Mystery Machine.

nivek

As Above So Below
Here's an interesting mystery, who were these people and what really happened to them?...

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Mystery at 'Skeleton Lake' continues to puzzle and enthrall

Decades ago the skeletal remains of hundreds of people were found at a glacial lake in the Indian Himalayas. But advancements in science have brought more questions than answers.

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Frozen Roopkund Lake at sunrise.

Tucked far up in the freezing, snow-covered mountain ranges of the Himalayas at the dizzying height of more than 15,700 feet above sea level is Roopkund Lake, a small body of water.

At roughly 130 feet (40 meters) in diameter, the lake is less than the width of a football field. But the little lake has a big reputation. It's where the mystery of the dead is still very much alive.

The body of water, commonly known as "Skeleton Lake," is the final resting place for what scientists estimate to be 500 to 800 sets of human remains. It's a mysterious lake where hundreds of people met death and the icy Himalayas continued to preserve their remains.

“If you read about it or try to imagine it, I think that’s when it feels very spooky," journalist Neelima Vallangi told AccuWeather from her home in Kathmandu, Nepal. "That 500 to 800 skeletons are lying abandoned in the mountains deep in the Himalayas. It feeds your imagination."

In 1942, an Indian forest official discovered the skeletal remains scattered in and around the lake. He reported the strange discovery, but it wasn't made public until the late 1950s. As National Geographic reported, "In the 1950s, one explorer described the site to an Indian radio station as a 'ghastly scene that made us catch our breath.'"

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A map showing the ocation of Roopkund Lake



It was initially believed that the skeletons were Japanese soldiers or Tibetan traders who died due to an epidemic or from exposure to the unforgiving elements.

However, forensic analysis in 2004 revealed unhealed injuries on several skulls that led scientists to conclude that a group of Indian pilgrims, both men and women, assisted by local porters from the region, were struck by giant hail at Roopkund in a single event in the 9th century.

As Neelima Vallangi wrote for the BBC, "They were believed to have been on a revered, once-in-a-12-year Hindu pilgrimage called Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra, an ancient tradition that continues to this day. Roopkund is on the way to Homkund, the final destination of this arduous foot journey."

The theory was plausible at the time. The group comprised both men and women of various ages, which ruled out the possibility that the remains belonged to soldiers.

But from a meteorological perspective, "killer hail" is an unlikely culprit due to the high altitude of Roopkund Lake, AccuWeather Senior International Meteorologist Jim Andrews said.

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Skeletal remains scattered at Roopkund Lake.


"At such a high elevation, there seems not to be enough heat or moisture -- both are related through thermodynamics -- to breed "killer" hail," Andrews, who closely observes meteorological conditions in this part of the world, explained.

Andrews didn't completely rule out the possibility given that this is an event that took place more than 1,000 years ago, but generally, the conditions at a location as far above sea level as Roopkund Lake would "limit repeated freeze-thaw, wet-freeze cycles" necessary to produce large hail. He said the conditions there would favor "small and/or soft hail over seriously large, icy hail."

Veena Mushrif-Tripathy, professor of archaeology at Deccan College in Pune, was part of the 2004 investigation. She said no weapons or signs of combat were found at the site, but they did find musical instruments, which is consistent with old folk stories of pilgrims traveling on the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra. The victims were also healthy when they died, which rules out a mass epidemic.

Vallangi completed the trek that leads past Roopkund Lake in September 2009. She told AccuWeather that, at the time, she was excited about hiking so high in the Himalayas.

“You have to be reasonably fit to be able to walk for five to 10 days and the temperature obviously changes, fluctuates from 20 degrees (C) in the plains or lower hills to zero or sub-zero once you reach 4,000, 5,000 meters," she said, referring to a temperature range from about 68 degrees to below freezing. "This lake is at 4,800 meters.”

Vallangi was with a large group when she first set eyes on Skeleton Lake. She said that, before the group arrived, her guide had told them the most popular story behind the human remains: Pilgrims were caught in a huge hailstorm and perished.

This was what those in Neelima Vallangi's group believed they were seeing when they stopped at Skeleton Lake one frigid morning in 2010.

“It was very freezing and it was very cold but once the sun is up it’s like a nice ski day," she said. "It's just that early in the morning when you're walking in the dark that's when it's really cold and miserable."

The group was on the way to Junargali, a jagged ridge with a panoramic view of the high Himalayas that sits far above the lake. “We saw some skulls and the leg bones and big arm bones and all these things just piled up,” she told AccuWeather.

“It’s not like you just walk in and there are just skeletons all over. Some of them are in the lake, apparently, and some of them are probably buried in the slopes in the snow, so sometimes when the snow is completely melted you could see them," Vallangi continued. "But when we went, the whole region was completely covered in snow so we couldn’t see any other skeletons scattered around apart from the pile."

A year after Vallangi's trek, the first ancient human genome was sequenced, revolutionizing research into the past. The cold case of Roopkund Lake was heating up. Bone samples from 38 skeletal remains were sent to labs around the world for full genomic analysis. The results of the five-year-long study, published in 2019, were stunning.

The new study revealed that the 38 skeletons belonged to three genetically distinct groups and were deposited at the lake during multiple events over a 1,000-year period.

The new results show that there were 23 people with South Asian ancestry at Roopkund, but they died during one or several events between the 7th and 10th centuries A.D.

Incredibly, the study revealed, another group of 14 victims died there a thousand years later—most likely during a single event in the 19th century. Furthermore, this group had a genetic ancestry tied to the Mediterranean, specifically Greece and Crete. (There was one sample that had South-East Asian origin, also from the 19th century.)

“Now we see people died in multiple events between the seventh and tenth century and someone else died in the 18th or 19th century so now we don’t know exactly what happened at all,” Vallangi told AccuWeather.

The discovery of Mediterranean migrants in India is particularly surprising. There is no historical evidence or explanation for who these people were and what they were doing deep in the Himalayas.

The year “1800 is not that long ago. People would remember if something unusual happened." Vallangi said. "I think it would have been passed down in oral history or it must be there in the collective memory of locals because it’s a pretty remote place. So if a foreign-looking group came there and they all perished in the mountains, it seems highly unlikely that nobody would know or remember such a bizarre incident.”

