Possible resolution to the 9 dead Russian hikers mystery
In 1959, nine Russian hikers died in an extremely unlikely set of circumstances. I shan’t rehash everything here, so do read the linked post. But I happened to be hanging out with my friend Greg last weekend and he imparted to me an interesting theory he had about what caused the deaths of the Russian hikers. It seems plausible to me, much more plausible than anything I came up with (and certainly better than the laughable alien theories).
Russia entered the nuclear era with a bang, not a whimper. They saw nuclear technology as the next revolution in generating electricity. As such, they strove to use it everywhere, even when the safety concerns would seemingly override the value of using nuclear (but that’s Communist Russia for you). In particular, Russia employed a great number of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs). The particular model they used was about one meter by one meter by two meters, small enough to fit in pretty much any building. It generated energy not by conducting full-scale atomic fission like in a nuclear reactor but by harnessing the heat given off by the radioactive decay of Strontium 90. It’s the same technology we use to power our spacecraft which journey far away from the Sun (beyond the usefulness limit of solar panels).
The U.S.S.R. employed up to a thousand RTGs that we know of, many in remote lighthouses and navigation beacons. They are slowly being phased out with solar cells and battery packs today, but that technology wasn’t around in the 50s. All they had were the RTGs. And while the radioisotope source in the RTGs is theoretically well-encapsulated inside of a double layer stainless steel, aluminum, and lead casing, it’s easily possible for anyone with tools to gain access to the inside, inadvertently exposing themselves to a deadly dose of radiation.
With all of the background on RTGs taken care of, we return to the case of the nine dead Russian hikers. It is Greg’s theory that they stumbled across an RTG (which is not at all impossible given how widely they were used). The RTG was broken open, either by the hikers themselves, some outside actor, or a simple manufacturing defect. It was giving off heat and the hikers took it back to their tent to keep warm with, possibly mistaking it for some kind of heater. When they realized the true nature of it, probably after experiencing the onset of radiation sickness, they departed their tent in a hurry, stopping not even to put on their clothing.
But it was too late. They had already received a fatal dose of radiation, which they would have died from were it not from dying of weather exposure first. This theory explains many of the facts about the case: why the men fled a perfectly good tent, why they were found with high levels of radiation exposure, even why the military helicopter pilots refused to transport the bodies. The presence of the RTG isn’t mentioned in any of the surviving reports because it was covered up (this was Soviet Russia), and they authorities figured they would rather have the deaths remain an anomaly than have their prized nuclear technology be considered dangerous.
This theory explains pretty much all of the facts of the case except one: how did four of the deceased end up with severe internal injuries yet no internal wounds? The coroners noted the injuries were possibly caused by collision with a vehicle, except that there was no vehicle anywhere in sight. So maybe the source of radioactivity was part of some secret testing or training, and the hikers were first discovered alive by the military and then eliminated, leaving only corpses and a cleaned up scene for the hikers’ friends to stumble upon much later during the recovery search? Can you come up with a better theory?
In the end, I suspect we will never know the truth. The Communist government of Soviet Russia seems to have had good reason to cover up the particulars of this case. So in the end all of the facts were recorded as anomalous, while truthfully, there were people involved in a cover-up effort who knew exactly what happened.
March 10th, 2008 at 01:06
I mentioned a similar theory earlier, and the problem is that there’s no reason for a RTG to be in the area.
Incidentally, there was a lighthouse in the US experimentally fitted with an RTG in the mid-60s — Baltimore Light, which is about ten miles north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
July 22nd, 2008 at 14:48
Your theory hardly explains anything… How did the woman lose her tongue? How could the military have hurt them from only the inside? If the hikers were capable of walking over 1 1/2 kilometers from the tent they probably weren’t so sick from the radiation poisoning huh? If they were so sick from the radiation poisoning how could they possibly get 1 1/2 kilometers away? They were in a rush because of iminent danger! Not to mention that they would not be able to move an RTG! Or get it open with their available tools! Are you seriously saying that they found an RTG and opened it? Also, why is the alien idea laughable? We live in 1 galaxy. There are literally billions of other galaxies… I believe that it is laughable to think that among those billions of galaxies there are no other planets capable of supporting life. Also, people make the argument that we can see light years away and the aliens would have to travel at light speed to get here unseen. This is not true… With todays technology we could easily get around 200 years ago without being seen. Human years are an insignificant amount of time compared to the existence of the universe. Thus, if aliens do exist, and their civilization has been around for a long time… then they can probably get around without us seeing them or knowing they are there. (Like a stealth plane would get around cavemen). Oh and by the way… I am an engineer.. not some kid… I have done my research… I do not know what happened that day.. nobody does.. but ruling aliens out as an impossibilty is ignorant. The universe has existed for billions of years…. It goes back to the saying “the more you know the less you know.” Anything is a possibility…. Or I guess you magically figured out aliens don’t exist in your human life time by visiting billions of galaxies… If that is the case then I apologize. However, technology is relative… every generation feels they are on the cutting edge.. The truth is that in 100 yrs from now all current technology will be obsolete. There will be technology people of today could not fathom… And we will probably have technology that would allow us to get around todays world unseen.. That is in 100 yrs… Think about the possibilities in billions of years… I also suppose you feel that astronauts are laughable too… Nasa astronauts somewhat recently held a press conference stating that the government is hiding information about UFO’s etc. If you don’t want to do your research you can probably find the hour long CNN w/ Larry King that he just did a few days ago to get you started… Actually do some research before you talk about the existence of Aliens… Do you know anything about Astrophysics?? I do! I think you are ignorant! wake up people
July 29th, 2008 at 16:17
To Anonomous:
Who says you can’t walk 1.5km immediately after radiation poisoning?
