov Pass? Well, it fits the theory that the Russian military was conducting tests (not a real surprise) and a secret missile crashed in the area and its secret cargo may have been responsible for the radiation detected on the bodies and their clothing. It might also lend credence to the theory that the skiers were involved with the tests, possibly working with the KGB – a theory based on reports that some of their diaries and film rolls (one of which may have had photos of the strange orange fireballs) were missing.

Why did these experienced hikers tear their tent from the inside and got barefoot in the snow, some dying of exposure, others from injuries including a broken skull, two broken ribs, and a missing tongue (you read that right). The chunks of metal sheds no light on this or the rumors of a Yeti attack, an avalanche or a rare weather condition known as Kármán vortex street that can generate very-low-frequency sound waves that could have caused psychological problems that drove the hikers mad, or at least to do odd non-hiker things.

_дятловцам_на_Михайловском_кладбище-570x428.jpg

Memorial to the hikers


No other pieces of metal were found. Could have been placed there deliberately to distract investigators who may be getting too close to the real reason behind the Dyatlov Pass mystery?

Or is it just a coincidental piece of the many rockets and missiles launched by the USSR and Russia?

Will we ever find out?

.

Hi Nivek, hope you are well old friend and sorry for the delayed response.
And yes, though I presently lean slightly toward the 'Fly Agaric explanation', I also give a great deal of credence to the 'Military Culprit explanation' as I said to Sheltie in post no 8 ...in which I speculated that by the fact that since 'lights in the sky' were reported and that due to the reports that mention 'out of place' metallic debris of some kind being found by the search party , combined with the more recent revelation that contrary to official declaration of there being no military exercisers or testing anywhere near the area...that indeed the Urals have always been used for these covert purposes,... that a spot of heavy-handed intimidatory scare tactics that got out of hand and ended in real tragedy might not be out of the question.
... and it would seem that it was a theory that was also shared with someone a lot closer to this case than I could ever be... Yuri Yudin, the only Dyatlov party member to survive the trip....

The sole survivor, Yuri Yudin, was born on July 19 1937, and after the Dyatlov Pass Incident rose to become an administrator in the Solikamsk Perm region of Russia. He always felt that the Soviet military had probably been responsible in some way.

In an interview last year he recalled that he had been asked to identify the owner of everything found at the scene, but had failed to find a match for a piece of cloth that seemed to be of military origin, or for a pair of glasses, a pair of skis and a piece of a ski, leading him to suspect that the military had found the tent before the volunteer rescuers.

Yudin recalled that the authorities had seemed more interested in why the hikers were in the area in the first place than in how they died. “If they were really killed by a natural force, then there would be no secret, and we would not be talking about this 53 years on,” he observed.
Yuri Yudin

So yeah!...good post and this in my opinion is not only one of the most thought provoking mysteries known with many possible answers , ... but the correct one will probably elude us until we get 'The Mystery Machine' going properly.

Cheers Buddy.
 

1963

Noble
Another cold case solved thanks to DNA and genealogy websites.California man arrested in 10 'horrific' cold-case rapes
A married 58-year-old man has been arrested in connection with at least 10 rapes across Northern California between 1991 and 2006 in what's known as the NorCal Rapist case, Sacramento police announced Friday.

Roy Charles Waller of Benicia was arrested without incident at the University of California in Berkeley, where he worked for 25 years as a safety specialist in the office of environment, health and safety.

District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said her office used DNA and genealogy websites to zero in on Waller.

His arrest comes five months after police used the same tactic to arrest 72-year-old former police officer Joseph DeAngelo in the Golden State Killer case, which is connected to at least a dozen rapes and killings throughout the state in the 1970s and 1980s.

"DNA is the silent witness to the truth," Schubert said at a news conference announcing Waller's arrest.

Waller is suspected of raping women in six Northern California counties, from Sacramento to Chico.

He's scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Sacramento Superior Court. It's unclear if he has an attorney.

Detective Avis Beery, who worked the case for 12 years, said she has been "waiting a really long time for this day to come."

"I never gave up hope," she said, adding that she called one of the victims of the NorCal Rapist on Friday morning to tell her the news.

"She was overcome and over the top with emotion and happiness to see that this person is in custody and that no one else has to worry about him anymore," Beery said. "The victims in this case can stop looking over their shoulders."