Interestingly, advancements in science have raised more questions than answers. The mystery of what happened at Skeleton Lake doesn't appear any closer to being solved.

“Now that I’ve read all the studies it’s like I’ve put together all of it in my mind and I feel like, 'Wow, this is a crazy mystery!” Vallangi said.

It's a difficult archaeological site due to its remoteness, the extreme weather, and the fact that, over the years, the skeletons have been moved around by trekkers and even taken home as souvenirs. In fact, the trek became so popular the environment began to degrade and the trek past Roopkund Lake is now banned.

More than a decade after that frigid morning when she first stood at the edge of Skeleton Lake, the story continues to grip Vallangi's imagination. But with such little evidence, she wonders whether the world will ever know the truth about what happened there.

“Who are these people? What happened there? Why are they all going there to die in that one lake?" she still wonders. "Yeah, I think it’s a very interesting story ... I don’t know how this will ever be solved.”

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nivek

As Above So Below
Expeditions to Dyatlov Pass Produce Intriguing New Avalanche Evidence

Recent expeditions to the site of the Dyatlov Pass incident have produced compelling new evidence which seemingly strengthens the case that the infamous event was the result of an avalanche. Researchers Johan Gaum and Alexander Puzrin made worldwide headlines last year when they used scientific models to show how a slab avalanche had likely been the initial event which caused the legendary unsolved mystery wherein nine hikers perished under inexplicable circumstances in Russia's Ural Mountains back in 1959. In a fascinating follow up to that work, the pair have published a new paper which details how they journeyed to Dyatlov Pass three times over the past year and found signs which suggest that their explanation for the case has considerable merit.

In the enlightening update, they explain that the response to their work was "overwhelming" and largely favorable from media outlets outside of Russia. However, they observed, there remained many skeptics in the country where the incident occurred with most noteworthy argument against their conclusion being that the Dyatlov Pass location was "not susceptible to avalanche hazard." Conceding that "this was worrying," Gaum and Puzrin set out to dispel that notion and actually enlisted guides to go to the spot where the incident took place in order to study the conditions of the area. While their first two trips to the site provided some tantalizing observations, their third expedition would up producing some truly compelling and solid evidence for their theory.

Appropriately conducted "on the 28th of January 2022, exactly 63 years after the Dyatlov group was seen alive for the last time," the researchers and their guides recreated the hikers' fateful journey. En route to the location, they noted, "initially favorable weather conditions quickly deteriorated, with wind and temperatures becoming similar to those on the night of the 1959 tragedy." Following a spell of "extremely poor" visibility, conditions improved and the team observed "traces of two snow slab avalanches" that had occurred less than a mile from where the hikers had camped that night so long ago.

While the team was able to document this evidence, they stressed that it quickly vanished due to the weather conditions with one such avalanche indicator "practically invisible after less than an hour" due to snowfall in the area. "No wonder then that the Dyatlov rescue team could not find signs of an avalanche three weeks after the incident," the researchers marveled. Based on their observations during the expeditions, the duo expressed confidence that they have upended the argument that the location is not prone to avalanches, specifically of the kind that they believe set the tragic events of that evening in motion.

In closing out their paper, the researchers also shared a rather interesting perspective on the addictive nature of investigating the peculiar event. Reflecting on how, when they first published their findings back in 2021, "we were asked whether our article brings to an end our work" and that, at the time, they suspected this to be the case because "we did not want to spend the rest of our lives trying to solve the Dyatlov Pass mystery." However, suggesting that the story has taken hold of them in a manner they never quite expected, the duo mused that "one year later, we are no longer so sure. If someone asks, we will refrain from an answer."


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nivek

As Above So Below
Another mystery solved?...

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Solved - Gulf War syndrome mystery: US Government-funded scientists blame SARIN released into air when Iraq's chemical weapons cache was bombed

The bombing of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapon arsenal could be to blame for tens of thousands of British and US soldiers being struck down with the mysterious Gulf War syndrome, scientists say. Puzzled researchers have spent decades searching for the root cause of the illness, which has left veterans battling fatigue, memory problems and chronic pain.

Now, a US Government-funded study claims to offer the 'most definitive' proof that the destruction of Iraq's cache of chemical weapons is responsible. January 1991's explosions, centered around cities Muthanna and Fallujah, released sarin — a lethal nerve-agent — into the air.

The man-made gas — used in the Tokyo subway terror attack — usually kills but the doses inhaled by Western armed forces was diluted.

Dr Robert Haley, who has been investigating the syndrome for nearly three decades, said the quantities were still enough to make people ill, however. He said: 'There are still more than 100,000 Gulf War veterans who are not getting help for this illness.

'Our hope is that these findings will accelerate the search for better treatment.'


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Around 33,000 soldiers in the UK and 250,000 in the US, have complained of a collection of unexplained and chronic symptoms, which also include fever, night sweats and memory and concentration problems.

Hundreds of thousands of US troops, along with soldiers from a coalition of 35 countries entered were sent to Kuwait in August 1990 after the country annexed by Iraq.

Western nations feared Iraqi president Saddam Hussein would march his troops further south and take control of Saudi Arabia and its oil supplies. The allied nations began air strikes in January 1991 after Iraq missed a United Nations deadline to withdraw from Kuwait.

But Iraqi troops eventually withdrew from one month later following air attacks on military and other targets in Iraq and Kuwait. Soldiers reported suffering from the array of symptoms on returning from the conflict and cases had been logged in the UK, Denmark, Canada and Australia in the years after the war.

Original theories over the cause of the illness centred around debris from depleted uranium munitions, but evidence has since built up to suggest sarin is to blame.

Dr Haley and colleagues examined 1,016 American soldiers who served during the conflict. Half the participants had Gulf War syndrome symptoms — which can also include difficulty finding words, diarrhoea and sexual dysfunction. The others did not.

They had blood and DNA samples taken and were quizzed about whether they had heard chemical nerve gas alarms during their deployment. Soldiers' samples were tested for a gene called PON1, which break down chemicals in the body.