Woman without the tongue… assuming above theory is true, she is about to die naked in the snow from a combination of radiation exposure and hypothermia, I doubt she would even notice it if she accidentally bit her own tongue during whole ordeal.
When did Nasa astronauts “somewhat” recently held a press conference stating that the government is hiding information about UFO’s “etc.” ???
The one hour Larry King was an interview on some guy who claimed he filmed an UFO. Judging by King’s interview style, he hardly has the credibility for making the official announcement that “We are being visited by aliens”
I doubt you are an engineer, you certainly do not speak like one… and how does astrophysics relate to aliens? You wouldn’t have brought that up if you really knew about it.
July 29th, 2008 at 16:56
Good theory.. however it still doesn’t explain about the 4 deaths with fatal skull fracture and crushed rib-cage, without any external tissue damage. Doesn’t seem like a result of radiation poisoning.
July 29th, 2008 at 21:53
“In Soviet Russia, cover-ups discover you.”
December 12th, 2008 at 01:49
It is indeed a well thought out idea, but the one fatal flaw I find is this….
If the injuries were indeed caused by a crash from a vehicle ( a victim biting off his/her own tongue inadvertently as the result of a car crash is not at all unbelievable ) A, how did such a powerful vehicle that could climb the mountain and carry the military men for the cover up, not break or knock over any trees that would surly have been notice?
And most importantly… how is it possible to erase the tracks in the snow from both the vehicle and the person/persons needed to execute the actual cover up? A key piece of evidence included in the incident is that there were absolutely no other tracks in the area besides the doomed hikers.
June 29th, 2009 at 22:15
How can anyone even guess what happened if there was a cover up? Any of the ‘evidence’ you are trying to piece together may be (lies) part of the the cover up. Probably no one can figure it out because it’s impossible because there are too many lies mixed in w/ half truths.
July 18th, 2009 at 16:55
This is one of the better explanations I’ve seen.
Fascinating story isn’t it? I’ve been reading about the Dyatlov pass incident for the past 6 hours or so! Good to see that there are others as interested in it as I am.
Top blogging!
Jonathan
July 27th, 2009 at 22:35
An RTG is too large to bring into the tent they had. But, I think you are on the right track. These were students that went to a university that had close ties to the Russian military. Maybe they had an experimental heater similar to what you had described with the RTG. I found it odd that they decided to camp in the open, when they could have stayed in the forest, much more protected from the elements, that was only a mile away. They couldn’t go back for their cloths if they were radiated.
The others that were crushed? Military cover up, fall, avalanche, etc..
I read reports that the lady missing the tounge was found in a flowing strem…Easily could have happened after she died or from a fall, avalanche etc…
September 3rd, 2009 at 20:26
“end up with severe internal injuries yet no internal wounds? ”
I think you meant to say external wounds, right?
Very interesting case.
November 9th, 2009 at 22:14
Rabies explains all of the reported injuries and actions.
November 12th, 2009 at 14:22
Are there any pictures of this case?
does anyone know?
February 5th, 2010 at 18:57
I’ve heard they cut off the tongue or anus skin for testing levels of radiation on a human of which i believe has caused the tan skin grey hair. Strong radiation weapons could cause only internal injuries maybe? I guess it was all planned.
January 31st, 2011 at 20:26
I think it’s interesting that the traumatic injuries occured in the forest. It would seem there was some kind of encounter in the woods. I imagine this was a terrifiying event. Something freaked them out to the point that they ran from the tent, perhaps in a state of hysteria. I read that one of the party may have exited the tent prior to the event: perhaps something else entered the tent? It could have just been noises outside. In a panic people will trample eachother. One of the team may have cut the tent to escape amidst the confusion.
One almost always heads to lower elevation when retreating on a mountain.
They probably made a fire on the edge of the woods frightened between going further or back ot the tent. They would be in desperate condition, it become virtually impossible to perform any kind of manual task as frostbite and hypothermia sink in. Getting a fire started is impressive given their condition.
Perhaps 4 venture into the woods looking for shelter and are attacked. My take would be some kind of entity in the trees. I don’t see any other explanation other than something truly sinister. I can’t even imagine. The remaining people would be frozen or near frozen and may have been compelled to retreat back to the tent (lesser of two evils)…there must have been some reason they didn’t want to go back to the tent…there must have been something there.
I do a fair bit of hiking and have spent many nights alone in the mountains. There is a kind of primal fear you just can’t shake when you’re alone like that. I wish I hadn’t read this! I was freaked enough without having this in the back of my head :)
July 29th, 2011 at 14:35
I am not very well read about the incident, however I don’t like the sound of “It couldn’t have been caused by a human”; the human body can produce a very large amount of force. Perhaps it is possible that 1 could have suffered a psychotic episode (worst episode ever).