She described the NorCal Rapist's modus operandi, saying that he typically would break into houses late at night, often when women were asleep.

"He would overcome them, he would bind them, and then repeatedly sexually assault them," she said.

Sometimes he would kidnap the women and force them to withdrawal money from ATMs, and sometimes stole their personal items.

Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn called the crimes "horrific," saying the victims were terrorized for hours at a time.

"There's one less dangerous predator on our streets," he said.
pjimage-222.jpg

Hi Coubob, great couple of cases they are matey, specially the Zodiac Killer, the exposure of that psychopathic s.o.b has held a morbid fascination for me ever since I saw the Dirty Harry film when I was quite young, and learned that 'Scorpio' the character played [excellently] by Andrew Robinson was based on the real life Zodiak Killer. After which I read up as much as I could, fancifully trying to 'Columbo' some missed clues in the case. [stupid boy. lol]
... and after all these years, I came to the conclusion that the guy's identity would never be known! ... But as you point out the 'Golden State Killer' whom was of a similar rank , and seemingly a similar hopeless case was indeed exposed earlier this year [I watched the two part documentary a couple of months ago] ... and so well, you never know! ... Fingers crossed that the Zodiac Killer might finally be in-masked , though I think that bearing in mind the time scale... the freak will probably be already dead and still escape justice. But it may still catch others like DeAngelo.
There have been countless numbers of unsolved murders both solitary and serial, over mans recorded history , some of them compellingly fascinating and some just plain gruesome, the most famous of them all being imo the Jack the Ripper case [Whitechapel Murders] that I think that would unfortunately take a bit more than DNA and genealogy to solve, and in fact could only be solved by means of a time machine such as this thread's title 'The Mystery Machine' [I know, I know it's just for fun] so is there a unsolved murder that you would be more interested in paying a dollar [fee for the trip, with free bed, board and refreshments of course] to crack Coubob? ... if so, which is it mate?


Cheers Buddy.
 

coubob

Celestial
so is there a unsolved murder that you would be more interested in paying a dollar [fee for the trip, with free bed, board and refreshments of course] to crack Coubob?
not really, i watched the 2007 movie of zodiac and it got me hooked on solving it
 

1963

Noble
do i look like him?

Could be?... with a pair of similar specs and if you sport the same hairline under the hat, your main features [nose, mouth and what I can see about your ears ] are not so dissimilar .... Of course, the big stumbling block is that unless that is an old picture of you , and you are much older than I think you are [say... 26ish?] then perhaps we are looking for family similarities rather than a direct match? ie.. do you suspect grandpa coubob? lol. :Sneaky::)

Cheers Buddy.
 

coubob

Celestial
Could be?... with a pair of similar specs and if you sport the same hairline under the hat, your main features [nose, mouth and what I can see about your ears ] are not so dissimilar .... Of course, the big stumbling block is that unless that is an old picture of you , and you are much older than I think you are [say... 26ish?] then perhaps we are looking for family similarities rather than a direct match? ie.. do you suspect grandpa coubob? lol. :Sneaky::)

Cheers Buddy.
The pic of me is a couple of years old and i`m 51 years old, There is a family member i have suspected though, but it couldnt be him, he has passed anyhow.
 

1963

Noble
The pic of me is a couple of years old and i`m 51 years old, There is a family member i have suspected though, but it couldnt be him, he has passed anyhow.

Without sounding too sycophantic … i'm a bit jealous because you do look well for your age matey. :Thumbsup:
And would you care to elaborate on this 'family member' and why the suspicion ?

Cheers Buddy.
 

coubob

Celestial
Without sounding too sycophantic … i'm a bit jealous because you do look well for your age matey. :Thumbsup:
And would you care to elaborate on this 'family member' and why the suspicion ?