One variant — called PON1Q — generates an enzyme that breaks down sarin. Another variant — called PON1R — helps the body break down other chemicals but is not efficient at destroying sarin. Everyone carries two copies of PON1, giving them either a QQ, RR or QR genotype.

The findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, show Gulf War veterans with the QQ genotype who heard nerve agent alarms – a proxy for chemical exposure – were 3.75-times more likely to have the syndrome than those who had not heard the alarm.

For those who had a QR genotype, hearing the alarms raised their chance of having Gulf War syndrome by 4.43 times. And for those with two copies of the R gene — which is inefficient at breaking down sarin — the chance of the condition increased by 8.91 times.

The researchers said the gene data provides a 'high degree' of confidence that sarin causes the condition. Dr Haley said: 'Your risk is going up step by step depending on your genotype, because those genes are mediating how well your body inactivates sarin.


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The weather satellite image above shows a large debris cloud, which was confirmed to contain sarin, pictured rising from the site and spreading over US ground troops, where it set off thousands of nerve gas alarms.

Dr Hayley noted the finding 'doesn't rule out' that other chemical exposures could be responsible for some ill soldiers. But he said the team's extensive genetic analysis did not appear to identify any other contributing chemicals.

Sarin, which can be a colourless liquid or gas, was first developed as a pesticide by Nazi Germany. It was banned from production in 1997 but has since been used in chemical warfare, including in Syria and during a terror attack in Japan.

The research was funded by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.

The US military has confirmed sarin was detected in Iraq during the Gulf War, which lasted for six months. Satellite images show an Iraqi chemical weapons storage site was bombed by the US and some of the 35 coalition nations who participated in the conflict.

A large debris cloud, which was confirmed to contain sarin, was pictured rising from the site and spreading over ground troops, where it set off thousands of nerve gas alarms.

Earlier studies found a link between Gulf War veterans who self-reported that they were exposed to sarin and symptoms of the syndrome. But critics said this was down to recall bias.

Dr Hayley said: 'What makes this new study a game-changer is that it links Gulf War syndrome with a very strong gene-environment interaction that cannot be explained away by errors in recalling the environmental exposure or other biases in the data.'

Since the war, researchers have studied a list of possible causes of the illness, ranging from stress, vaccination and burning oil wells to exposure to pesticides, nerve gas, anti-nerve gas medication and depleted uranium.

Some of the studies identified links with the illness but none of these causes were widely accepted.

Dr Haley said: 'As far back as 1995, when we first defined Gulf War illness, the evidence was pointing toward nerve agent exposure, but it has taken many years to build an irrefutable case.'


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nivek

As Above So Below
news-gold-bar.jpg


Canister found in hunt for long-lost Nazi treasure


Treasure hunters have found a metal canister that could contain hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stolen valuables.

During World War II, the Nazis plundered all manner of treasures from across Europe and much of it has yet to be recovered. One particular hoard, which was stolen on the orders of Heinrich Himmler, had been hidden somewhere in Poland with the intention of being used to later set up a Fourth Reich.

The treasure is thought to contain around $250,000 worth of valuables including the 'Gold of Breslau' which was plundered from a police headquarters near Wroclaw in Poland.

Now a group of treasure hunters believes that it may have located these long-lost riches underneath an abandoned conservatory at an 18th-Century palace in the Polish village of Minkowskie.

Using ground penetrating radar, the team has identified what appears to be a 5ft metal canister buried 10ft beneath the ground at the very place where the treasure was rumored to be based on recovered Nazi documents.

According to Roman Furmaniak from the Silesian Bridge Foundation, the scans have revealed 'anomalies' at the site.

"The first drill we made showed unnatural contortions on one side," he said. "We made a second probe and received the same result on the other side. A third probe struck an object. The shapes and colours show anomalies, in other words human interference in the ground. Metal has a different density to earth, and this is shown as a darker colour in the images."

If the team actually does succeed in unearthing the rumored treasure, it will certainly be one for the history books.

Source: Mail Online

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nivek

As Above So Below
Did China cover-up the truth about who first made it to the top of Everest? Book suggests body of British climber Andrew Irvine was removed from world's highest peak



When the body of George Mallory was found clad in hobnail boots just 2,000 feet from the summit of Everest, historians raised the tantalising possibility that he may have been the first man to reach the top of the world's tallest mountain - 29 years before the first confirmed ascent. But two crucial mysteries still remain unsolved after the 1999 discovery: what had happened to the body of his climbing partner Andrew 'Sandy' Irvine (left), and where was the Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK) camera they were said to be carrying that might contain crucial photographs proving the men had reached the top of Everest in their 1924 expedition? As a result, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (inset) continue to be credited with being the first climbers to reach the top of the Himalayan mountain - which straddles Nepal and China - in their 1953 expedition. If Mallory and Irvine did reach the top of Everest, they would also have been the first to successfully do it on the deadly North Face, nearly 40 years before Chinese climbers accomplished the feat in 1960. However, author Mark Synnott, who was part of a 2019 expedition led by New Zealander Jamie McGuinness to try to solve the mystery reveals in a new book that the Chinese may have found Irvine's body and the camera, before burying the evidence. Also pictured: Mallory and Irvine with the rest of their 1924 team (top right); the last image of the pair before they disappeared (bottom right).

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1963

Noble
Did China cover-up the truth about who first made it to the top of Everest? Book suggests body of British climber Andrew Irvine was removed from world's highest peak



When the body of George Mallory was found clad in hobnail boots just 2,000 feet from the summit of Everest, historians raised the tantalising possibility that he may have been the first man to reach the top of the world's tallest mountain - 29 years before the first confirmed ascent. But two crucial mysteries still remain unsolved after the 1999 discovery: what had happened to the body of his climbing partner Andrew 'Sandy' Irvine (left), and where was the Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK) camera they were said to be carrying that might contain crucial photographs proving the men had reached the top of Everest in their 1924 expedition? As a result, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (inset) continue to be credited with being the first climbers to reach the top of the Himalayan mountain - which straddles Nepal and China - in their 1953 expedition. If Mallory and Irvine did reach the top of Everest, they would also have been the first to successfully do it on the deadly North Face, nearly 40 years before Chinese climbers accomplished the feat in 1960. However, author Mark Synnott, who was part of a 2019 expedition led by New Zealander Jamie McGuinness to try to solve the mystery reveals in a new book that the Chinese may have found Irvine's body and the camera, before burying the evidence. Also pictured: Mallory and Irvine with the rest of their 1924 team (top right); the last image of the pair before they disappeared (bottom right).

