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Dyatlov Pass incident

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The Paranormal

Reported UFO activity in the region, along with radioactivity and a strange tan on the skin of the victims, has led some people to think that contact with a UFO caused their deaths. This version is advocated and has been popularized, particularly, by Vadim Chernobrov (known UFO investigation enthusiast) and his Kosmopoisk organization. Lev Ivanov, former police officer and official investigator in 1959, is also a supporter of this version. As all paranormal phenomena were kept in silence in the USSR (official ideology ignored them as being incompatible with the materialistic science), the advocates of UFO-version consider official secrecy of the case as another proof for their beliefs.

Some try to explain the disaster via the local myths and legends of Mansi, the indigenous people of the area. Indeed, the area is full of strange stories, and even the local toponymics seems mystical. Otorten, the goal of the expedition, translates from the Mansi language to "Do Not Go There". Kholat Syakhl, the site of the disaster, translates in the same language to "The Mountain of Dead". There is an old Mansi legend that Kholat Syakhl was named after nine Mansi men died on top of the mountain seeking salvation from the Flood in ancient times. This territory is considered by the local Mansi as "damned." They avoid visiting it when they go hunting or when they follow their deer herds, but there is no explicit taboo forbidding visiting the place, contradicting the theory that the travelers were punished by local people for invading a sacral zone.

The fantastic explanations inspired by Mansi legends tell about a magical evil spirit that had been evoked by travelers; others believe that a Yeti caused the deaths.

Murder

All explanations that the group had been attacked by other human beings face strong counter-evidence - there are no traces of any other people. There are only a couple of questionable things here; the empty sheath of a knife and a piece of cloth like that of a soldiers greatcoat, found near the tent and near the bodies in the stream valley. Yuri Yudin, who "survived" the accident (the one who had left the team at the start, out of bad health) had identified the owner of every other object and piece of clothing found around there, but not of those two.

There are several arguments about who the murderers may be:

  • Mansi shamans, who killed the hikers because of taboo violation, or for another ritual purpose. It seems to be completely wrong though it initially was the first surmise tested by the official inquest. As it was already said, despite of the dark legends neither Otorten nor Kholat Syakhl were sacred or tabooed places. The peaceful Mansi people are very friendly towards Russians and many of them helped to find the group (they are excellent hunters and pathfinders). And their beliefs are not related with ritual murders by any means (though they preserve some traditional ceremonies and cults, they are Christians).
  • Escaped prisoners. IvdelLag in the northern Urals, was a large part of the soviet Gulag-system. Although Gulag population had been reduced more than twice as a result of Khruschev's political amnesty campaigns ("the Thaw"), the numerous labour camps still functioned in Ivdel region, mainly because of its vast forest resources. The nearest camp was in Vizhai, from where the group started its march. This version, however, seems to be quite wrong too - no one will run away from the prison towards uninhabited land in sub-polar winter and without the basic equipment (skis). The skis of victims were untouched, as well as their food, money and the bottle of alcohol.
  • The security guard of a secret experiment. There is a version that the hikers accidentally entered a zone where testing of secret weapons was happening, when the security forces of that zone found and killed the hikers.
  • Wild animals seems to be quite improbable. Not one of them would have run 1,5 kilometers, out in the middle of the night in their underwear, because of an animal. Dyatlov's friends remembered that in another expedition he faced a bear, which they successfully chased away.

Soviet secret weapon

Another popular version is that the group had entered the range of experiments with a secret weapon or by chance got in an unscheduled accident with new weapon or spacecraft. Advocates of this version point to the known facts: strange light effects in the night sky, radioactive contamination, orange skin colour (which might come as a result of rocket fuel intoxication) and a level of secrecy around the accident. A few years ago, researchers found a ring of metal nearby. It looks like a rocket component, but some experts believe it does not date back to 1959.

Suspicion of military interests in that area has also been provoked by building a secret object nearby. It was, supposedly, a radar station, erected few years after the accident and in existence until the late 1980's. It could be a part of regional anti-aircraft defense system, massively reinforced after Gary Powers flight in 1960.

It is also suspicious that the military searchers inexplicably and flatly refused to evacuate the dead bodies in their helicopters. This fact is known from radiograms sent by a head of the rescue operation with angry complaints about the behavior of the military. The bodies were finally evacuated by a civilian helicopter. The reasons why the army pilots refused to carry the corpses even packed into impermeable bags are unknown and look strange. The supporters of the weapon theory think the pilots knew, or at least suspected, the causes of the disaster and of radioactivity.

The opponents of this theory note that there were no traces of explosions or fire near Kholat Syakhl. There were also no records of Soviet rocket launchings at that time. Moreover, there were no launching sites from which a rocket could reach the northern Urals (Plesetsk spaceport was ready to launch the rockets only at the end of 1959). It is also doubtful that the weapon experiments had been planned in a public place, instead of a special safe ground (like Semipalatinsk) complete with all infrastructure necessary for observing and registering the effects of the weapon.

Natural disasters

The experienced climbers suggested an avalanche as an explanation of the accident with the Dyatlov's group. They criticize Dyatlov for picking a dangerous place for the last camp. They say that the slope of the mountainside where the tent had been raised was steep enough to be in danger of an avalanche. By this version, snow on the slope above the camp was affected by the mounting of the camp. In a few hours it had slid down and closed the entrance to the tent. This explains why the people inside were forced to rip the tent to exit. The snow may have also had the power to cripple the bodies, but the rescuers mentioned nothing about traces of an avalanche near the camp. Moreover, it is unlikely that after the avalanche, three heavily crippled persons were able to travel 1,5 kilometers to their deaths.

It was suggested also that the relief configuration and the winds might cause an infrasound effect which led the people to panic. Running down the mountain slope, some of them fell over the rocks and got damaged.

References

Films

  • Dyatlov pass (Перевал Дятлова): 2000, TAU (Ural Television Agency) (ТАУ - Телевизионное Агентство Урала, 2000г.)

External links

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