Cheers Buddy.
Thanks, I just wish i had some hair on top,being bald sucks, i was going to let grow out like Gallagher`s but my other half said no way.
And the family member is only due to the looks, kinda like me. Other than that as far as i know there is no ties to cali or heard of them ever going there. His parents were from around Shreveport,Louisiana and were into dirt track mods.
aa755dcc-7e23-4b22-b12f-e788cc888bd7-original.jpg
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Hi Nivek, hope you are well old friend and sorry for the delayed response.
And yes, though I presently lean slightly toward the 'Fly Agaric explanation', I also give a great deal of credence to the 'Military Culprit explanation' as I said to Sheltie in post no 8 ...in which I speculated that by the fact that since 'lights in the sky' were reported and that due to the reports that mention 'out of place' metallic debris of some kind being found by the search party , combined with the more recent revelation that contrary to official declaration of there being no military exercisers or testing anywhere near the area...that indeed the Urals have always been used for these covert purposes,... that a spot of heavy-handed intimidatory scare tactics that got out of hand and ended in real tragedy might not be out of the question.
... and it would seem that it was a theory that was also shared with someone a lot closer to this case than I could ever be... Yuri Yudin, the only Dyatlov party member to survive the trip....



So yeah!...good post and this in my opinion is not only one of the most thought provoking mysteries known with many possible answers , ... but the correct one will probably elude us until we get 'The Mystery Machine' going properly.

Cheers Buddy.

Here's another theory seems to recently emerge about the Dyatlov Pass incident, crazed deer?...What do you think?...

Another Theory on the Dyatlov Pass Incident — This One Involves Crazed Deer

The mysterious deaths of nine skier/hikers in the northern Ural Mountains of the former Soviet Union which have come to be known as the Dyatlov Pass Incident have been investigated, debated, covered up, exposed, re-investigated and blamed on everything from an avalanche to Yeti to military tests to aliens to forest spirits to anything and everything in-between. What is generally accepted is that the primary cause of their death was hypothermia … but why did they run out into the cold? A new video connects dots from other theories and comes up with a new one involving crazed deer.
Morning February 1, 1959, about 10 hours. After the construction of the warehouse, a group of Igor Dyatlov came out along the road to the valley of the r. Lozva to walk along the river (according to the route developed by yourself) to the foot of Mount Otorten. Having reached the lowlands of the river, the group was forced to drastically change the route due to unknown circumstances (presumably due to the fact that it was impossible to pass the stretch of track in the lowlands).

As you may have figured out, that’s a Google translation of the Russian introduction to the video uploaded to YouTube by Pohvistnevo-Inform. (Watch the video below.) It combines real photos from Igor Dyatlov’s team with a narration to build its case for what the makers of the video believe happened after the hikers became trapped on Mount Holatchakhl.




dyatlov_pass_memorial.jpg

Someone on duty saw a rocket in the sky and took a picture, which many received the lighted part of the frame.
The first dots connected are a photo of a bright light in the sky which is linked to an actual launch of a military R-5M rocket at the same time on the same date. According to a document identified as the RVSN Handbook “on which the chronological index of rocket launches for the period 1947-1959 is published,” that particular launch “ended in an accident.” However, the consequences were far worse for the hikers on the mountain, one of whom photographed what may have been the flash.
Not far from the tent at that time, according to the testimony of witnesses, Anyamov deer grazed. Frightened deer rushed in the direction of Mount Holatchahl. When a herd of deer runs into a snowstorm with a visibility of 1-2 meters, they stumble upon a tent of tourists, who receive fatal injuries when a three hundred pound carcass of a deer falls.
There you have it. The flash of an aborted military rocket launch spooked a nearby herd of deer, causing them to severely panic (one headline used the word ‘rabid’ but it appears they meant ‘crazed’) and run in the darkness directly into the tents containing the hikers — who sustained some of the serious and puzzling injuries later found on the corpses — who then panicked themselves and cut their way out of the tents, walking and stumbling confused and wounded into the frigid darkness.

Dyatlov_Pass_incident_02-570x451.jpg


Plausible? Yes. Have these dots ever been connected in this way and that theory been presented before? That’s possible. Has anyone ever produced a video proposing it? No, which is why we’re talking about it now. While that scenario could explain the start of their end, what happened next to the hikers?
What happened next and how the tourists died (as a result of frostbite) is described in detail in the materials of the criminal case.
That’s not exactly true. While it’s been generally accepted that there was no crime associated with the deaths, there’s still no general agreement on the causes for the many strange circumstances found at the site over time and through various investigations.

It’s an interesting video and theory. It’s still a few dots shy of a proof.

.
 

1963

Noble
Here's another theory seems to recently emerge about the Dyatlov Pass incident, crazed deer?...What do you think?...

