Unexplained Mysteries

Dyatlov Pass Incident

 "If I had a chance to ask God just one question, it would be, ‘What really happened to my friends that night?’” The heartbroken words Yury Yudin.

You may think horror films are creepy, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. The Dyatlov Pass incident refers to an event that resulted in the deaths of nine ski hikers in the northern Ural mountains. The incident happened on the night of February 2, 1959 on the east shoulder of the mountain Kholat Syakhl (a Mansi name, meaning Mountain of the Dead. I'm not making this up. It's really called that). The tenth skier and only survivor is Yury Yudin who had to turn back due to feeling unwell before the first night camping. Normally he would sound like a suspect. However, one doctor investigating the case suggested that the fatal injuries of the three bodies could not have been caused by another human being, owing to the extreme force to which they had been subjected. Soviet investigators determined only that “a compelling unknown force” had caused the deaths, barring entry to the area for years thereafter. The mysterious circumstances and subsequent investigations of the hikers’ deaths have inspired much speculation.

Investigations of the deaths suggest that the hikers, for some utterly bizarre reason - perhaps being frightened by something - tore open their tent from within, departing barefoot in heavy snow; while the corpses show no signs of struggle, one victim had a fractured skull, two had broken ribs, and one was missing her tongue. Some were found wrapped in snips of ripped clothes which seemed to be cut from those who were already dead. Traces from the camp showed that all group members (including those who were found injured) left the camp of their own accord, by foot. According to sources, the victims’ clothing contained high levels of radiation. Why? Nobody knows

So long story short, these teens slashed their tent from the inside, instead of exited the flap, and trudges, practically naked (and by naked   I mean some didn't even bother putting on clothing or boots as they ventured outside into the bitter cold. Most went out into the snow barefoot or wearing only socks) through deep snow   in temperatures as low as –30°C (-22°F). Obviously they had died of  hypothermia soon after. Investigators found the footprints of eight or nine people leading away from the camp and down the mountain slope to a nearby forest. Near the edge of the woods were found the remains of a campfire, made using wet wood, and the first two bodies dressed only in underclothes. It seemed they had tried to climb a tree.

Injuries though no sign of struggle.

And abnormally high levels of radiation with an unknown source.  

Further deepening the mystery, why did the government seal all the files relating to the incident?

Many reasonable theories circled around after the incident but none that cover all of the horrific details like the radiation or the injuries such as the missing tongue and crushed skull. Some wondered if perhaps the indigenous Mansi people had murdered those members of the party who had not died of hypothermia. However. as mentioned earlier, further medical examination said the injuries made on the bodies were as powerful a blow as that in a car crash. Had they simply been frightened out of their tent and fallen into the ravine and then been crushed under the weight of falling snow? Possibly – but there’s more. Adding further to the sense of mystery were reports of bright orange spheres seen over the mountain the night the trekkers fled down the slope. Lev Ivanov was the chief investigator in 1959. He was told by officials to classify the investigation as secret and close the case. “I suspected at the time and am almost sure now that these bright flying spheres had a direct connection to the group’s death,” Ivanov has been quoted as saying.

Yuri Yudin, the member of the original party who survived, said he was asked to identify all the objects found and connect them to the victims. However, there were a few (such as a pair of glasses and a piece of cloth) which, together with document he had seen, led Yudin to suspect that not only had the military been at the scene before any rescuers, but that an official investigation was actually opened two weeks before the search team arrived.Later investigators found a “cemetery” of scrap metal in the area, heightening the possibility of military involvement in the deaths – perhaps due to experiments of some kind.

In 2008, six of the former rescuers and 31 independent investigators met to examine the case. They came to the conclusion that the military had somehow accidentally caused the deaths while carrying out testing. But what sort of tests? And exactly how did the victims who did not perish in the cold meet their end?