His behavior could have caused the other campers to leave their safety of the tent in a hurry. This would explain the tent being ripped from the inside. He could have bludgeoned the one camper in the head. The other might have fallen biting off her tongue.
The attacker could have been in full sprint at someone who swung a full back pack into him. It is blunt and padded and could explain lack of external injury and likely the acceleration from the bag combined with the force of a man running at full speed would have produced enough force for internal injury.
The other campers would have been exhausted mentally and psychologically from the ordeal. Its likely they would have also been disoriented and simply froze to death where they were.
Once again I am not that well read on the incident, but this could in theory account for what I have read.
September 29th, 2011 at 05:34
One thing that has been ignored is the eyewitness testimony that there were orange orbs seen in the night sky in the direction of the incident by another group of hikers 50 kilometers away on the same evening. There were also allegedly reports of these orbs by other independent witnesses, the meteorology service, and the military from February to March of 1959. Also the victim with the missing tongue,… the tongue was MISSING, not just bitten. Seems it was removed for some reason. The cover up is typical of a government that does not want the public to know about things that they themselves do not understand. It’s a very intriguing story that I have just recently learned of and it fascinates me.
September 29th, 2011 at 15:26
Really going for the alien explanation. Very weird, but one thing is for sure, we do not have all the evidence. I don’t believe we should be so closed minded. At the moment there are pros and cons for all explainations.
More info is needed.
September 29th, 2011 at 17:26
I somewhat remember hearing this story years ago. I didn’t recall most of the details. I’m a firm believer in the notion that the most simple explination is usually the correct one. I’ll be damned if I can come up with a simple explination for this one though. The thing that really sticks with me is that there were no foot prints other than theirs leading to the tent. So what was it that frightend them to the point that they would run out of the only shelter on a February night in Russia? A bear or other wild animal would make sense, but no bear tracks. I’m also assuming that there was at least one gun in the party for protection, but there doesn’t seem to any evidence that they tried to defend themselves. This is one of those things where a big chunk of the story is missing. This missing chunk would probably probably lead to the simple explination. As for the Aliens, I believe it is possible that other life exists in the universe. But why would they travel millions of light years just to fuck up some Russians camping in the mountains. Seems like they would have better things to do. Bottom line, nobody has any idea and thats why its an intersting story.
September 29th, 2011 at 17:56
Any one have access to or have seen the actual autopsy findings?
September 29th, 2011 at 19:55
What about massive microwave bursts? That was my first thought.
October 6th, 2011 at 21:16
I just saw a report about this included on a television show in late September, early October of 2011. While I do not generally consider the referenced program to be an objective, unbiased source of accurate information (the focus of the program is on aliens and “Ancient Astronauts”), the details as reported seem to match the facts described above.
I mention it because they showed a number of very grisly photos and sections of film that were allegedly from the Russian investigation, so unless they misrepresented what these images were, visual images of the scene and the bodies do exist. I believe they said that these images became available as a result of the relaxing of information restrictions that followed the collapse of the USSR – much formerly classified information has been released. Frankly, I found some of the pictures to be quite disturbing. Seeing that show was my first introduction to this mystery, and I sought more information on-line.
The theory presented at the beginning of this discussion is an interesting one, and certainly has some compelling reasoning. My personal reaction to the RTG theory is this: another post already questioned whether an RTG was small enough to fit inside their tent. Based on the images I saw of the tents, I would definitely say the answer was no. Setting aside the size of such an object, how much did they weigh? I cannot help but think that it would have been too heavy for these people to carry using their own strength, under the conditions that existed on the mountain. And for that matter, where would it have come from? My understanding is that they chose to stop in the open, choosing to not return to the greater shelter of the forest, perhaps because of a turn in the weather.
The pictures I saw of their campsite did not show any sign of the type of structure an RTG would have been housed in. It was open,
empty mountainside devoid of so much as a dog-house. Lastly, even though this was the late 1950′s, and knowledge of radiation was likely limited, I think we should give credit to the fact that these were University students, and one might reasonably expect, fairly intelligent and well-informed young people. Even if a smart young person would not recognize the possible risk of taking an unknown
device into their tent simply because it was producing heat, what they would surely know was the likely repercussions of unauthorized use of/damaging of/moving of an object that obviously belonged to the Soviet Government. I agree that said government was likely to use force against its own citizens, and cover-up any incident that might cause embarrassment or a security breach. Surely those hikers knew this as well? I think they would have been unlikely to do anything that might get them in trouble with the authorities.
That said, I do believe that the Soviet government would have staged a cover-up and probably did. The question in my mind is… what exactly did they cover up and why? What was the nature of the information that they sought to suppress? Given the known actions of other world governments thought to be far more benevolent than the USSR, I don’t even rule out that some sort of weapon might have been tested on them. The main reason I find that unlikely is that I doubt the military would have used as targets someone as valuable as college students, when a disposable political dissident would do. However, I don’t think that theory explains
all the known facts, and that’s what I have yet to hear: a theory that does.
