Mysterious story

[analog_warrior]

The orange tint to the bodies makes me think of poison or radiation. Maybe the ingested something or came in contact with something that made them co grazy? But it is kinda creepy that they all wanted to get out of the tent as quick as possible. And then the 2 guys tried to get back, like they relised their mistake or something....

[Jok3r]

Interesting story. I'm Russian myself, and have not heard about this, nor have my parents, I believe. Realistically, I think we can rule out monsters, especially since no evidence of it has been discovered. Like some of the members said, it's likely that one of the hikers went mad, or perhaps they were attacked by another human-being.

[Loonboy]

On the surface this story is very interesting and definitely creepy.

From the texts, the suggested possible explanations would seem to include: murder, government/army coverup & murder, madness, mythical dwarf people and on...

If you condense the story down, these folks camped out on this hill/mountain top and something disturbed them when they were sleeping. They cut their way out of the tent and fled into the woods below. Some of them had mysterious injuries but others did not. They huddled together in the woods in freezing temperatures wearing minimal clothing (if any). Some seemed to try and make fires to keep warm and some seem to have decided to go back to the tent for shelter. But by then it was too late and they were dying from the cold & their injuries.

The unanswered questions are: what caused severe internal injuries to some of them without affecting the outer tissue? Why did whatever it was that did this, let them escape to run away down to the woods to die? Why didn't the others have the injuries? Why were there no traces of anything/anyone else at the site?

The lack of prints on the ground around the tent and the lack of bite marks on the bodies suggests that it was not a wild animal.

The military coverup does not make sense. If they wanted to hush up those folks and kill them, why leave the bodies at the site? Why not just take them & destroy them elsewhere, leaving no evidence?

The missing tongue suggests the classic cattle mutilation theory - which would fit in with the lack of physical traces at the site and also the remoteness of the mountaintop location.

It does, however, remind me of the stories from the Cairngorms in Scotland involving the supposed Grey Man of Ben MacDhui with similar night time mountain top encounters and people fleeing in terror.

I'm undecided.

[capeo]

There's pics over here:

http://www.e1.ru/fun/photo/view_album.php?...&page=2#top

I've been a mountaineer for many years (mostly in the sierras but have been to patagonia and the italian alps as well) and none of this sounds all together incredible. It sounds like a small avalanche or two. If you look at those pics it seems like an avalanche did block the front of the tent a bit. If you were sleeping and you heard an avalanche you'd do everything you could to get the hell out of there and head for the tree line. You wouldn't wait to put gear on. They might have been afraid to return to the exposed area until daybreak and tried to stick it out and died of exposure. All the injuries mentioned could be attributed to avalanche or falling. I've seen what happens to someone after falling almost 400 feet onto stone. They get pulverized but usually don't have many obvious outer wounds aside from bleeding from orifices. The torso crushing is quite consistent with avalanche victims who get swept into trees. Other possibilities are simply a bad storm. It looks like they had a canvas tent. Extreme wind can shred a tent like that leaving them open to the elements. Hypothermia will having you stripping your clothes off near the end. The missing tongue (if even true and not legend) sounds like scavenger activity. Remember this was a long time ago and all kinds of rumors pile up over time.

[miracleman58]

I guess, DONT GO HIKING ON RUSSIAN MOUNTAINS. if that is tru. i am tottaly amazed.Maybe.... modern day forencics could prove better.

[Cyaneyed]

If one gets trapped on a snowy mountain, the safest way to stay warm is to bury yourself in snow, is it not? This gives me two immediate thoughts;

-Could they have deliberately piled snow over the entrance to the tent (meaning there was no avalanche), to help keep the tent warm and also to conceal the entrance from potential predators (since there's mention of a bear, I'm guessing that would be an issue)

-Why would they try to survive by creating fires when the safest thing would be to burrow?

At any rate, the snow over the tent entrance at least explains away why they ripped/tore their way out. It doesn't, however, go any way to explaining the urgency with which they did so.