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Yes indeed it would be a great feat of accomplishment to take the mystery machine back to 1924 and settle this "Mallory/Irvine vs Hillary/Tenzing question that my old history teacher [Mr. Hutchinson] used to get so excited about back at school lol. ... The thing is that there has been theory after theory about just how the accepted history of these achievements could be twisted into 'something more'! ... And this latest claim [or accusation] could well turn out to be true! ... but then there's two things that go against this 'claim' from the start in my personal opinion. ... And the first one being the absolutely shameless media bias depending on which region of the Earth's surface you happen to be in that seems to have exponentially increased in the last twenty years or so! [maybe it's always been like this, idk... i've only noticed it since i've been surfing the web?] . ie... A Chinese newspaper expose' could quite easily come out tomorrow with an entirely plausible case backed up by a combination of fact and factoid-theory that could convince many people that it was an old Chinese explorer that discovered the source of the Nile. [or whatever springs to your mind] ... the thing is that in today's climate it is much easier for a Western Article to portray a bunch of Chinese climbers/sportsmen of being "the type of character to employ underhanded tactics to claim glory!" ... and vice versa.
The truth is that without the Mystery Machine being fired up... we'll never know the truth of this story at all! ... but I have to say that the second reason for me doubting the veracity of this 'claim' is that I already had the stead fast notion that Mallory and Irvine never quite made it to the summit. ... and that comes from reading a 'Yeti book' by Graham Hoyland ... a real life explorer that famously took photographs of Yeti footprints and gathered loads of Yeti related witness statements, which I enjoyed so much that it lead me to reading more fascinating articles by him on his all kinds of Climbing adventures [he was the the 13th British man to climb Everest himself] by all manner of adventurers from his own uncle who was a contemporary of Mallory's , and was actually the man whom lent the famous camera to Mallory that the article is putting so much critical importance to... and one of them was this one ... Did George Mallory Reach The Summit of Everest First? | Graham Hoyland ... in which he convinced me that the Chinese glory-stealing-story must be wishful fantasy because Mallory and Irvine never quite made it to the top of Everest.

news-gold-bar.jpg


Canister found in hunt for long-lost Nazi treasure


Treasure hunters have found a metal canister that could contain hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stolen valuables.

During World War II, the Nazis plundered all manner of treasures from across Europe and much of it has yet to be recovered. One particular hoard, which was stolen on the orders of Heinrich Himmler, had been hidden somewhere in Poland with the intention of being used to later set up a Fourth Reich.

The treasure is thought to contain around $250,000 worth of valuables including the 'Gold of Breslau' which was plundered from a police headquarters near Wroclaw in Poland.

Now a group of treasure hunters believes that it may have located these long-lost riches underneath an abandoned conservatory at an 18th-Century palace in the Polish village of Minkowskie.

Using ground penetrating radar, the team has identified what appears to be a 5ft metal canister buried 10ft beneath the ground at the very place where the treasure was rumored to be based on recovered Nazi documents.

According to Roman Furmaniak from the Silesian Bridge Foundation, the scans have revealed 'anomalies' at the site.

"The first drill we made showed unnatural contortions on one side," he said. "We made a second probe and received the same result on the other side. A third probe struck an object. The shapes and colours show anomalies, in other words human interference in the ground. Metal has a different density to earth, and this is shown as a darker colour in the images."

If the team actually does succeed in unearthing the rumored treasure, it will certainly be one for the history books.

Source: Mail Online

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Yep i've been fantasising what i'd do with this pot of gold if i'd somehow chanced upon it since I came across the story last night buddy. :p ... Would I do the honourable thing and track down the families of the original owners of this treasure? ... or would I just keep schtum and live the dream? ... ? hard one that! :Sneaky: ... anyway i'm not sure about the claim that $200,000,000. is nearly enough to start the 4th reich as the article stated? ...but would be enough to cause a bit of grief for some poor buggers, so either way I think that the world would be better off if that gold came home with me instead of those mad-bastards! lol

Another mystery solved?...

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Solved - Gulf War syndrome mystery: US Government-funded scientists blame SARIN released into air when Iraq's chemical weapons cache was bombed

The bombing of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapon arsenal could be to blame for tens of thousands of British and US soldiers being struck down with the mysterious Gulf War syndrome, scientists say. Puzzled researchers have spent decades searching for the root cause of the illness, which has left veterans battling fatigue, memory problems and chronic pain.

Now, a US Government-funded study claims to offer the 'most definitive' proof that the destruction of Iraq's cache of chemical weapons is responsible. January 1991's explosions, centered around cities Muthanna and Fallujah, released sarin — a lethal nerve-agent — into the air.

The man-made gas — used in the Tokyo subway terror attack — usually kills but the doses inhaled by Western armed forces was diluted.

Dr Robert Haley, who has been investigating the syndrome for nearly three decades, said the quantities were still enough to make people ill, however. He said: 'There are still more than 100,000 Gulf War veterans who are not getting help for this illness.

'Our hope is that these findings will accelerate the search for better treatment.'


57686609-10805419-image-a-1_1652279202541.jpg


Around 33,000 soldiers in the UK and 250,000 in the US, have complained of a collection of unexplained and chronic symptoms, which also include fever, night sweats and memory and concentration problems.

Hundreds of thousands of US troops, along with soldiers from a coalition of 35 countries entered were sent to Kuwait in August 1990 after the country annexed by Iraq.

Western nations feared Iraqi president Saddam Hussein would march his troops further south and take control of Saudi Arabia and its oil supplies. The allied nations began air strikes in January 1991 after Iraq missed a United Nations deadline to withdraw from Kuwait.