Here are the facts that puzzle me the most:
The various potential explanations I have heard put forth for the internal damage with no external injuries do not convince me.
Any of these impacts would at the least leave bruising on the skin. It is my understanding (perhaps wrong) that none was present.
My understanding was that the young woman’s entire tongue was missing, and to appearances, had been cut out. Since she was to my knowledge the only one with this bizarre damage, the possible explanations boggle the mind. There was a time when one’s tongue might have been cut out to prevent them from giving testimony against an attacker, or revealing some secret, but in an age of literacy that’s hardly effective! I was also given the impression that at least one of the others had some sort of damage that was perceived as deliberate mutilation, but I’m afraid I don’t remember what it was right now.
I admit that I don’t know a great deal about the effects of radiation exposure. But from what I do know, the impression I have is that if a person were subjected to a sufficient source of radiation to cause the symptoms I saw in those photographed corpses, death would have been nearly instant. My first impression when I saw the images was that these were old bodies of people that had died on the mountain a long time ago…you may have seen examples of corpses recovered from extremely cold regions where they are sort of “freeze-dried” by the elements, almost mummified. That was the way these looked to me. I assume that’s the reason the accounts said that some of the bodies appeared to be “prematurely aged”. In addition, the first thing I would expect from radiation sickness would be hair loss. I don’t recalling seeing that, except in the case of those bodies that looked like they’d been exposed to intense heat, and appeared burned. (A further detail of that which bothers me is that there wasn’t a bare patch of earth where the snow had been melted?)
My opinion? My opinion is that I can’t explain the condition of the bodies, particularly the highly varied condition of them, and especially given where they were found. Its clear to me that whatever prompted them to leave the tent, it was sufficiently terrifying
and/or threatening that they were not thinking beyond momentary survival, or were hysterical. You do not tear your way out of your tent in the middle of the night and run out onto a snow-covered mountainside BAREFOOT unless something is triggering your survival instincts on a most basic level. So what was it? It seems logical that if the threat was outside, they wouldn’t have rushed out of the tent? What could have been inside the tent to illicit that response? The tent I saw footage of was wrecked, but apparently most of the damage was done from the inside…
While I too prefer the simplest explanation, I don’t rule out so-called “super-natural” explanations, of whatever kind. My feeling is that many things we now consider hard science were the mumbo-jumbo of the past. The computer on which I’m typing this is powered by electricity, that in ancient Greece might have been seen as a manageable tool only in the hand of Zeus!
October 12th, 2011 at 20:33
i think the theory is the a good realistic approach to what may have happened. I think the reason there was internal damage may have been from a nuclear energy wave that was released when they opened the reactor. That could easily explain the internal injuries without very much external tissue damage. think about if you put a hot pocket in a microwave, if it is in there very long, it will release its internal contents because of the microwaves and pressure, but the outside is not changed very much at all. why couldn’t this be the same in this situation? it isn’t that I don’t believe in UFO’s, I do, but usually, the simplest explanation is the correct one, ask Einstein.
October 12th, 2011 at 22:18
It would seem to me that in the age of Bigfoot hunts, crop circle investigations and high tech ghost detecting equipment, this would be a magnet for conspiracy theorists and supernatural buffs. Of all the unexplained obsessions people gravitate to, this is the most compelling story I’ve heard, well, ever. Get on it people! Sample that soil, exhume the bodies, pick apart the reports. I would read that book.
October 13th, 2011 at 00:41
This is so interesting, but I get scared with stuff that have anything that have to deal with aliens or UFO
October 13th, 2011 at 04:06
OK, well I saw the program “Ancient Aliens” on the History channel and became quite interested in this story. I read several articles and thought a couple people here had some very constructive things to say. While I don’t discount a possibility of the idea that it might be an attack from some ET’s, I agree with the idea that there are some major holes in this story. Considering the time frame that this happened, I think the Russian government has probably hidden some pieces of this puzzle for security reasons and/or have withheld vital information because they can’t really explain it either………………….?????
October 13th, 2011 at 18:08
This would be a very plausible scenario if it wasn’t completely hypothetical. With the exception of statements of radiation contamination (they didn’t say what kind, strontium, plutonium or other) and the reports of a scrap metal.
The potential scenario is that they discovered a plane crash that was carrying a RTG. These things weigh 14 lbs and have a surface temperature of 300 degrees centigrade. It is plausible that, if this occurred, they would take it to their tent to use for a heat source. Not realizing that they were receiving a fatal dose of radiation (if the containment and shielding was damaged in a crash).
This doesn’t explain why they cut open their tents or why they fled in their underwear at -25C.
It also doesn’t explain the injuries.
The only explination is that they died from the radiation and the other injuries, the cutting of the tent, even the state of the bodies being partly clothed could be caused by a coverup. There is no real reason why the military would do this, since the use of these energy sources was fairly commonplace and not top secret. However, if another type of source was used that was secret or if they simply didn’t want to take responsibility for it, or other reasons (psyops agains the u.s.) then they could do this thing.
Definitely a creative hypothesis!