Another Theory on the Dyatlov Pass Incident — This One Involves Crazed Deer

The mysterious deaths of nine skier/hikers in the northern Ural Mountains of the former Soviet Union which have come to be known as the Dyatlov Pass Incident have been investigated, debated, covered up, exposed, re-investigated and blamed on everything from an avalanche to Yeti to military tests to aliens to forest spirits to anything and everything in-between. What is generally accepted is that the primary cause of their death was hypothermia … but why did they run out into the cold? A new video connects dots from other theories and comes up with a new one involving crazed deer.

As you may have figured out, that’s a Google translation of the Russian introduction to the video uploaded to YouTube by Pohvistnevo-Inform. (Watch the video below.) It combines real photos from Igor Dyatlov’s team with a narration to build its case for what the makers of the video believe happened after the hikers became trapped on Mount Holatchakhl.




dyatlov_pass_memorial.jpg


The first dots connected are a photo of a bright light in the sky which is linked to an actual launch of a military R-5M rocket at the same time on the same date. According to a document identified as the RVSN Handbook “on which the chronological index of rocket launches for the period 1947-1959 is published,” that particular launch “ended in an accident.” However, the consequences were far worse for the hikers on the mountain, one of whom photographed what may have been the flash.

There you have it. The flash of an aborted military rocket launch spooked a nearby herd of deer, causing them to severely panic (one headline used the word ‘rabid’ but it appears they meant ‘crazed’) and run in the darkness directly into the tents containing the hikers — who sustained some of the serious and puzzling injuries later found on the corpses — who then panicked themselves and cut their way out of the tents, walking and stumbling confused and wounded into the frigid darkness.

Dyatlov_Pass_incident_02-570x451.jpg


Plausible? Yes. Have these dots ever been connected in this way and that theory been presented before? That’s possible. Has anyone ever produced a video proposing it? No, which is why we’re talking about it now. While that scenario could explain the start of their end, what happened next to the hikers?

That’s not exactly true. While it’s been generally accepted that there was no crime associated with the deaths, there’s still no general agreement on the causes for the many strange circumstances found at the site over time and through various investigations.

It’s an interesting video and theory. It’s still a few dots shy of a proof.




.



Hi Nivek, hope you're well my friend. :Thumbsup: … Well it's a good find matey, and the first time I've ever heard this theory.
But as the closing line to the article states "It’s an interesting video and theory. It’s still a few dots shy of a proof." ….
A couple of things initially jump to mind about this claim though,... such as it states that "testimony of the witnesses to this military rocket launch states that it spooked a nearby herd of Anyamov deer into running toward the victims tent" .. and unless i'm wrong about this, the military and governmental authorities have always stood fast in their denial of there being the slightest chance of there being any involvement in the mysterious deaths as there have never been any tests in that particular vicinity ever, let alone on that fateful night. I can't recall offhand the prime investigators name or the exact details, but I remember that he was actually summoned to Moscow to give an account of the progress and was then assured by well connected friends that there was no military exercisers in the area.
But then of course, … would you expect the powers that be in Moscow to either own up to the creation of a catastrophe like this, or even break their stringent secrecy protocols of the 1950's cold war period. [or even now for that matter.] and there is always the documented testimony of one or two of the search party's having said that they came across certain metallic artefacts that were out of place and was theorised by some to have been more akin to possible military debris, and then there's always the "UFO's" that were reported by the other trekking party some way away. And so by that combination of whodunnit style logic, there are many that are convinced that there was a governmental cover-up of the militaries involvement in the tragedy [as if any government would ever be so underhand with the facts! :p ]… but unless there have been some fascinating belated admissions from the Kremlin that I have missed, then the military theory has to just remain 'one possibility among others' to my mind matey. And strong one as it may be... without disclosure of their actual activities in that region at that particular time, it remains just one of the many theories.
The deer trample hypotheses is one that I've never come across, nor even thought of. But yes, I could envisage that it could be absolutely devastating and easily could account for the panic and devastation that occurred that night. A good initial shout that didn't cross my mind [or more importantly the minds of the actual on-site investigative teams] indeed. But even saying that is at odds with the known facts of the case. Because the rather large spanner in the works of this theory, is the well documented fact that the large teams of 'ground-zero searchers' actually removed large swathes of snow and ice in order to trace the victims foot prints to know their last movements..... and there were as far as I know [and i've read a lot about this case] no mention of 'Deer-prints'!
And so in summary of my initial thoughts about this is that it is just another faulty revisionist assertion that the 'facts' point toward their own particular leaning without marrying up 'the real known facts' with their assertions.
So good thought as I said earlier, but without a statement from the Rusky-officialdom about secret tests in the area, and someone actually supplying proof about the [so far] missing "Rabid Deer Tracks" then i'll just have to say that the Dyatlov Mystery is still.... a mystery to me. And i'll stick to my personal ruminations of it being a case of either a surprise military presence and attempted scaring exercise that got out of hand [with no deer participation] … or the fly agaric mushroom experiment that I proposed before.