According to the wiki page, distant campers saw 'glowing lights' over the area that night, and a knife/patch of green cloth reminiscent of an army officer were discovered, but not used as evidence. I personally wouldn't give a huge amount of credence to the glowing lights, since I would imagine on a mountain campfires would look like glowing lights in the dark, and it sounds like there were at least three of those. As far as the mysterious items, again I would discredit them. They are only called into question because the 'one that got away' didn't remember them. I think it's perfectly likely that one of the members would bring a knife in an army cloth on a camping trip, and perfectly possible that they'd drop it outside the tent once they'd worked their way out. The absense of any extra prints or other evidence pretty much makes this the most likely case IMO.

If there were an avalanche, why would it stop at the tent, and not carry on past it, covering the footsteps in the process? This is the most confusing inconsistency for me. I do find it likely that the last four were buried in an avalanche, though why they were so far from the others and why they left I can't surmise. The injuries and the fact they are buried seems consistent though.

The closest I can come to an explanation is this:

Something spooks the party, who escape the tent via cutting through it, due to the fact the entrance of the tent is buried (perhaps distant animal noises or something of the sort). In their haste they don't have time to stop for possessions or clothes, so they exit in their sleeping wear.

As they run down the hill, the party is divided into two groups, who don't ever see eachother again. Both groups create fires and try to survive next to them. One of these groups is succombed to a localised avalanche and crushed to death. The other group fares differently. Their fire starts to wane and they fear death of exposure; one member remembers the knife they used to escape the tent. They and another member try to scale the incline and retrieve it, perhaps so the party can dig a hole to sleep in, whilst the other remaining members of the party stay beside the fire (perhaps due to being too cold/numb to move). The members all die of exposure before the knife is ever retrieved. Probably the two heading towards the tent were overestimating what they had left in their tanks and became fatigued/overcome by coldness and hypothermia claimed them. Meanwhile the remaining members waited in vain beside the dying fire, and probably died after their companions did, all the while awaiting their return.

Of course, my explanation goes no way to explaining what they were thinking when they fled the tent in the first place. One thing I think that goes overlooked though is human err.

Other snippets/postulations:

- The fractured skull was irrelevant, quite possibly an old injury that had gone undetected (perfectly feasible)

- The 'missing tongue' seems consistent with 'bleeding from the mouth' (I don't know if these two relate to the same individual). Quite possibly, the person in question could have accidentally bitten their own tongue out a some juncture. Be this down to a fall, pressure from the avalanche, or something else, the lack of a tongue is not an indicator of foul play, because there is no reason it wouldn't get buried seperately. Indeed, if it were the result of an accident, it's likely that in the cold snow, the person was so numb as not to even realise it had happened (if anyone's ever been that cold and injured themselves, you'll know wht I mean).

- The orangeness of the skin may not be that exceptional, the bodies were irregularly exposed and the sun could have tanned their bodies.

- Radiation could be explainable, afterall radiation is natural, it's possible that natural pockets of gas could have seeped into the tent and frightened the party, or that the same instance went unrecognised but caused an adverse mental reaction (think hallucinogenic). That would actually explain the random nature of the team and the fact they seperated. Perhaps only when the effects wore off (and it was too late) did they consider making the fires.

Edited October 16, 2007 by Cyaneyed

[gaia227]

I have nothing intelligent to add to this thread, no new ingenius theories or anything. I just simply want to say this is very intriguing and interesting. I love it when I come across 'mysteries' like this to read and speculate about. The one thing that continues to bother me is this: they were experienced mountaineers. After they left the tent, the ones that survived at least long enough to make a fire, why did they not try to return to their campsite instead of deciding to remain exposed to the elements in little more than their underwear? It looks like a couple of them tried and didn't make it but I am talking about the ones who were found by the fire. If I were out there I think my first priority would be to try and find the campsite because I would know there was little chance I was going to survive out in the open.