October 13th, 2011 at 19:02
I saw this story on Ancient Aliens as well and let me tell that is not a reliable source of information. They give you half truths surrounded by whole lies, intentional disinformation. You have to remember no matter how controversial a show is, tv is illuminati holy ground. Nothing happens there without their knowledge and approval. Now having said that i do believe in aliens. I believe these hikers ran into something scary enough to make them haul ass for 1.5 kilometers barefoot through the snow and ice. Not much will scare grown men like that.Not a bear, wolves, or any other kind a animal. Not soldiers with guns, not random RTG just laying there would make them run either. Then the bodies are found and there’s radiation poisoning? A tongue missing, bodies crushed only inside with no damage to skin. Discoloration in patches on the skin, ect. These poor people were mutilated. Toyed with then mutilated. Whatever attacked them could have killed them within seconds, but didn’t. Why? Do you know what a Draconian is? They are big, violent, technologically advanced, and reptilian. Yes these are the “Snake Gods” and “Lizard men” and demons spoken of in antiquity. They are called Draconians because they come here from the Draco star constellation. They have many bases on earth, all are underground, all in or near mountains or mountain ranges. I believe these hikers had the misfortune of being attacked by Draconians. This would explain the fear, they saw a 12 foot tall lizard man in their camp. This would explain the radiation poisoning, Draconains use nuclear power as a form of energy and as a weapon. That would also explain the round spots of discoloration on the skin, getting hit with a blast of radiation from a projectile weapon. This would explain how they had shattered insides and no real blunt force evidence on the outside as well as the premature aging, the best two examples of advanced technology being used. As crazy as this sounds it makes since when nothing else dose.You also have to wonder why whatever they saw was chasing them. They ran for 1.5 kilometers, something was RIGHT behind or above them the entire time. Why else would they KEEP running barefoot in knee deep snow and ice for 1.5 kilometers? Why if they were attacked by Draconians would they chase them? Why not kill them at the camp sight and save the time and effort with their advanced technology. They were killed on the edge of a forest, just before reaching some kind of refuge from something above them. Remember, only the hikers tracks were ever found. There isn’t a lot a 10 or 12 foot tall Draconian is scared of. It is reported that they can not experience the emotion of fear. Naturally anyway. They can however, extract the chemicals in the brain that causes fear and use it like a recreational drug. A short burst of fear, terror, helplessness, all the things they are incapable of feeling. This might explain why they killed just short of the forest.If i’m running in an open field from something above me, i’d feel at least a little better seeing this big lush thick, covered in snow and ice forest i might able to hide in. Thus if i reach the forest that level of fear might go down just a bit, but enough to make me take action. After all those who take drugs, want the best they can get, period. Given the brutality of this attack, the fact they were near and going to a mountain range, the radiation poisoning, the ripping out of a tongue, the fact the something big and nasty had to have made grown men run just as fast as the women, the mutilation, the fact that they were killed just before reaching some kind of refuge particularly from something above them, the fact that they are close to areas of Russia that have always had activity, all these things to me point not only to aliens but specifically to Draconians.They are the biggest, nastiest, most violent creatures capable of space travel in our milky way galaxy.David Icke is a great source of real information regarding Draconians, or anything else.
And if she had swallowed her tongue, don’t you think they would have mentioned that in reports? Don’t you think they would have found it either near her body or in her stomach? So your thing about radiation poisoning is laughable at best. Only a few of the hikers had the radiation poisoning, not all 9, yet all 9 were killed in some fashion. If only we could see what they saw….
October 13th, 2011 at 19:15
I also wanted to mention that your “RTG” theory is absolutely ludicrous. If the hikers had brought some sort of device they had found into their tent, don’t you think they would have found it? DUH! lol People are so brainwashed, which is exactly what they want to happen. All the conditioning of our minds to believe that anything involving aliens is not true. They want us to believe the things that you people believe. You’re all just puppets. lol
Seriously, you mention in the blog that alien theories are laughable? LMFAO THEY’RE THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, how much more irrefutable evidence must one see to finally stop calling believers “crazy” and instead look at themselves as blinded and brainwashed individuals.
To the people that find alien theorists “laughable”, well your arrogance is one day going to kill you. Who are we to believe that our planet, one of the youngest in our galaxy and in the entire known universe, is the only planet supporting life? Heck, it’s already a KNOWN fact that life DID exist on Mars. They just recently found a large forest with natural lakes so it’s safe to say that there’s probably life on it still today. So yeah, if you’re the one laughing at alien/ufo theorists, then you’ll be one of the first casualties when shit hits the fan, because your arrogance and ignorance has blinded you and led you to believe something totally unbelievable.
Think about it, sheeple…..
October 13th, 2011 at 19:19
Dude the official report says that they died of hypothermia. They said that because they had NO IDEA what happened. Why the HECK would 9 grown people RUN barefoot in below freezing temps for 1.5 kms if it was just a 14 pound RTG, and why wouldn’t they go through the front of their tent? Why slice through it?