ps... Good video with article. Couldn't understand a word of what they were saying, but the pictures were top quality and brought back that old familiar atmosphere of wonderment and foreboding though and reminded me that this case is surely among the very best mysteries of this world, that will sadly likely never be solved … no matter how many times we visit the known facts. :(


Cheers Buddy.
 
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Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow
Diatlov pass incident is extremely simple. They had cheap self made stove, from which a chimney pipe went along the full length of the tent. Because the stove was self made, it had problems with burning and if wood was not fed constantly it would start releasing smoke. So, during the nigh, in the middle of raging blizzard, the guy whose job was to feed the stove with wood, fell asleep. Quickly, whole tent filled with smoke. People started waking up because they can't breathe, only to see that they are surrounded with smoke. So they started cutting the tent, to avoid suffocating. All the motion and tent cutting collapsed the tent (in the middle of the blizzard), possibly collapsing even the very hot chimney pipe. Those who jumped out of the tent to slits in a tent wall found themselves barefoot and in their pajamas in a middle of night and middle of blizzard.

They tried walking toward the nearby village, but they didn't stand a chance. That is the simplest and most likely explanation.
 

1963

Noble
Hi guys, just wanted to post this link to a BBC podcast in which Lucy Ash [senior broadcast journalist BBC · 1994 - Present] travels to the scene of the Dyatlov mystery up in the Urals and speaks with Yuri Dyatlov's sister , a surviving search member and some Mansi members in an attempt to gain a better understanding of "what actually happened back there 60 years ago".
There's no definite answers but I found it a thoroughly worth-while 50 minute documentary that sought to neither sensationalise nor trivialise the real mystery that has fascinated so many for years.

The Documentary Podcast - The Dyatlov Pass mystery - BBC Sounds

Cheers.
 

Sheltie

Fratty and out of touch.
There is a new show, The UnXplained, host by William Shatner, that looked into the Dyatlov Pass Incident. Unfortunately, it was only a brief, periphery view of the occurrence and it seemed to favor the idea of the hikers being driven mad by strange natural noises unique to the area. It's an enjoyable show but it doesn't go into the kind of detail paranormal nerds like us would be looking for.

The UnXplained Full Episodes, Video & More | HISTORY
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Oops! forgot to post this. No doubt the above post will make more sense with it! :oops:

Buryatia Dyatlov Pass

Cheers.

Well here's another Dyatlov Pass theory, it's a doozy lol...


Russia Doctor Suggests Yeti Could Have Killed the Dyatlov Pass Hikers

One of the more fantastic theories for what may have caused the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident is getting another look thanks to a Russian doctor who says that a Yeti could have caused the tragic event. Over the last 60 years, historians and armchair researchers have offered no shortage of possible explanations for what could have killed nine hikers in the Ural mountains back in 1959. Although ideas such as an avalanche or a weapons test gone awry are usually treated as plausible, the proverbial 'snowman hypothesis' has been largely dismissed as merely an example of just how outlandish the speculation can sometimes get.

However, a fascinating new investigation by a Russian media outlet explores the often derided idea that a Siberian Sasquatch could have somehow led to the hiking party's mysterious demise. The surprisingly lengthy piece was inspired by the musings of what the outlet calls an "eminent doctor" who postulated that the rib injuries sustained by two of the dead hikers were the result of a large creature squeezing their chest in a manner similar to an adult inadvertently hurting a child by embracing them with too much force. Alas, in an entirely understandable stance, the allegedly renowned doctor opted not to reveal his name for fear of being ridiculed.