If it were some kind of Soviet weapons experiment wouldn't they all have similar injuries and wouldn't they all of perished at the same time? If some weapon went off with enough force to crush people's chests and skulls you would think it would effect everyone the same. And wouldn't there be some evidence of a blast or at least strong force - like overblown trees and bushes? And if they were scared enough of something to flee their tent and not return wouldn't they be trying to hide rather than building a fire which would obviously alert people of their whereabouts?

[Loonboy]

And if they were scared enough of something to flee their tent and not return wouldn't they be trying to hide rather than building a fire which would obviously alert people of their whereabouts?

I wondered about this last point too.

I thought that it was possible that they fled something they were afraid of, and found themselves out in the freezing cold.

In a hierarchy of physical needs, keeping warm to survive does outweigh the fear of a predator.

A person would want to keep warm enough to live and take their chance with the predator rather than just freezing to death.

Doesn't really explain everything though.

[gaia227]

I wondered about this last point too.

I thought that it was possible that they fled something they were afraid of, and found themselves out in the freezing cold.

In a hierarchy of physical needs, keeping warm to survive does outweigh the fear of a predator.

A person would want to keep warm enough to live and take their chance with the predator rather than just freezing to death.

Doesn't really explain everything though.

Very True, that was my thinking too but I guess my perspective was different, meaning: in the hierarchy of physical needs keeping warm for survival outweighs fear which makes me think experienced mountaineers would know even with a fire they didn't stand much of a chance exposed to -30 degree temps in very little clothing so they would take their chances with trying to return to the campsite in hopes that whatever it was was gone so they could at least grab some appropriate clothes and rations if they weren't planning on sticking around. There is always the possibility they were disorientated, didn't realize how close they were to camp, or as it mentioned in the article if they were indeed blinded(how frightening, could you imagine?) they would stay in one place and hope for the best. We can speculate all we want but the truth is we will never know what happened to them or why they did the things they did in the circumstance or what roused them from sleep and scrambling helter skelter from the safety of their tent. It's rather frusterating because I sure would like to know even if it was something as simple as an avalanche.

[Loonboy]

I'm sure there's a screenplay in all this.

[crystal sage]

... Apart from an Acid trip gone wrong....

There are many references of vast subterranean caves..tunnel systems in the Urals...

with either military links or UFO links... ... take your pick...

Why were the students there in the first place???

What were they searching for???

<a href="http://www.nhpfund.ru/en/nominations/bashkirian_urals.html" target="_blank">http://www.nhpfund.ru/en/nominations/bashkirian_urals.html</a>

<a href="http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_offlimits_7.htm" target="_blank">http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_offlimits_7.htm</a>

<a href="http://www.think-aboutit.com/under.htm" target="_blank">http://www.think-aboutit.com/under.htm</a>

<a href="http://www.uraltropa.ru/index.php?option=c...0&Itemid=97" target="_blank">http://www.uraltropa.ru/index.php?option=c...0&Itemid=97</a>

<a href="http://www.uraltravel.com/northural-eng.htm" target="_blank">http://www.uraltravel.com/northural-eng.htm</a>

Ice cave

<a href="http://www.ikz.ru/siberianway/engl/kungur-...a_peschera.html" target="_blank">http://www.ikz.ru/siberianway/engl/kungur-...a_peschera.html</a>

<a href="http://dinets.travel.ru/caves4.htm" target="_blank">http://dinets.travel.ru/caves4.htm</a>

Russia has many caves, almost all of them "wild". The most unique one is Kungur Ice Cave, located near a Transsiberian Railroad station of Kungur, just west of Europe/Asia border in the Ural Mountains. cave

Kungur Ice Cave, Russia.

cave

Kungur Ice Cave, Russia. The cave is open year-round, but its wonderful ice formations are at their best in late winter. March is usually the time to visit. Among the wonders of the cave are snowflakes the size of a maple leaf.