They were obviously scared…
October 16th, 2011 at 10:55
I would not be so quick to dispense with the “alien” theory given your friend’s interesting and plausible theory. As you may know there are hundreds of “anomalous” structures on the moon which we have not been told about. And then there’s the human mutilations that nobody can explain especially the white sands incident with the sergeant which was ruled a murder at first. Everybody here is entitled to their opinions and we simply do not know the answer yet. My hunch is that we are being observed by EBT’s and that there are many different interdimensional beings out there that the government knows about. They probably feel that mass panic would happen if they told the public we were a biological experiment gone awry, and that we were manufactured by someone else to be expendable. After all we’ve proven ourselves to be the most barbaric animal on the planet and we would not put it past a person being responsible for this tradegy. So alien or person does it really matter. 9 people are dead and no one knows why.
October 19th, 2011 at 09:44
you’re saying aliens is a laughable theory?? You are truly ignorant, please realize there are more stars in the universe then there are grains of sand on earth, and in a single handful of sand there is about a million grains of sand. If you truly think that its a laughable theory that aliens visit earth you need to realize what it is you’re thinking and realize humans are not as signifacant as u think we r. I’m sorry but your theory is quite laughable. An RTG LOL! Btw I’m only 16
October 20th, 2011 at 03:03
Well after doing a little research on this subject I myself found the proof i needed to believe what i have always thought to be true. I dont know what it will take for our race as humans to get over our differences and realize there is more to life than this planet. Once every one gets some common sense and gets over there own fear of not being alone in the universe maybe we can advance as a civilization and open new doors with other races that would consider us now to be barbarians. The human race is good only at 1 thing, hurting each other. We try to learn from the past and yet it keeps repeating itself with bloodshed. No one cares for anyone who isn’t part of there circle. I read recently a group of translators say that the bible was grossly misinterpreted. I don’t believe this 100% yet but if u read on there site some of the translations they have already deciphered it would answer any of our questions we have on aliens/inter dimensional beings and god himself. These people died because they feared the unknown and this will be the outcome of anyone who doesn’t get with reality.
December 2nd, 2011 at 02:09
It had to be aliens/UFO. If the russian government was conducting raditation tests, this area would have been off limits to civilian personal. Look at area 51 in the states. There is no way that they would carry out secert tests an just let 9 hikers just walk right into death zone . The russian/military had no role in thes hikers deaths. Many other hikers saw bright orange spheres in the same area as where these unlucky hikers set up there tent. In the middle of the night a UFO hoovered very near the tent and gave off heat or radition .The hikers knew they were in mortal danger and ran for their lives. The bodies all had orange skin and gray hair from the raditation. They knew they had no time to gather pants, coats and boots. Get away fast before we are t
oasted.They climbed the pine tree to see if the UFO was still near their tent on top of the mountain. When the UFO was gone 3 hikers desperetly tried to get back to the tent to retrieve warm clothing and didnt make it. They had been in the harsh elements over 2 hours and hypotheromia had set in . The other 4 had 2nd encounter with the UFO and this time it killed the hikers with the high pressure injuries and cut out the girls tongue. UFOs kill cattle in the states on cut out the animals tongue just like this case. The high pressure injuries targeted only the 9 skiers ;no other damage was inflicted in the surounding land, trees , or snow. If there was an accidental explosion there would have been damage to the surrounding area. Since there was no damage something targeted the last 4 skiers.
December 3rd, 2011 at 23:33
A very, very fascinating and tragic event. It has left us all with such a mystery. Some points that stand out to me:
1. The fact that the tent was torn from the inside. What does this tell us? A lot. It was pitch dark. They were abruptly awoken out of their sleep. There was no time, not even seconds to spare to try to find the tent’s natural opening. There was complete panic. People were up on their feet in a flash and looking for the exit. The tent door fastenings were done up to keep the warm air in. There was no time to unzip or untie, instead just rip an opening from inside. But did they do that with their bare hands, or did someone have a knife? A couple had only enough time to put on one shoe while waiting for the others to exit. Then they all ran like hell, into freezing whether, in the middle of nowhere, when it was pitch dark, in their underwear or minimal clothing. The main conclusion from the ripped tent from the inside is: panic, rush, terror, adrenaline. No time to think or plan. They were awoken out of sleep by something terrifying. If it were sounds of men outside, they would have simply opened up the tent door in order to investigate. A ferocious animal could have caused this sort of panic. Or an alien light, sound, or heat blaring down from above. But if it was merely men, even angry men, they would more likely have hovered inside the tent instead of rushing out.
2. On the other hand, the fact that it was the women’s tongue that was cut out, makes me feel like it may have been men. Locals or military. A sociopath soldier with a hatred of women, could have done that. But the fact that it was the woman who lost her tongue is telling. If it were aliens, why would they choose the woman only to do that to? What would be their motivation. But certainly it is plausible some backwards local gang of men, or violent soldiers could do something like that. I.e., it seems personal, perhaps sexually motivated.
