Dyatlov Pass Incident

[Chris]

An unexplained incident in 1959 in which nine Russian "ski-hikers" died in the Ural Mountains. Here is Wikipedia's page on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident

I have just been reading this book on Kindle (reasonably priced, quite detailed, apparently balanced, though the translation from the Russian is a bit unnatural in places):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dyatlov-Pass-Keeps-Its-Secret-ebook/dp/B00EW7DKJU

Evidently there's something like a Russian version of Casebook working away at it (or rather several Russian versions of Casebook). None of the suggested explanations seems to explain all the data, though.

[Tom_Wescott]

Especially the ridiculous Bigfoot explanation. The Generation Why podcast guys, who interviewed me a few times, did a recent episode on Dyatlov Pass and I understand there's a couple of good books on the subject. Here in the states there was a recent documentary that wasted time on the Bigfoot and alien nonsense before getting into some of the more possible theories.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Batman]

I think the avalanche hypothesis is good. Snow falls on the tent. They cut themselves out from the inside. The echos cause them to think its still happening or else the rest of the avalanche didn't reach the tent. They run away from it into the woods. They die from hypothermia and exposure to the elements. Wild animals have fed on the corpses. Discovery is that of a tent collapse, ripped open from the inside with semi-naked trekkers in the woods with a brown look from exposure and bones showing from animal feeding.

[Chris]

I think the avalanche hypothesis is good. Snow falls on the tent. They cut themselves out from the inside. The echos cause them to think its still happening or else the rest of the avalanche didn't reach the tent. They run away from it into the woods. They die from hypothermia and exposure to the elements. Wild animals have fed on the corpses. Discovery is that of a tent collapse, ripped open from the inside with semi-naked trekkers in the woods with a brown look from exposure and bones showing from animal feeding.

I thought the avalanche theory came closest, but it still seemed to leave quite a few unanswered questions. It could really have been only a very limited snow slide, and could they really have been so panicked by that as to set off down the mountain leaving behind most of their clothing, their skis and their tent, condemning themselves to death in a few hours?

One odd detail, according to this web page -
http://www.dyatlov-pass-incident.com/ -
is that although hypothermia usually results in the bladder being emptied, two of the corpses had full bladders. One of them contained a litre of urine, which would be an extremely uncomfortable amount. If that's correct, it suggests there may have been some kind of pharmacological agent at work.

[Harry D]

Soviet weapons testing.

[Dupplin Muir]

Hallucinations caused by ergot poisoning.

[Batman]

If it was a weapon why wasn't the whole place radioactive and not just some clothes?

[Chris]

Hallucinations caused by ergot poisoning.

Actually, that was one of my thoughts too. Apparently it has been considered (although I gather ergot poisoning wouldn't be conducive to urine retention - rather the opposite).

[Mayerling]

Soviet weapons testing.

About a year ago there was a program about "bad" scientific experiments or errors that were hidden. This was one of the incidents, and they suggested that the hikers, unfortunately, were in an area that occasional got zapped by some testing of weaponry at a nearby missile range. The funny thing was the reaction of the two local police officials to the supposed uncovering of the story's true cause. One was all for revealing this to the public, in spite of the negative publicity it would bring on the military and the government. His associate (who was older, and dare I say wiser) lays the reality out in the end. It's going to be called in the official report a natural accident, and they are not going toe risk imprisonment (at least!!) in pursuit of truth that will make them really powerful enemies all the way to the Politburo.

Jeff

[Archaic]

Russian Documentary On Dyatlov Pass

Hi guys.

Here's a Russian documentary called 'Mystery of Dyatlov Pass'. Click on Closed Captioning for English subtitles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-60PSLPMtWM

I haven't had time to watch it so don't know what how good the film and its translation are, or what theories it may present, but I think it will be interesting to hear Russians discuss the incident.

It's pretty cool that there's a Russian 'Casebook' on Dyatlov. Does everybody bicker and argue about who killed who?

- Wow, wouldn't it be great to watch a Russian documentary on Jack the Ripper? I wonder if there are any? I suppose there's at least one in every language under the sun.

That would sure make for an intriguing International Film Festival, wouldn't it? International Ripperfest.

Uh oh - quick, one of you guys better trademark that name before it becomes ''The Official''!

A while back i heard a radio documentary on Dyatlov Pass - possibly the one Tom mentioned, though I kind of thought it was on 'Stuff You Missed In History Class'. If I come across it again I'll post the link.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Robert]

Wow, wouldn't it be great to watch a Russian documentary on Jack the Ripper? I wonder if there are any?

I don't know. There might be - Pedachenko etc.

[Archaic]

Podcast

Here's the podcast about the Dyatlov Pass mystery from 'Stuff You Missed In History Class': http://www.missedinhistory.com/podca...pass-incident/

Archaic