Kungur is a showcave, but there are hundreds of "wild" caves in the Urals, some almost as scenic. The only other showcave is Kapova, known for a few Paleolitic cave paintings. cave

Unnamed cave near Sob', Polar Urals, Russia.

cave

Cave near Pinega River, Northern Russia.

Not surprisingly, most of Russia's caves are ice caves. Look for them in Arkhangelsk area in the North, Altai Mountains in Southern Siberia, Ussuriland on the Pacific Coast, and the Russian part of the Caucasus. cave

Cave near Pinega River, Northern Russia.

cave

Entrance to a glacial cave,

Kamchatka, Russia. There are also some glacial caves in Europe and Siberia, but they are not as numerous and large as glacial caves of Alaska and the Central Asia. Their locations often change as glaciers move and the climate gets warmer.

<a href="http://dinets.travel.ru/caves4.htm" target="_blank">http://dinets.travel.ru/caves4.htm</a>

just some of the many tourist sites of the Urals... there are so many more... some say that there are tunnels that go hundreds of kilometers...

<a href="http://www.uraltourism.com/kungur-ice-caves.php" target="_blank">http://www.uraltourism.com/kungur-ice-caves.php</a>

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_...ve/2004/week40/

And just last year Russia announced it will

"increase the overall length of its underground systems by 60% by 2015." As a Rosbalt correspondent reports, this was announced by Chairman of the Russian State Construction Department Nikolai Koshman today.

The fact is there is a wealth of information available on subterranean construction going on around the globe. Some of it is new and some makes best use of large existing cavern structures. Additionally,

On April 16, 1996, the New York Times reported on a mysterious military base being constructed in Russia: "In a secret project reminiscent of the chilliest days of the Cold War, Russia is building a mammoth underground military complex in the Ural Mountains, Western officials and Russian witnesses say. Hidden inside Yamantau mountain in the Beloretsk area of the southern Urals, the project involved the creation of a huge complex, served by a railroad,a highway, and thousands of workers."

And yes the US has documented structures and facilities of this type.

Few Americans--indeed, few Congressional reps--are aware of the existence of Mount Weather, a mysterious underground military base carved deep inside a mountain near the sleepy rural town of Bluemont, Virginia, just 46 miles from Washington DC. Mount Weather --also known as the Western Virginia Office of Controlled Conflict Operations--is buried not just in hard granite, but in secrecy as well.

Mount Weather is virtually an underground city, according to former personnel interviewed by Pollock. Buried deep inside the earth, Mount Weather was equipped with such amenities as: - private apartments and dormitories - streets and sidewalks - cafeterias and hospitals - a water purification system, power plant and general office buildings - a small lake fed by fresh water from underground springs - a transit system - a TV communication system

Edited October 26, 2007 by crystal sage

[Sochi]

If one gets trapped on a snowy mountain, the safest way to stay warm is to bury yourself in snow, is it not? This gives me two immediate thoughts;

-Could they have deliberately piled snow over the entrance to the tent (meaning there was no avalanche), to help keep the tent warm and also to conceal the entrance from potential predators (since there's mention of a bear, I'm guessing that would be an issue)

-Why would they try to survive by creating fires when the safest thing would be to burrow?

At any rate, the snow over the tent entrance at least explains away why they ripped/tore their way out. It doesn't, however, go any way to explaining the urgency with which they did so.

This is a vary interesting opinion. But there was about -20 OC on the Cholat-Syahil mountain at that night. It is not critical, it is absolutely normal temperature for the winter overnight. The tourists had a wood log, and the oven, but they didn’t use them. When they had overnight in the wood, they used oven, because there was a lot of logs. But on the mountain the log is a problem, so, the tourists decided to have a cold overnight and use the log tomorrow to make a breakfast. So, there was no cold dangerous at all.