3. The fact that 5 meters of branches were off on the large tree they hovered under means something. It means it was light enough out for them to see at a distance. It means hours passed from the time they fled from the camp to the time they climbed the tree. If it was pitch dark out when they left (and it is pretty certain it was, as one account stated it appeared as if they were all blinded–try pitch darkness in the mountains instead), then the fact that they climbed a tree for a lookout implies it was light again, perhaps dawning, so they would climb a tree to try to figure out how to get back to their camp. And in fact, 3 went on their way back to the camped, and all died of hypothermia before reaching it. But my question is, what happened to the initial threat that caused them all to flee their camp? Why did they feel safe enough to return to the camp a few hours later once it got lighter? And why were none of them harmed AT the camp? If it were a gang of locals come upon them, why weren’t all the hikers murdered right there? We can deduce that the initial threat that woke up the sleeping hikers and caused them to flee their camp in their underwear, a couple hours later was gone. They had time to light a fire to try to keep them warm. And to climb a tree as a lookout. But it was too cold to stay there, so 3 decided to go back. They never would have made that trek back if the initial danger was still there. Could it be that the threat followed the 4 hikers who suffered violent deaths, so that the remaining 5 were safe? Did the attackers only take those 4? If it were radiation, this scenario would make no sense. If it were military, why only 4 taken and mutilated, if it were an alien encounter (the orange orbs), would those 3 hikers ever feel safe enough to try to go back to their camp?
4. The hikers were found dead in 3 different areas. 3 were found frozen to death, all facing the direction of the camp, all a couple hundred meters apart from each other. 2 were found frozen to death next to a campfire under the lookout tree. They were in their underwear. The other 4 were found all in 1 group at the bottom of a ravine 4 meters (I believe) underneath snow. Only these last 4 apparently met with violent deaths. Crushed chests, a cracked head, and a missing tongue. It seems like the first 5 were waiting around, the threat was over, some headed back to camp, some hovered around the fire instead. Why didnt all 5 head back? Why did none of these 5 meet with violent deaths? It was stated that the 4 who died further into the forest, had clothing from some of the other hikers. Had the other hikers already died? So they took their clothing, then headed out? Where were they going? At one point, they must have all been hovering around that tree, discussing what to do. Perhaps there was a disagreement. Some wanted to head back to the camp as they felt it was their only hope of survival. Others were either too afraid to go back to the camp, or felt like they had a better chance by going deeper into the woods–maybe in search of other hikers that could help them. Why the 2 were left just sitting there dead at the campfire is baffling. Perhaps they were too sick from the hypothermia to move at all. They weren’t well enough to try the walk back to camp or the walk deeper into the woods. So the others waited until they died, then took their clothes and left.
5. Now for a very far fetched possibility. No one has brought up the idea that foul play could have occurred. Not everyone who ventured out on the expedition died. 1 survived, because he was “too sick” after just one day of hiking to continue on. Love motivates people to kill. Most murders are done of passion in fact. Some psychopaths will arrange what appears to be a natural disaster, just in order to murder one individual without ever causing a modicum of suspicion. Just saying. Doubt this is the cause, it would be so far fetched, but once again I think about the gal with her tongue cut out…. the one he is hugging right before he left (there is a photo). He knew where they were, where they were heading, and that they were completely vulnerable.
6. These guys were all university students in Soviet Russia. If this were some sort of military weapon experiment as some has suggested, what a golden opportunity for the military to try their weapon on a group of completely helpless individuals out in the middle of no where in treacherous conditions. (Also do not think this is the true scenario though).
I hope one day more evidence will be released and more answers can be had!
December 5th, 2011 at 23:27
The dr. said the 2 of the hikers suffered internal injuries so traumatic that it was equivalent to being hit in a car crash, yet with no external tissue damage. Not many things can do that. How about a time traveling experiment gone wrong? One of the hikers was found with 2 watches on, each showing different times, about half an hour apart. Anyone ever hear of the Philadelphia experiment? It is possible since all were students who attended a technological Russian university, they were set up unknowingly for this time experiment. Perhaps the one who turned back was had some part in getting the whole excursion going and was in cahoots with the masterminds. The leader was skeptical about including the 37 year old. He wasn’t known to the leader as the others were, only recommended. He wasn’t a university student as all the others were. He was the one found with the 2 watches on. I find it strange that the trip was so well documented with photos, at that day and age, as if someone was told to catalog it every step of the way. Time travel experiment would explain the radiation on the clothes, the graying hair, and the inexplicable injuries–as if they were squeezed to death. It seems very odd even with the weather turning that bad, that these expert hikers would not go the extra 1 mile to camp in the forest for protection, but instead pitched their tents right in the open. Also, they were off course and not in the location they were intended to be (perhaps on purpose) when they died. Very interesting story. Read up on the Philadelphia experiment and see what you think.
December 11th, 2011 at 17:00
I think Ben’s Philadelphia experiment is the closest theory I’ve read here so far. It would explain allot of the details, whether it is alien or not, something did happen. This will be one of the greatest mystery I’ve crossed.
December 19th, 2011 at 02:22
I recently saw this on Ancient Aliens & it interested me. I wonder what really happened? You all seem to have great theories or possible explanations to this mystery though I think that the beginning to this story could have been different than what everyone thinks it to be. I have no clue but maybe the tent wasn’t theirs? It may have been set up already and this was all a trap? Maybe they were on drugs and the internal injuries of some of the members we caused by that? We need to assume different beginnings to get more explanations and hopefully find one that explains all the details. Also, I actually do believe the aliens theory as well, after watching AA on History channel. People always ignore the alien/UFO theories since they seem so bizarre but they’re actually not. If you actually examine from the sources we have, aliens are just like us but more technologically advanced. I suppose their technology could be the solution, but why would they do this? I wish one of the members were still alive today!
