Dyatlov Pass - Bizarre Incident

February 1959, Russia’s Ural Mountains, 9 Skiers Found Dead

Aug 17, 2009

Ten cross country skiers led by Igor Dyatlov, set out for adventure. Yuri Yudin became ill and stayed behind. He and many others have theories, but no true explanations.

A group of cross country skiers on Russia's Ural Mountains set up camp on the slope of Kholat-Syakhl on February 2nd around 5:00 p.m. as evidenced by photos and diaries. When the group left for the journey, Dyatlov promised to send a telegram as soon as they returned to Vizhai, which he said would be by February 12th.

When Yudin and the group parted ways, Dyatlov said they probably return a few days later than planned. On February 20th, after relatives raised the alarm, the institute sent out a search-and-rescue team. Later, the police and army dispatched aircraft in an attempt to find the missing skiers.

Dyatlov Pass, February Twenty-sixth

There are two accounts of what the searchers found. According to the first, the bodies of the nine victims, with orange skin and grey hair, were scattered over a wide area. Two had head injuries, two had severe internal chest injuries and one had no tongue. None had any external signs of trauma.

According to the second version, the rescuers found the tent, torn open from the inside and covered with snow, which held the group‘s abandoned belongings. There were footprints that led down the slope toward the forest and disappeared after 1640 feet.

The first two bodies were at the forest’s edge under a pine tree. They were barefoot and wearing underclothes. Charred remnants of a fire were nearby. The next three bodies were found between the tree and the camp. It took two months to find the remaining skiers. Their bodies were found buried under 13 feet of snow in a ravine, 246 feet away from the pine tree. One’s skull had been crushed, two had numerous broken ribs. One had no tongue. The bodies had no external wounds.

Both accounts agree that their clothes had high levels of radiation. Authorities opened a criminal investigation. Autopsies failed to find evidence of foul play. Investigators said the group died as a result of a forceful unknown power, then abruptly closed the case and sent files and boxes with the skiers’ organs to a top secret archive.

Dyatlov Pass, Avalanche Theory

One theory on the skier's deaths holds that avalanches caused the deaths of the nine skiers. Avalanches pose a danger on slopes steeper than 15° and the slope immediately above the campsite was at 22-23°, and, at 164 to 328 feet above the campsite, 25-30°.

This theory is problematic because it doesn’t account for the radiation and the bodies’ conditions.

Dyatlov Pass, Military Testing Theory

The event at Dyatlov Pass happened during the era of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. Journalists trying to write about the incident had their books and articles censored. Investigators found official records to be classified or missing. Could radioactivity from a secret weapons test drive have caused the incident?

Six rescuers and thirty-one experts met to seek answers about the tragedy. Despite the lack of records, they concluded that the military had been carrying out tests in the area and had unintentionally caused the deaths with the disclaimer that they lacked documents from the Defense Ministry, the FSB and the space agency to provide them with complete information.

Dyatlov Pass, UFO Theory

Some people think UFOs caused the deaths because there were reports from others in the region who saw mysterious bright orange spheres in the direction of Dyatlov Pass. Declassified files contain testimony from a group of adventurers who camped about 5,368 yards south of the skiers on the second who said they saw strange orange spheres floating in the sky in the direction of Kholat-Syakhl.

Finally, in 1990, Chief Investigator, Lev Ivanov, said he had been ordered by senior officials to close the case and classify it as secret. They’d been troubled by reports from multiple eyewitnesses, including the weather service and military, that bright flying spheres were sighted in the area in February and March 1959. At the time, Ivanov suspected and was, then, almost sure that these spheres had a direct connection to the skiers’ deaths

What really happened during the night of February 2nd, 1959, may never be known.