Nonetheless, the bold assertion that Bigfoot might be to blame for the Dyatlov Incident apparently led reporters to look into such a scenario and, in turn, they uncovered several fascinating witness accounts of a Sasquatch-like creature known as a 'kompolen' lurking in the region. One such account came from a local historian who recalled camping in the Ural Mountains and discovering massive barefoot prints outside of his tent in the morning as well as a tall tree nearby that inexplicably twisted into a spiral. Others recalled actually spotting the creatures and described them as one might expect: tall, bipedal, and hairy.

Intriguingly quite a few residents from the region who were willing to share their knowledge of the kompolen ascribed a number of almost supernatural abilities to the creatures. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to North American tales of Bigfoot, one individual noted that mysterious cryptid is close, "the person experiences a hypnotic suggestion, which causes fear or even panic." Another witness described seeing the beast vanish before their eyes "as if they had evaporated in the air." Chillingly, several people blamed the creature for mysterious disappearances in the area and one even went so far as to share a classic 'changeling' story in which a human baby was seemingly switched with that of a kompolen.

Although it still seems highly unlikely that the Dyatlov Pass incident could have been caused by a Yeti encounter, the kompolen accounts of the people in the region are rather fascinating, since a good number of the tales are almost certainly being shared with the world for the first time ever. And so we probably owe some gratitude to the mysterious doctor who dared to 'go there' and, in turn, helped to unearth a slew of sensational and heretofore unheard stories of the mysterious Sasquatch-like creature said to lurk in the mountains of Siberia.

.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
A recent update to the Dyatlov Pass investigation, I haven't read it all yet, but its interesting...

Here are the findings:

Results of the Investigation into Dyatlov Pass Incident

...

Findings from New Investigation into Dyatlov Pass Incident Announced

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Russian officials have announced that their reopened investigation into the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident determined that an avalanche and subsequent hypothermia were to blame for the tragic event, but not everyone's convinced of the findings. The decision to take a fresh look at the curious case sparked headlines and excitement back in February of 2019 when it was announced in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the eerie 1959 episode in which nine hikers in the Ural Mountains died under mysterious circumstances. Now, nearly 18 months later, the results of what was promised to be a rigorous study have been released to the public.

While many had hoped that the new investigation would examine some of the more exotic suggestions for what caused the incident, such as a Yeti attack or a weapons test gone wrong, it was made clear very early on the process that only prosaic explanations would be explored. This was revealed at the start of the study when lead investigator Andrei Kuryakov told reporters that "all fantastic theories have been dropped" and that "it is absolutely out of question" that the event had any connection to a clandestine government operation.

Therefore, it was not altogether surprising when Kuryakov held a press conference this past weekend in Russia and indicated that the months-long investigation into the case had concluded that the hikers perished due to an unfortunate series of natural events. Detailing what he believed to be the group's fateful final hours, he explained that the injuries sustained by the young men and women were akin to those suffered by "rock climbers caught in an avalanche." More specifically, Kuryakov said, when the hikers realized that their camp was about to be overwhelmed by snow, they fled the area to seek a safer shelter approximately a mile and a half away.

Alas, this only compounded the predicament as the ill-equipped group lost sight of their tent due to poor visibility and ultimately succumbed to hypothermia over the course of the evening as they were battered by a blizzard as well as unsuccessful and sometimes injurious attempts to return to the camp under those perilous conditions. No doubt trying to close the book on the Dyatlov Pass incident once and for all, Kuryakov declared that the avalanche theory "has found its full confirmation" via the new investigation. "It was a heroic struggle. There was no panic," he mused, "but they had no chance to save themselves under the circumstances."

As one might imagine, the results of the investigation have already been called into question by longtime Dyatlov Pass researchers as it fails to answer a number of questions surrounding the case. Additionally, the decision to only look at natural events from the outset has raised suspicions that the new study is really a cover-up of the clandestine weapons test theory. To that end, a group of independent researchers who have been looking into the case for the last twenty years expressed dismay at the findings and called for yet another official investigation into the case. Considering that the Russian government has portrayed their conclusions as rather definitive, it's doubtful that the case will be officially re-opened any time soon or ever again, despite the misgivings of critics.


