Koji K.
Skilled Investigator
I just came across the story of Dyatlov Pass in an SFgate editorial, and it is truly perplexing and even a little frightening.
The short version (I know, there never is a short version in these things, so please go ahead and read up on it yourselves) is that, in 1959, 9 students and experienced hikers went for a ski hike in the Ural Mountains. They didn't return. When a search party was sent, their (not fully clothed) bodies were found in the snow various distances from their camp site, their tent ripped from the *inside*. One member was missing her tongue. Traces of radiation were found on the bodies and the surrounding site. Causes of death were listed as hypothermia caused by an "unknown compelling force" and the incident was classified until the fall of the Soviet Union. Of course, UFO's were seen in the area at the time of death by a different hiking party not far from the area. (The mountain was called "The Mountain of Death" of all things by the local people.) Military helicopters wouldn't carry the bodies back from the site and friends and relatives had to charter a civilian helicopter to do it. The mountain was closed for two years following by the authorities.
"Fuller" stories here:
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2008/02/04/004.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_Accident
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/27/DDIDV8JI4.DTL
Here's the part that probably gave me the most eerie feeling of all, which wasn't commented on in any of the English language articles I read... the photos of the location in which this occured (with snow melted, I think- not 100% sure how close this is to the site, because the site was in Russian. Any help on this would be appreciated. I found the pic from the wikipedia article above, and the full cache of images both modern day of the site and from the expedition's recovered cameras here: http://www.e1.ru/fun/photo/view_album.php?id=32891&page=0.)
And three of the members, from the Moscow Times article, before leaving, which also chilled and saddened me if only because they look so, well, "normal".. how could this happen to them?
I'd love to hear Paul Stonehill's comments on this case. I'm surprised it's so little known (or at least was to me), it seems in a way weirder than even the Skinwalker Ranch and yet much, much, more well-documented.
The short version (I know, there never is a short version in these things, so please go ahead and read up on it yourselves) is that, in 1959, 9 students and experienced hikers went for a ski hike in the Ural Mountains. They didn't return. When a search party was sent, their (not fully clothed) bodies were found in the snow various distances from their camp site, their tent ripped from the *inside*. One member was missing her tongue. Traces of radiation were found on the bodies and the surrounding site. Causes of death were listed as hypothermia caused by an "unknown compelling force" and the incident was classified until the fall of the Soviet Union. Of course, UFO's were seen in the area at the time of death by a different hiking party not far from the area. (The mountain was called "The Mountain of Death" of all things by the local people.) Military helicopters wouldn't carry the bodies back from the site and friends and relatives had to charter a civilian helicopter to do it. The mountain was closed for two years following by the authorities.
"Fuller" stories here:
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2008/02/04/004.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_Accident
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/27/DDIDV8JI4.DTL
Here's the part that probably gave me the most eerie feeling of all, which wasn't commented on in any of the English language articles I read... the photos of the location in which this occured (with snow melted, I think- not 100% sure how close this is to the site, because the site was in Russian. Any help on this would be appreciated. I found the pic from the wikipedia article above, and the full cache of images both modern day of the site and from the expedition's recovered cameras here: http://www.e1.ru/fun/photo/view_album.php?id=32891&page=0.)
And three of the members, from the Moscow Times article, before leaving, which also chilled and saddened me if only because they look so, well, "normal".. how could this happen to them?
I'd love to hear Paul Stonehill's comments on this case. I'm surprised it's so little known (or at least was to me), it seems in a way weirder than even the Skinwalker Ranch and yet much, much, more well-documented.