But Iraqi troops eventually withdrew from one month later following air attacks on military and other targets in Iraq and Kuwait. Soldiers reported suffering from the array of symptoms on returning from the conflict and cases had been logged in the UK, Denmark, Canada and Australia in the years after the war.

Original theories over the cause of the illness centred around debris from depleted uranium munitions, but evidence has since built up to suggest sarin is to blame.

Dr Haley and colleagues examined 1,016 American soldiers who served during the conflict. Half the participants had Gulf War syndrome symptoms — which can also include difficulty finding words, diarrhoea and sexual dysfunction. The others did not.

They had blood and DNA samples taken and were quizzed about whether they had heard chemical nerve gas alarms during their deployment. Soldiers' samples were tested for a gene called PON1, which break down chemicals in the body.

One variant — called PON1Q — generates an enzyme that breaks down sarin. Another variant — called PON1R — helps the body break down other chemicals but is not efficient at destroying sarin. Everyone carries two copies of PON1, giving them either a QQ, RR or QR genotype.

The findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, show Gulf War veterans with the QQ genotype who heard nerve agent alarms – a proxy for chemical exposure – were 3.75-times more likely to have the syndrome than those who had not heard the alarm.

For those who had a QR genotype, hearing the alarms raised their chance of having Gulf War syndrome by 4.43 times. And for those with two copies of the R gene — which is inefficient at breaking down sarin — the chance of the condition increased by 8.91 times.

The researchers said the gene data provides a 'high degree' of confidence that sarin causes the condition. Dr Haley said: 'Your risk is going up step by step depending on your genotype, because those genes are mediating how well your body inactivates sarin.


57686611-10805419-image-a-2_1652279206546.jpg

The weather satellite image above shows a large debris cloud, which was confirmed to contain sarin, pictured rising from the site and spreading over US ground troops, where it set off thousands of nerve gas alarms.

Dr Hayley noted the finding 'doesn't rule out' that other chemical exposures could be responsible for some ill soldiers. But he said the team's extensive genetic analysis did not appear to identify any other contributing chemicals.

Sarin, which can be a colourless liquid or gas, was first developed as a pesticide by Nazi Germany. It was banned from production in 1997 but has since been used in chemical warfare, including in Syria and during a terror attack in Japan.

The research was funded by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.

The US military has confirmed sarin was detected in Iraq during the Gulf War, which lasted for six months. Satellite images show an Iraqi chemical weapons storage site was bombed by the US and some of the 35 coalition nations who participated in the conflict.

A large debris cloud, which was confirmed to contain sarin, was pictured rising from the site and spreading over ground troops, where it set off thousands of nerve gas alarms.

Earlier studies found a link between Gulf War veterans who self-reported that they were exposed to sarin and symptoms of the syndrome. But critics said this was down to recall bias.

Dr Hayley said: 'What makes this new study a game-changer is that it links Gulf War syndrome with a very strong gene-environment interaction that cannot be explained away by errors in recalling the environmental exposure or other biases in the data.'

Since the war, researchers have studied a list of possible causes of the illness, ranging from stress, vaccination and burning oil wells to exposure to pesticides, nerve gas, anti-nerve gas medication and depleted uranium.

Some of the studies identified links with the illness but none of these causes were widely accepted.

Dr Haley said: 'As far back as 1995, when we first defined Gulf War illness, the evidence was pointing toward nerve agent exposure, but it has taken many years to build an irrefutable case.'


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All I can say about this one is that "isn't it a cruel but ironic twist of fate that this thing seems to be self induced rather than being the result of an Iraqi assault" ... there was , in my personal opinion no real justification for that bloody assault that the US lead destruction of a pretty backward Country. albeit an imperfectly lead Country... nevertheless as in all of these weirdly calculated "special operations" it is the civilian population ie... the aged, the women , the children and the men that the invaders are claiming to liberate that take the brunt of the death and destruction! btw... are these veterans that are suffering the gulf war syndrome demanding the heads of those intelligence services and politicians that lied about those "oh! so deadly WMD's that was so necessary to justify this mighty destruction that has been calculated by some to have cost four million lives? rant! rant! rant! rant! all wars are shit!! :(

Cheers Buddy.
 
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Standingstones

Celestial
news-gold-bar.jpg


Canister found in hunt for long-lost Nazi treasure


Treasure hunters have found a metal canister that could contain hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stolen valuables.

During World War II, the Nazis plundered all manner of treasures from across Europe and much of it has yet to be recovered. One particular hoard, which was stolen on the orders of Heinrich Himmler, had been hidden somewhere in Poland with the intention of being used to later set up a Fourth Reich.

The treasure is thought to contain around $250,000 worth of valuables including the 'Gold of Breslau' which was plundered from a police headquarters near Wroclaw in Poland.

Now a group of treasure hunters believes that it may have located these long-lost riches underneath an abandoned conservatory at an 18th-Century palace in the Polish village of Minkowskie.

Using ground penetrating radar, the team has identified what appears to be a 5ft metal canister buried 10ft beneath the ground at the very place where the treasure was rumored to be based on recovered Nazi documents.

According to Roman Furmaniak from the Silesian Bridge Foundation, the scans have revealed 'anomalies' at the site.

"The first drill we made showed unnatural contortions on one side," he said. "We made a second probe and received the same result on the other side. A third probe struck an object. The shapes and colours show anomalies, in other words human interference in the ground. Metal has a different density to earth, and this is shown as a darker colour in the images."

If the team actually does succeed in unearthing the rumored treasure, it will certainly be one for the history books.

Source: Mail Online

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One thing missing from the original article was that the hiding place was a former Nazi SS brothel. A good place to hide a stash of gold!
 

nivek

As Above So Below

Researchers Suggest Nitric Acid Fog Caused Infamous Dyatlov Pass Incident

A group of Russian researchers have put forward a new theory for what could have caused the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident: a nitric acid fog created by a clandestine rocket test. The intriguing hypothesis was reportedly introduced at a press conference held last month on the 64th anniversary of the start of the ill-fated 1959 hike that ultimately saw nine hikers die under bizarre and mysterious circumstances in the Ural Mountains. At the event, independent experts called into question the findings of Russian officials and scientists, who argue that the tragedy was caused by an avalanche, and, offered a far more sinister explanation for the curious case.