There are no wild animals around the mountain. The hunters did not visit it. After 26 days, when the saving team was found the tent, there was no soles around it at all ! No animals, no peoples. 4 dead bodies lied at the and of the mountain about 3 months, but nobody eat them.

It is not possible to fill up the entrance. This case the tent was broken. And there was no any reasons to do this.

If there were an avalanche, why would it stop at the tent, and not carry on past it, covering the footsteps in the process? This is the most confusing inconsistency for me. I do find it likely that the last four were buried in an avalanche, though why they were so far from the others and why they left I can't surmise. The injuries and the fact they are buried seems consistent though.

It was impossibly to be an avalanche. The mountain angle is 13-19o, it looks like a hill. Look at this picture: http://infodjatlov.narod.ru/fg5/images/raz_0025.jpg The small red circle at the left side is the tent, in the right side – is the place of dead.

As they run down the hill, the party is divided into two groups, who don't ever see eachother again. Both groups create fires and try to survive next to them.

There was 75 meters between two groups. Is it so difficult to see the fires of each other ?

One of these groups is succombed to a localised avalanche and crushed to death.

When the people gets to the avalanche, they never die this way. If the avalanche is big, they have lots of bone breaks. Not only the head or ribs. If the avalanche is small, the reason of death is not hypothermia. This case the reason is asphyxia !

Their fire starts to wane and they fear death of exposure; one member remembers the knife they used to escape the tent. They and another member try to scale the incline and retrieve it, perhaps so the party can dig a hole to sleep in, whilst the other remaining members of the party stay beside the fire (perhaps due to being too cold/numb to move). The members all die of exposure before the knife is ever retrieved.

Do you mean, they decided to find the knife to dig a hole ? Why ? It is more better to increase the fire, they was in the wood, there are lots of logs around.

The fractured skull was irrelevant, quite possibly an old injury that had gone undetected (perfectly feasible)

This man (Slobodyn) has a fracture of the skull. When he had the strike, he lose consciousness immediately and died after that. It could not be an old injury.

The 'missing tongue' seems consistent with 'bleeding from the mouth' (I don't know if these two relate to the same individual). Quite possibly, the person in question could have accidentally bitten their own tongue out a some juncture. Be this down to a fall, pressure from the avalanche, or something else, the lack of a tongue is not an indicator of foul play, because there is no reason it wouldn't get buried seperately. Indeed, if it were the result of an accident, it's likely that in the cold snow, the person was so numb as not to even realise it had happened (if anyone's ever been that cold and injured themselves, you'll know wht I mean).

That girl (Dubinina) had not only the tongue. She had no some parts of her face, she had no eyes, she had crashed ribs. She lied 3 months under 3 meters of snow in the steam. Maybe her body was corrupted by time…

The orangeness of the skin may not be that exceptional, the bodies were irregularly exposed and the sun could have tanned their bodies.

In the medical documents of the bodies cutting it is not telling about this. So, the red color of skin is the myth. May be…

Radiation could be explainable, afterall radiation is natural, it's possible that natural pockets of gas could have seeped into the tent and frightened the party, or that the same instance went unrecognised but caused an adverse mental reaction (think hallucinogenic). That would actually explain the random nature of the team and the fact they seperated. Perhaps only when the effects wore off (and it was too late) did they consider making the fires.

One of tourist was not student. After finished institute, he become an engineer and he worked at the secret town which military factory. They used radiation materials. Next tourist worked which radiation materials at the institute.

Well, done. I know lots of details of this story, that are unavailable for English speaking people. If you has questions, please, ask.

[Nik Xues]

as stated before the causes of death make sense

but what would scare them that badly and also deter any animals from the site

anything that scary should leave evidence.

[asian-ghosts]

CONCLUSION - They all were having group sex naked, then a bear came and attacked them, ripping the tent and they all ran out, it was dark so they all split up and hit their heads and broke their ribs, and died of hypothermia

[Ball Lightning]

First class story. I really enjoyed reading this. Looking forward to more of your topics!