December 20th, 2011 at 21:26
Anything is plausible I suppose, I’m thinking okay what if they settled down for the night and something from the sky came down upon them, others have said that they’ve seen orange orbs in the area… I’m thinking that this craft settled right above the camp exposing its underside to the tents below and in turn giving off radiation and heat. Because of what was happening one of the hikers could not stand the tremendous heat and used the knife to cut himself out. I’m thinking also of the internal injuries that were found and only assume that those hikers were picked up into the air and dropped including the woman who’s tongue was bit in half because of the tremendous strain upon her. Others scattered as to the forest but being basically radiation toast they perished with hypothermia.
December 29th, 2011 at 09:21
OK, so these are the questions I have that no one seems to have answered definitively yet.
It was -30, Celsius!! I don’t care what kind of heating or blankets they had in that tent, there is absolutely NO WAY they would have been just hanging around in their underwear! They would have been bundled up to the top of their heads! Ever heard of paradoxical undressing?
The four hikers found with “mysterious” internal injuries were found under over 12 feet of snow, at the bottom of a ravine! Avalanche anyone? And the missing tongue? Scavengers? Orange skin… if these bodies were lying in the white, reflective snow under the sun for weeks, I’m sure they wouldn’t remain a healthly tan colour.
Radiation and “orange glowing lights”… does anyone wonder why these ‘facts’ weren’t mentioned until years after the incident? I could even buy the radiation, camping lights in those days commonly contained thorium and were widely notorious for leaving radiation contamination wherever used.
And to those who insist on Aliens… Aliens do exist, mathematically it’s almost certain. It’s not a question of whether they exist, it’s a question of can we ever contact them, or they contact us. Yes, technology evolves at great rates every year, but the laws of physics have never budged. We’ll never contact aliens, and they’ll never contact us. The distance is just too great. Deal with it!
January 4th, 2012 at 02:42
Just saw this story on Ancient Aliens on History Channel, and am amazed by this mystery. There’s a lot of good conjecture here. I wonder what the one hiker who had to leave early, had to say regarding the incident. I’m sure someone would have interviewed him regarding this, in the aftermath.
I’d hazard a guess that one or more hikers indeed awoke to an immediate and immense threat, causing them to panic & cut their way out of the tent. Considering there were no tracks in the snow, other than the hiker’s themselves, the threat probably came from one of two (or both?) places: 1) Within; someone “psyched” themselves out (bad dream?), freaked, and cut the tent open to escape (thereby basically ruining the habitat protection of the whole group) 2) Above; something in the air above the tent. Military plane/helicopter, strange orange glowing orb, UFO, something. Whatever it may have been, it scared the crap out of one or more hikers, and they felt they’d die if they didn’t flee the tent immediately. I’d be interesting to see an aerial view of the tent area. See the vegetation & topographical layout, and paths they made as they fled the tent. You typically run away from danger, unless there’s a physical obstruction, or the object was directly over the tent.
There could be many many logical reasons for why the different hikers were found in the three different locations. Like many have said KISS; the simple reason is the most likely one. The immediate threat subsided, and a few decided to try & retrieve clothing from the tent (do they give some of their clothing to those staying behind, knowing they’ll get new stuff from the tent?), and died enroute due to hypothermia. The others remained near a fire they’d started, to wait for the three to return with clothing. I guess we should also “map” the demographics(?) of who died where, see if the three going back to tent could have been stronger types more likely to make a riskier trip. Of the group at the fire, two are weak/sick & die, since the clothing never comes. The remaining four take clothing from the dead @ the fire site, and strike out for the relative safety of the forest, possibly?
At this point, maybe the original unexplained threat returns, and thus the remaining four are dispatched, hence the unexplainable internal injuries. It’s the internal injuries that have me stumped. I’m sure some CSI-type could have an explaination, but in Russia circa 1959, we must KISS. Unless of course, some advanced technology is involved.
I do believe that radiation, obviously, is involved. My guess it came from whatever threatened them from above, unless they had the bad luck to stumble upon some radioactive waste that was top secret to the Govm’t/military. Hmmm, 1959 Russia. Could there have been a previous military crash out there, long buried by the snows? A plane that had atomic cargo, or maybe a failed space launch of some sort. Not sure when CCCP first started rocket launches. If there’s a map of where things went lost/missing form the Soviet military/space program, maybe something was in that general vicinity.
More info is needed. hopefully someone has the resources to cross-check some of this stuff. Maybe just maybe, they’ll sove this mystery for us. Or maybe, they’ll find that none of the obvious happened, and then we’re left with the possibility that non-Earth powers were in play.
Things I’m left wondering: 1) what caused the internal injuries? 2) what caused the “aging” of the corpses? (unless it’s very easily related to readiation exposure, which I’m unsure of).