One of the speakers at the press conference was Vladislav Karelin, who participated in the 1959 search for the lost hikers and has researched the incident ever since. He indicated that visible stones protruding from the snow in the area and argued that this upends a key aspect of the avalanche theory. However, the more compelling aspect of his testimony was that he and his team witnessed a fireball soaring through the sky. "In addition to us, eyewitnesses observed such objects in the area," Karelin recalled, "the UFO constantly changed its direction of movement." As for what the unidentified flying object might have been, one of Karelin's colleagues had a rather compelling answer.

Pointing to declassified documents regarding Russian missile tests from the 1950s and 60s, researcher Vadim Skibinsky posited that they were able to determine that "from January to February 1959, six missiles were launched in the USSR from a point near the village of Polyarny," which is approximately 900 miles from the site of the Dyatlov Pass incident. Skibinsky postulated that one of these launches was of an R-12 rocket that malfunctioned in flight and inadvertently dispersed 10 to 15 tons of nitric acid atop the hikers. He went on to suggest that the substance effectively became a poisonous fog that "penetrated the tarpaulin of the tent, which caused an inadequate reaction and the death of all nine tourists."

In presenting their theory, the researchers also noted a number peculiar aspects surrounding the contemporaneous investigation of the case, beginning with what was an inordinate amount of military interest in the incident. Additionally, they pointed out that all of the officials tasked with investigating the case were subsequently "sent for a radiological examination." While they ultimately concluded that the deadly rocket mishap was covered up by the 'powers that be' in Russia, Skibinsky was less accusatory and instead stressed that postulated that "you need to understand the conditions in which people worked" at the time and how keeping the lid on the country's defense research was likely seen as critical.

As to whether their theory can ever be proven, researcher Oleg Arkhipov expressed confidence that "documentary evidence of the rocket explosion exists," though Skibinsky mused that "apparently, everything connected with the death of the Dyatlov group is still too early to declassify" since there may still be participants in the test program who are still alive and authorities may not wish to hold them accountable. Although the group did not bring a proverbial smoking gun to the press conference, they did prove that the mystery surrounding the Dyatlov Pass still has life after recent scientific research had seemingly solved the case.


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nivek

As Above So Below
Within large swaths of North & South Carolina, Virginia, and 7 other states are a series of several hundred to several thousand-foot-wide oval shaped depressions in the ground. These depressions almost completely fill the landscape in some areas and are occasionally filled with lakes. Known as the "Carolina Bays", some estimates that as many of 500,000 of these features exist in the United States. Yet, the source of these geologic oddities had remained a mystery until quite recently.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4NwxfMU64E


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nivek

As Above So Below

Tiny remote Canada town is on edge as three friends mysteriously VANISH - as cops refuse to link cases and conspiracy rumors swirl among locals

A tiny Canadian town is on edge after three friends mysteriously vanished - but cops won't link their cases.

Lawrence Bertrim, 43, Robbie Thomson, 34, and Steve Tate, 34, have disappeared in the past 14 months from Smith Falls, Ontario.

Residents have been left uneasy as no arrests have been made and the Ontario Provincial Police insist on investigating each case separately.

Since Bertrim vanished in September 2022, tales about how he died and his body was being treated have circulated among residents in the community.

A year later, his friend Thomson disappeared, followed by the third individual, Tate, whose body was found in a ditch near the town earlier this week.

'I've lived in this town since I was five. For 42 years, this is the first time I'm not comfortable. I would not leave my house now,' Ellis Amanda told CBC recently.

Similar to Amanda, many residents of Smith Falls, a town with a population of 9,300 located southwest of Ottawa, are feeling unnerved by the unexplained disappearances.

'Police haven't said anything,' said resident Bill Linton. 'Which rumours do you believe? Rumours aren't facts.'

Cops have remained tight-lipped about their investigation and declined to comment on the rumors running rampant in the remote, small town.

Ontario Provincial Police's spokesman Aaron Miller told InsideOttawaValley.com that the department's Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) is overseeing all three cases.

'While we are still treating these as individual and unique cases under the direction of separate CIB major case managers, having this oversight will ensure streamlined communication and sharing of information and resources,' he said.

'Investigators realize that the Smiths Falls area is not huge and connections between people are possible due to proximity.

'While we cannot speculate on any potential direct connection that could exist, these individuals have some common interests and may have shared mutual connections.'


Many residents of Smith Falls, a town with a population of 9,300 located southwest of Ottawa, are feeling unnerved by the unexplained disappearances


(More on the link)

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nivek

As Above So Below

Russian 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.


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nivek

As Above So Below

Angola’s Missing Boeing 727, the Largest Aircraft in History to Disappear Without a Trace

In 2003, an old defunct Boeing 727 airplane sat on the tarmac of Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola. The large aircraft had been stripped and refitted and was now just days away from being moved and sold off to the highest bidder. However, on May 25, 2003, something bizarre and unexpected happened that caused a decades-long aerospace mystery.

Two staff members who had been involved in the airplane’s refurbishment project were caught on camera sneaking onto the aircraft. One of the individuals was an American pilot and flight engineer, while the other was an airplane mechanic.

Neither man was qualified to fly a plane of such a large calibre, but that did not stop the 1975-built Boeing 727 from taking off into the skies with its lights off and without permission from air traffic control.

As the plane flew over the Atlantic Ocean and disappeared into the horizon, neither the aircraft nor the two crew members on board would ever be seen again. It’s a mystery why these two individuals risked it all to steal this airplane and what happened to the missing Boeing 727 after all these years.


The History of Boeing 727 – N844AA

The infamous Boeing 727 with registration number N844AA was built in 1975 and operated by American Airlines for almost 25 years before becoming nearly defunct.

Once it was out of rotation for commercial flights, it was sold to Aerospace Sales and Leasing and was supposed to be converted for use by a Nigerian airliner called IRS Airlines. However, it had sat grounded for over 14 months, accumulating more than $4 million in unpaid airport fees.

