The unexplained bizarre deaths of 9 Russian hikers in 1959
I just stumbled across the fascinating tale of the Dyatlov Pass Accident. The case is full of bizarre findings. Nine hikers set out into the wilderness and were never seen alive again. Theit bodies were found in groups a good distance from their camp, all in little more than underwear, as if they had to flee their tent in a hurry. Their tent was ripped open from the inside, like they didn’t even have time to use the tent’s door. Five of the hikers showed no signs of trauma and likely died from hypothermia — two of which were found around a temporary fire that they made while in their underwear. None of them seemed to dare to return to the tent. The other four hikers died of internal injuries but showed no external wounds, one from a fractured skull, and two from fractured chests, as if they had been crippled by extreme pressure.
Here are some more facts of the case (from the Wikipedia article):
- Six of the group members died of hypothermia and three of fatal injuries.
- There were no indications of other people nearby apart from the nine travellers on Kholat Syakhl, nor anyone in the surrounding areas.
- The tent had been ripped from within.
- The victims had died 6 to 8 hours after their last meal.
- Traces from the camp showed that all group members (including those who were found injured) left the camp of their own accord, by foot. This implies that those with injuries were injured after they left the camp.
- The fatal injuries of the three bodies could not have been caused by another human being.
- Forensic radiation tests had shown high doses of radioactive contamination on the clothes of a few victims. These test results were not taken into account for the final verdict.
The only footprints found in the snow were those of the hikers, so it couldn’t have been caused by any sort of land animal, human or otherwise. There were no traces of an avalanche. The most curious part of the case is the high level of radioactivity found in the bodies. The families who attended to the burial procedures reported that the corpses’ skin that had turned orange and hair that had turned gray. None of the Russian military helicopter pilots would transport the corpses, not even in body bags. Did they know more than they let on?
The case was never solved. So what in the hell caused this accident? The Wikipedia article vaguely mentions aliens, but come on, let’s be real. Some kind of military testing perhaps? The radioactivity had to come from somewhere. I just can’t think of many things that would cause nine people to run out of a perfectly warm tent nearly naked into the snow, and not return for some hours while they slowly froze to death. And how did the four that suffered internal injuries die? It’s eerie. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking of it.
Man, what I wouldn’t give for a Light of Other Days-style wormhole to be able to look back into the past and see what happened there. My curiosity has been peaked, yet there are no answers to be found.
Something like this would make a great episode of CSI, unsolved ending included. Just have the episode unfold with increasingly bizarre findings in the case being discovered, and then cut to credits at the end of the hour with nothing solved, only dozens of questions raised. It would be a different experience from their typical format in which everything is neatly wrapped up about five minutes before the end of the episode, but I would love it.
February 27th, 2008 at 23:12
Thanks for the interesting read. I agree that it would make a thrilling dramatisation.
February 28th, 2008 at 02:14
Go ahead and remove this comment, but…
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/piqued
February 28th, 2008 at 09:27
Haha, good point. I know about that word, and I knew something was wrong when I was typing out “peak” because it didn’t feel right, but I didn’t come up with the pique spelling at all. I was internally arguing over “peak” or “peek”.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:13
I’m glad someone else pointed out “piqued” so I didn’t have to, and be that guy…
The victims had died 6 to 8 hours after their last meal.
Sounds like they were experimenting with Taco Bell in the Soviet Union.
Seriously, though, it’s an interesting story. There have been more recent cases of people in the former Soviet bloc finding big chunks of radioactive material in the wilderness near old military installations and such, but this sounds very different.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:20
See, now you guys have made it impossible for me to go back and correct that error, because none of these comments would make any sense.
July 22nd, 2008 at 14:53
Oh and I just checked your source.. Wikipedia… Why not check out the actual article http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=25093
July 22nd, 2008 at 14:56
Actually, now that I think about it… When you look at those pictures… I guess carrying a RTG through several feet of snow wearing skis and carrying tons of gear would be easy! NOT! I once got lost in a gully in the Rocky Mountains.. I had to get rescued! There is actually zero chance they moved an RTG anywhere! Just look at t hem setting up camp! are you serious?
July 22nd, 2008 at 15:07
Wow, I wrote a length comment about this but it didn’t post for some reason. Anyways the person who foud the possible solution? So they traveled up to 1 1/2 kilometers with the radiation poisoning? If they were so able to move why did they flee from the tent so fast? Also, it is ignorant to say that the Alien theory is laughable. With todays technology we could easily get around 200 years ago unseen. Technology is relative to time… Humans have not been around long compared to the billions of years or more the universe has existed. So the argument that they would have to travel at lightspeed to get here unseen is stupid.. It’s the equivalent of us using stealth planes to get around unseen during the caveman years. Also, I am an engineer not just some kid. I know about astrophysics! Do you? I guess you personally visited the billions and billions of galaxies to check for other life huh? I personally think that you are ignorant and laughable! I mean you seriously think that earth is the only planet capable of sustaining life when their are literally billions of other galaxies.. We live in 1 galaxy! I think that you are ignorant and it is laughable that you rule out aliens as a possiblity. I have no idea what happened that day.. and I will not pretend to… The more you know the less you now… Why is it that the Nasa Astronauts had a press conference recently about the government hiding info about UFO’s etc? I guess astronauts are laughable to you too huh? You don’t even have to do research. Just realize that you are human and that we have existed for a trivial amount of time compared to the universe… Wake up
July 22nd, 2008 at 15:11
How does anything you say explain the woman missing her tongue? How could soldiers kill people from the inside? The coroners said the deaths coudln’t be caused by humans.. How would they even move an RTG? How would they get it open? Radiation sickness doesn’t cause people to run 1 1/2 kilometers in 30 below Celsius. Theory just doesn’t explain anything really
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:42
If you didn’t post so many comments in a row, you wouldn’t have been caught by the spam filter. Generally, blog etiquette says that you carefully consider your comment, then post a single comment. Don’t keep coming back and adding more as you think of it.
July 23rd, 2008 at 18:29
I’ve had this problem every so often on my blog as well. It’s nowhere near as popular as yours, of course, but I have one person who feels the need to comment on every post, but not necessarily with something useful. I think it’s some kind of first-post-! syndrome, in my case.
I found these links which might be interesting:
http://www.lostartofblogging.com/the-comment-etiquette-the-guide-to-proper-blog-commenting
http://dariablack.wordpress.com/2007/02/13/the-bloggers-guide-to-comment-etiquette/
http://www.blogherald.com/2007/08/16/time-wasting-blog-comments-comments-policies-and-comment-etiquette/
October 6th, 2009 at 07:49
Well – let’s see. Avalanche. Hikers go insane with fear nd run away. Explains the shredded tent and why they ran away. Also possibly the orangeskin from lying down in the snow for days on end. The tongue — well, animals get hungry, no?
It is a bit of a mystery though, and I know that my proffered explanation doesn’t really clean up all the questions!
October 13th, 2009 at 01:48
Most likely answer Mushrooms! they where tripping and ran off into the snow and the chick bit her own tongue off, no brusing was because the sub-zero temps. 2nd most likely nerve gas as the area was used for u.s.s.r milatry training. that would explain the orange skin and the area being closed for three years after
November 14th, 2009 at 17:11
On the pic of the tent there is bulky snow on top of it. The snow does not seem to have blown there. Ho did that snow get there?