.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
New twist in Soviet mountain 'alien' mystery as families of nine dead hikers REJECT official explanation that they froze to death in grisly 1959 incident and claim they died in rocket accident

Families of the nine cross-country skiers who died in a mysterious mountain tragedy in Russia in 1959 have rejected the official explanation that they froze to death - claiming that a Soviet rocket was involved. The grisly Dyatlov Pass incident has sparked decades' worth of rumours about aliens, yetis and links to the KGB, after the bodies were found in the Ural Mountains with unexplained injuries including skull fractures and broken ribs.

Russia claimed on Saturday to have put the matter to bed after a new investigation found that the hikers had frozen to death following an avalanche which forced them from their tents in -45C conditions. But a lawyer for the victims' relatives says they 'strongly disagree' with the official version and claims there is 'evidence that this was a man-made disaster'.

Lawyer Yevgeny Chernousov suggested the hikers might have died after 'an explosion in near space, an accidental crash of a rocket, or the fall of the booster stage' of a rocket.

The group were 'covered by a poisonous cloud, a mixture of gases of rocket fuel, components and combustion products', he proposed. 'They were poisoned. It was impossible to breathe, so they panicked, half-blind, and fled down away from the focus of the incident. He claimed: 'With no force left, while dying, the three surviving men tried to get back to the tent, where warm clothes, food and medicines remained. 'But they froze…in dynamic poses, gripped by total rigor mortis. 'We believe that they all died within six hours, and this happened at night. This is our version.'

Chernousov said the relatives 'will never agree with these conclusions', adding that they were ready to exhume the victims# bodies to establish the cause. 'This is only the beginning of the struggle,' he said. 'We will not back down. Believe me, if we did not have evidence, we would not behave like this.'

Oleg Arkhipov, an expert on the February 1959 incident, described the avalanche theory as 'extremely unsatisfactory'. Fragments of the internal organs of those who died - kept by the Soviet authorities - had been hidden, he said. If an avalanche had caused the massacre - which was not what Soviet investigators believed - the KGB would not have taken organ samples, he said.

Eduard Tumanov, a leading forensic expert, told Komsomolskaya Pravda that 'thermal burns' on several bodies were not likely to be caused by an avalanche. 'Or that indented fractures of the skull bones would form an even snow cover.'

Despite the objections, senior state prosecutor Andrei Kuryakov said his version of an avalanche was the end of the controversy. 'Officially, this is final. The issue is closed,' he said. Kuryakov said at the weekend that the men had died in 'a heroic struggle', adding: 'There was no panic. But they had no chance to save themselves under the circumstances.'

'The version about the avalanche has found its full confirmation, but it was not the only cause of their death,' Kuryakov said, according to RIA news agency. The group had cut their way out of their tent and left it to hide at a ridge 50 yards away, investigators claimed. 'When they turned back, they did not see the tents. The visibility was 16 metres (17 yards),' Kuryakov said. The group tried to climb down but froze to death in temperatures as low as -49C (-45F), according to the official account.

The Ural Polytechnic students, seven men and two women, had made camp for the night at the foot of Kholat Syakhl, the Dead Mountain. Their tent had been mysteriously slashed from the inside, their camp was deserted and they had left their clothes and belongings behind. The empty tent baffled investigators, as it still contained items of clothing and pairs of shoes - implying that some of the students had ventured out into the wilderness barefoot and without coats. Days after investigators found the tent the first two bodies were discovered.

Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Krivonischenko were found lying in the snow on flat land near a river, a mile from the tent, next to the remains of a long burnt-out fire. Around 350 yards away lay the corpse of Dyatlov, the engineering student who had put the expedition together and was its leader. His name would later be given to the area where the tragedy took place, as well as the incident itself.

Nearby, a search dog sniffed out the remains of Zina Kolmogorova, 22, under four inches of snow, and then that of Rustem Slobodin. The bodies were in a line 200 yards apart, as if they had been trying to crawl behind each other back up to the shelter of the tent, but never made it. The final bodies were not found until the snow melted two months later in a ravine, with fractured skulls and chest injuries. The tongue and eyes of Lyudmila Dubinina, 21, and Semen Zolotarev, 38, were missing. They were discovered under 15ft of snow in a den they had desperately hollowed out for themselves before succumbing to the cold.


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