In May of 2003, the large aircraft remained on the tarmac of the Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola mostly unpainted, except for remnants of blue, red and white stripes from when it was in operation.

All of the passenger seats inside had been removed and instead, it was refitted to carry diesel fuel. IRS Airlines, who was leasing the plane from Aerospace Sales and Leasing, had plans to use it to supply fuel to diamond mines.

However, that deal fell through and IRS Airlines abandoned its plans. Rather than continue to let it sit and collect dust and outrageous airport fees, Aerospace Sales and Leasing decided to repossess, refurbish and repurpose the plane. A team was deployed to make any necessary repairs to the aircraft to get it flight ready.

The Boeing 727 was going to be flown to Johannesburg to be sold off to the highest bidder, likely for parts as it wasn’t in the greatest condition. Days before the plane was scheduled to leave, it was moved from the tarmac to the main runway in order to carry out final tests to ensure it was safe to fly.


The Day Of The Disappearance

On May 25, 2003, two men are observed on camera sneaking onto the parked Boeing 727. The men would later be identified as Ben C. Padilla, an American pilot and flight engineer and John M. Mutantu, a mechanic from the Republic of Congo.

Both individuals had been hired by Aerospace Sales and Leasing to work on the refurbishment of the airplane. While Padilla was a pilot, he was only qualified to fly small private aircraft. Neither man was qualified to fly an airplane the size of a Boeing 727, which would ordinarily require three trained aircrew.

Yet, with all of the aircraft’s lights off, they moved down the runway and took off into the sky going southwest, without asking air traffic control for permission to fly. No one had any idea where they were going and when air traffic tried communicating with the plane, they received no response. The transponder was turned off so it could not be tracked.

The Boeing 727 headed across the Atlantic Ocean with over 14,000 gallons of fuel, enough to fly up to 1500 miles without stopping.

Reports say that someone on the aircraft used the radio to request permission to land in the Seychelles Islands, which are located more than 3200 miles away from departure. Meaning, the aircraft would have had to refuel at some point to make it such a distance, though there is no record of the plane ever entering a country to do so.

Permission to land was granted, but the plane never responded nor did it land. Neither the aircraft nor the two men piloting the plane would ever be seen again.

As this could have been an act of terrorism, both the FBI and the CIA quickly launched a full investigation to find the missing airplane. This happened only two years after 9/11, so tensions were high. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the aircraft in the skies.


The Background Of The Thieves

What made this incident even more bizarre was the background of the two individuals who stole the plane.

Ben C. Padilla was a 50-year-old American pilot and flight engineer with two children and a fiancee of 15 years back home in Florida. His family said that he had loved airplanes ever since he was a child.

He had always been mechanically gifted and received his first certification to fly small planes when he was in his mid-20s. Padilla had been hired by Aerospace Sales and Leasing to oversee the work that the mechanics were doing to refurbish the Boeing 727.

According to other staff members who worked with him, there was nothing out of the ordinary about his behavior in the days leading up to the vanishing airplane.

He did everything that he was supposed to do as part of the project, including overseeing the plane being moved to the main runway in anticipation of the upcoming flight. There was no indication that he had planned to steal the airplane he had been working on.

As for John M. Mutantu, all that was known about him was that he was a resident of the Republic of Congo who had been hired by Aerospace Sales and Leasing as a mechanic.

When the FBI tried looking at his background as part of their investigation, they couldn’t find any information. Nothing in either of their backstories indicates why either of these men took the missing Boeing 727.


Theories

The initial theory was that the theft of the aircraft was an act of terrorism. Officials at the FBI and CIA believed that the aircraft could be used as a bomb, which is why there was a search and investigation launched immediately.

As time passed, without the aircraft or crewmembers resurfacing, the terrorism theory dwindled. One of the more popular theories about the missing Boeing 727 involves an insurance scam. The plane had been sitting at the airport, not being used, racking up fees while collecting dust.

In the condition it was in, Aerospace Sales and Leasing was going to have to sell it off for parts. However, now that it was missing, an insurance claim could be filed and paid out to the company.

Maury Joseph, CEO of Aerospace Sales and Leasing, had a shady history of falsifying financial statements and declaring bankruptcy with previous companies. Some believed that he paid two of his staff members to get rid of the plane as part of an insurance fraud scheme, though eventually, the FBI would clear him of this theory.

The other theory was that the airplane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean never to be seen again. However, there has never been any evidence of this happening and no debris from the aircraft has ever been collected.

In the summer of 2003, just a few months after the plane disappeared, there was another aircraft spotted in New Guinea that matched the description of the missing Boeing 727. Rumors swirled that it was the missing plane, only repainted and with new serial numbers. However, authorities were never able to verify this information.

Without a shred of evidence from the plane or any sightings of the two men who stole it, the missing Boeing 727 would become a decades-old mystery that has yet to be solved. Without the imminent threat of a terrorist attack, the FBI felt there was no longer a need for an active investigation so they closed the case in 2005.


Sources:

Into Thin Air

The 727 That Vanished


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nivek

As Above So Below

Three groups of tourists who died in the USSR, as in the Dyatlov Pass incident

The mysterious death of a group of tourists in the Urals (Dyatlov Pass incident) has become the mystery of the century for our contemporaries. However, there were other skiers in the USSR who died under mysterious circumstances. But information about them has not become so widespread.

Orlov’s group in Transbaikalia: four dead

Mikhail Orlov’s group was not a tourist group. It included two young biologists: Mikhail Orlov and Sergei Konkin; both were 25 years old, both graduated from the university in Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod), and both were in love with the Siberian taiga.

The scientists were accompanied by an employee of the Sokhondinsky Nature Reserve, 28-year-old Igor Bakholdin, and his wife, 27-year-old Tatyana Terekhova. The couple were local and knew the taiga well. They lived and worked at the Ingoda cordon and decided to accompany the scientists to reach the village of Kyra and celebrate the New Year with their son, who lived with his parents.

On December 24, 1981, Igor Bakholdin radioed that the group was moving to the winter quarters of Byrkykht. This was his last message. The route was simple – 16 kilometers along a well-worn ski track. The places are beautiful: around the mountains.

The temperature was also suitable. The only difficulty on the route was the mountains of Byrkykhtyn-Yang, which, like the Ural Mountain of the Dead, had a bad reputation. The Evenks believed that an evil spirit lived on it.

A day earlier, the first group of scientists left along the same route with the same task – recording animal tracks – and safely reached the winter hut. Nobody was worried about Orlov’s group. The guys were young, athletic, and no one had chronic diseases.

However, neither on December 24 nor on December 25 did Orlov’s group go to the winter quarters of Byrkykht, where colleagues from the first group were waiting for them. On December 27, the person was reported missing in Kyru; The search began on December 28. On December 29, rescuers discovered that on the Byrkykhtyn-Yang pass near the Arshan spring, Orlov’s group turned through fresh snow towards the loaches.

Having walked along the ski track, the searchers found skis stuck in the snow, an unloaded gun stuck in the snow with the muzzle up, scattered backpacks, and even further – the bodies of Konkin, Terekhova and Bakholdin.

Moreover, Konkin lay one and a half meters from the backpacks, Terekhova – one and a half meters next to him, and Bakholdin was found 26 meters down the slope. Konkin’s body was fully clothed. Tatyana was missing a hat and one mitten, and Bakholdin had his sweater pulled up over his stomach.

Everyone was in the same position – on their backs, with their heads thrown back, eyes open, arms outstretched to the sides – a pose not typical for a freezing person.

Their faces were bright red, like burnt skin. Matches were scattered on the chests of Terekhova and Konkin. However, there were no attempts to protect themselves from the cold – warm clothes remained in their backpacks.

Mikhail Orlov was found only on January 3, 1982 – his body was seven hundred meters from his comrades. He froze to death, curled up and burying his face in the snow. The examination showed that of all four, only he drank a small dose of alcohol on the day of death, but this could not have influenced his behavior or death.



This watch belonged to the youngest member of the group, Sergei Konkin.

Terekhova and Bakholdin’s watches stopped at 5:27 p.m., Konkin’s clocks stopped an hour later, at 6:27 p.m., and Orlov’s clocks stopped at 7:59 p.m. From the place of death of the group to the winter hut it was only two kilometers – a 10-minute ride on skis.

While interviewing local residents, the investigator learned that they considered the place dangerous: they say that certain “phenomena” occur in the char areas – people find it difficult to breathe, they lose consciousness.

It was never possible to determine the cause of death of three members of the group, as well as its circumstances. The pathologist wrote down the official word: hypothermia. The investigation considered that Orlov was the only one who fought for his life to the end. The rest simply did not have time to do anything. What killed them is still unknown.


Romanov’s group in the Polar Urals: seven dead

Let us recall that the main logical reason for the death of tourists under the leadership of Dyatlov was the collapse of a small avalanche – a heavy ice board, which injured the tourists and drove them out of the tent.

A similar death awaited a group of tourists from MEIIS led by Oleg Romanov in February 1982 on the Medvezhiy stream in the Polar Urals. Seven skiers disappeared on February 6; they began searching for them on February 19, but were found only on July 8 after a long search.

As it turned out, Romanov’s group deviated from the route and left the 129th kilometer from the railway station to the Ledopadny pass. Unable to overcome it, the tourists went down the slope a little to Bear Creek and set up two tents under the blowing snow, digging holes in the snow.

Here they were found — all of them at once: seven dead bodies with injuries characteristic of the Dyatlov group. The watches of the victims showed 1:10 am. Officially, everyone died under the snowfall. There are also many unofficial versions, from thermobaric weapon (vacuum bomb) tests to UFOs.


Kuznetsov’s group on the Kola Peninsula: 10 dead

This tragedy occurred in January 1973 in the Lovozero tundra of the Kola Peninsula. On January 25, a group of ten Samara skiers left the village of Ilma along a route of category II difficulty.

The group was led by experienced tourist Mikhail Kuznetsov. Samara was going to go through the Elmorayok pass, reach Seydozero, climb the plateau and make a route through the mountains.

The first dead were found by chance: a group of tourists, leaving Ilma a few days later, noticed a hand sticking out of the snow on the mountainside near the Chivruay pass – it was the body of the group leader, Kuznetsov.

The bodies of four more tourists were found next to him. The search for the remaining five took 4 months. Later, enthusiasts reproduced what happened as best they could.



Obelisk at the site of the Chivruay tragedy.

Most likely, on the first day, the skiers crossed the Elmorajok Pass and spent the night on the river of the same name. The next day, the group walked 20 kilometers to the Chivruay pass and at dusk went up, lost their way, came out onto the Mannepahk plateau and stopped at the cliff of the Kitkuai River, where Kuznetsov divided the group, sending half of the skiers on reconnaissance and remaining with the other half of the group.

Five scouts managed to find a way down and, in turn, also split up: two went to inform Kuznetsov, and three went down. Everyone died. For some reason, the skiers who remained with Kuznetsov did not put up a tent, but simply spread it out and lay on top and froze.

Two returnees, Alexander Novoselov and Lydia Martina, failed to reach Kuznetsov 120 meters. They didn’t have enough strength. A storm raged on the plateau, wind gusts reached 50 m/sec, the temperature dropped to -30.

The tourists who went down scattered throughout the valley and froze, and one of them, Ilya Altshuller, fell into the abyss. All this happened on January 27 between four and five o’clock in the morning.

It seems that the mistakes of the expedition leader are obvious. But relatives of the victims are still tormented by doubts. Why did Kuznetsov lead the group to the pass in worsening weather conditions and virtually in the dark? What or who drove the skiers first up the mountain and then down it?

Why didn’t Kuznetsov put up a tent? When G. Shapkin’s group found themselves in a similar situation at this place in 1965, it was the tent that allowed the tourists to survive. Kuznetsov could not have been unaware of this.

Adding to the mystery of the story are rumors that the criminal case into the death of tourists is classified, as well as the fact that in 2019, Nizhny Novgorod resident Viktor Voroshilov was killed. He independently investigated the circumstances of the death of the group and, on the eve of his death, interviewed rescuers who participated in the search. He believed that external circumstances led to the death of tourists.

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